Garda Recruitment (Archived)

Griffen

cheers detective.

Do you know how ur mate got on? What kinda questions were they asking him?

FGR

Interview in four days here.

Do you feel confident, Griffen, Detective?

Griffen

Not sure really foregone! It's hard to know, working up until 2moro so suppose thats taking my mind of things. Mite be a different story wed when im sitting there awaiting to go in!

How ya feelin bout it urself?

FGR

I'm going to use most of the 17th to study up my documentation on the Guards and work from there. I have Friday booked off for the interview itself; and tomorrow evening I have to venture into Dublin to find the offices in Upper Abbey Street.

It's a little hectic as I also have to collect my suit from my brother's house in the northside but I should be prepared on Thursday evening.

Whether I'll get it or not? Beyond me..

If you have the opportunity to ask questions mind throwing the aul "When will I hear from you?" question in so we can get an idea of when the recruits might be starting?

oceallachain

The offices are right next to the "Jervis" stop on the Luas foregone. I suppose the only way to definitively find out when the earliest recruits of the 2004 competition will be starting is to call Appointments at Garda HQ. Their number is on an earlier post.

Griffen

Will do if i can!

Not from Dublin myself, from the good auld north west of the country but i know that Upper Abbey Street is just off O'Connell Street, when ya get to supermacks on the left hand side of the street turn left down that street its a little bit down on the left hand side, if that makes any sense!

Best of luck anyways to everyone. Fingers crossed!

lilolil

It's over! Thank God - Went ok I think! Started at 9am and finished at 9:45am - 3 on the board - 2 Civilians and 1 Superintendant. Plenty of water available and they work to a clock. I felt very comfortable with them and they watched me for a couple of minutes when I went in first to see if I'd flinch! Started off by asking me about my third level quals and asked me to talk them through them. then moved on to my competencies. I was asked on two I had on the form and two others. They asked me to go through each one step by step - so know your competencies. Then the Super went through my Q5 - Through the documentation - i.e. History of the guards! Structure of the Comm, Dep Comm, Ass Comm etc, How I thought the Gardai were perceived in the area I live, Could they do any more to make people in rural areas more aware of their presence, how I would relate my competencies to the role of a Guard! (Know this!), Multicultural society! etc. Asked me if there was any particular subject I'd especially like in templemore? I wasn't asked about why I wanted to be a guard! The Report writing excercise was very detailed!!! Video lasted about 5 minutes and was go from the start! Be ready to take notes fast! You get about 30 minutes to write the report.. This was tough enough - Don't assume anything! I was happy enough to be honest but you never know!

L

8bi1ctzegfouva

Had the interview with the superintendent today. was grand, just had a brief chat.

my mate said the interview went well, but he said he had difficulty with the report writing. said time was very tight and that he didnt get to finish it.

just a note to people who haven't had the interview yet, keep an eye on your spelling, i have been told by a very reliable source, that any more than 6 spelling mistakes and you fail. so try to use 3 or 4 small simple words, rather than 1 big word if you are not sure about spelling.

as regards to me, foregone, i am starting to get a bit nervous at this stage, i will spend the next few days preparing myself for it. suit in being dry-cleaned at the moment, wasn't too impressed, it was a brand new suit, and i was just checking it yesterday and it had loads of stains on it. so i'll be forwarding the bill to the shop i bought it from.

re the competencies, my mate was asked only 1 of the originals and 3 others. so i would say to everyone to have their back-ups well learned off.

anyway, as before, good luck to anyone sitting the interview in the next few days.

D

NeverHappy

Did the interview yesterday, hard to tell how it went. Went through 1 example from each section. Asked specific questions on my role in each, what I learned, would i change anything if I had to do it again. Asked would I feel safe as a guard, i.e. if I was initmidated in court, or threatened etc. Asked if I had researched the job and the training. Asked what I felt would be tough in templemore.

Report writing goes by very fast and you have to write fast. As they give details they speak fast. Take good notes.

