Civil service EO

dublin15

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has recently been successful in getting a job as an Executive Officer in the civil service through open competition.

I have always been interested in getting into a government job and would like to be prepared for the next time an external competition comes up.

I have 3 years of managerial experience based in hospitality industry (pub) and also some in retail .

I have recently completed a certificate in management and was considering doing a diploma in management in the near future.

Can anybody advise whether the above wll stand for me in an open competition for EO? Or if anybody can give their experiences on this it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

copacetic

dublin15 wrote:

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has recently been successful in getting a job as an Executive Officer in the civil service through open competition.

I have always been interested in getting into a government job and would like to be prepared for the next time an external competition comes up.

I have 3 years of managerial experience based in hospitality industry (pub) and also some in retail .

I have recently completed a certificate in management and was considering doing a diploma in management in the near future.

Can anybody advise whether the above wll stand for me in an open competition for