I saw one guy try to write the report in his notes before writing it in the booklet, bad idea. Time is very short, only 30 mins. Write as much relevant detail as you can.

lilolil

Did they give you any idea when we might know?

NeverHappy

Sorry, forgot to add that.

I mentioned that I had to give a months notice etc ....

They said that people being interviewed this week would know within 2 weeks.
They said they were allowing plenty of time for people to get organised for a May 3rd entry.

Not sure how that affects people being interviewed later in the month though.

Hope that helps,
NH

FGR

Excellent.

oceallachain

It seems that the current recruitment competition has been "progressed further so as to provide for the second intake of 275 students on 3 May this year". Maybe there wasn't enough successful applicants from the 2003 competition to fill the places for the May 3rd final intake.
Check out http://www.ciarancuffe.com/Questions/2005/Q050216J.Garda.Recruitment.htm

Megatron

My bro started on the 7th , the 275 Garda who started are in the largest group ever to start in Garda history.

I've applied myself , i got told i passed the first exams , but i have to wait to see if i get the interview.

8bi1ctzegfouva

good luck tomorrow foregone.

FGR

I certainly need it.

I'm in an internet cafe right now taking a break..However..I've already revised the Garda chain of command and the roles of a Garda in society..Though those scenarios are going to be exceptionally difficult.

Thanks for the support..And when I'm back in Waterford tomorrow evening I'll give you an update of what I was asked.

FGR

I'm back. Made it through alive which is quite fantastic.

I was in room F12, just so you know. The interview panel was bright and fresh, willing to interrogate every aspect of my life..

Actually; It wasn't all that bad. Basically followed the same pattern as lilolil and NeverHappy. I was told something else though..

I'd be given my results next week.

Bad or Good? Who knows. I ended up with the COPS-like video regarding the 'fight' out in the carpark. Keep a close eye on the people being interviewed..as a lot of people had the heads down and missed one very-important piece of information by not looking.

That Officer Smith was quite the know-it-all..Making me do all of the hard work while she snuck around the back for a smoke.

One of the guys there had his interview brought forward from tomorrow to today. Detective, was that you?

If not, good luck with tomorrow. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be..Though that said it all comes down to the final score they put on me.

Cosworth

Glad it went well for you.

How many peolpe are present during the interview and is it a chief super or super that is present.

Cheers for the tip on the video, i'll take note of that.

Gary.

8bi1ctzegfouva

nope wasnt me foregone.
im up today now. just woke up and gonna head into town in about an hour or so.

FGR

The interview board consisted of the HR Manager for Guinness as well as one Civil Service rep and one Superintendent.

The Public Service rep reminded me of the host from Questions and Answers and was the one who hit me with the most difficult question at the end of the interview - being that he spent the majority of it on taking minutes.

Hopefully we'll all see good news in the next week. Give us feedback when you can, Detective.

oceallachain

I'm really glad to hear that the interviews are going well for everybody! I just got confirmation that I am in for May 3rd so I won't be going for my interview tomorrow (I called and told them). Maybe this is why some people are getting pushed ahead??? I don't know.

Things you need for Templemore - letter of acceptance, 4 passport photos, long form birth cert, CV, list of relations (names, addresses, occupations, degree of relationships of each), PPS card, €5 deposit for room key, €400 for uniforms (Tracksuit and Official) and a suit (jacket, pants, 5 shirts and a tie - for girls it's 5 blouses).

Why do you think they specify 5 shirts???? I'm baffled!!

8bi1ctzegfouva

you need a suit?? and 5 shirts?? wtf is up with that.

well, i say you, as judging by how my interview went i won't be needing any of those.
the civil servant woman asked me some real tricky questions, and ones which you would never have expected to be asked, and i was so nervous going in, that at one point i just wanted to either get up and walk out, or start crying. but looking back on it now with a clear head, it doesn't seem as bad as i originally thought, but i'm not sure. i'll just have to wait and see.

i too was told i would be told withing 2 weeks.

good luck to anyone up next week.
and congrats ocheallachain on getting the 3rd of may class.

FGR

Don't feel too bad about it Detective...There wasn't a single person in the waiting room (for the report writing) that was confident that they made it through. If anything we were joking about how they probably just wanted to shift us through the system as quickly as possible and out the door..never to be seen until the next competition.

That said..You'll probably be the one making it in whilst I get the PFO.

Mind my asking what kind of questions you were asked? Bear in mind..I had to explain why I had a 6 month unemployment gap..They also didn't get my attached sheet about my most experienced job.

EDIT: 400 euros? Holy Cow..

8bi1ctzegfouva

PFO??

it wasn't really any major questions in particular, well there were one or two, but it was just a lot of the ones she asked were answered very quickly, and not one which i wanted to answer(if you get me, like i had other ones which i would have been able to give very good answers to). one of the ones which i was very pissed off about was what subjects are studied in templemore, i gave - policing studies, legal studies, PE, irish and either german or french. and then my mind went blank and i couldnt think of anymore. and another question was had i ever helped a fellow member of a team when they had been given work which they weren't able to cope with, and i just wasn't expecting it, and i was thinking and my mind went blank, and because they rush through so quickly i only had about 5 seconds to think before she moved onto something else.

the superintendent - thadie something was sound. he asked good questions, but one of the ones he asked twice, he asked it, then something else, then asked it again, but slightly differently, and instead of saying i didn't understand the question, or i didn't understand the difference between it and the previous one(as i didnt want to piss them off seeming like a smart arse) i just gave this real stupid answer about watching cop shows as a kid.

anyway, there is nothing i can do now except wait.

re the 400 euros, seems a bit odd, as in all the literature it says that the uniform and equipment remain property of the gards, so why should people have to buy it if it won't belong to them??

and don't forget you will be getting your regulation speedos as well. i have been told that you should ask for a much bigger size than you would normally take as they are very tight...

like i said before, good luck tomorrow to anyone who is up for interview.

Our man in Havana

PFO=Please F**k Off Standard response letter saying you didn't get it.

re 400 Euro, it's the same story in the army. You don't own the kit but you must pay for it if you loose/damage it.

FGR

So basically the first three weeks of training will be to make up for the cost of the equipment we're using.

Detective: Those mistakes don't sound catastrophic at all. If anything, in hindsight they're nothing compared to what I was asked.

I wasn't asked anything specifically about the classes..They only gave me the time to quote how the course is made up (The five phases). They knew about Kilroy's too..so I think they were impressed with it.

Five days of..waiting..The pain.

Mutz

The E400 is for the Tracksuit (E80), t-shirts (E10 each), parade shoes (E100). Don't know what the remainder is for

oceallachain

Re: E400
On the letter it just says the E400 is for your official uniform and your PE, Health and Safety Studies kit.

If it's 80 for tracksuit, 10 for t-shirts and 100 for shoes then I'm sure another E200 could consist of garda shirt, tie, trousers, jumper etc etc.

Some Army officer told me that uncommissioned army officers don't have to pay for their kit while the commissioned guys (i.e. cadets) do. And Gardai are commissioned officers of the law. That was his explanation as to why we have to buy our own kit.

FGR

Army Cadets do have to pay for their equipment alright..and you're right with Gardai, like Defence Forces Officers, being Commissioned by the state. That's why Gardai are entitled to salute the flag.

Griffen

Hey everybody

Had my interview on wed just back from my hols in scotland for paddys day. Interview itself went ok i think, board were actually nice enough, suppose you never know how these things go really could have failed it for all i know!
Asked alot about my examples and how i would i contribute these skills into the role of a Garda. Was kept for a good bit, they kept lookin at the clock though must have been against time.

The video was ****ty enough. Missed one or two bits of info, it was so fast info flying at ya barely had time to look at it! Did anyone else find this??
Got my statement finished alrite but i wonder are they strict marking it?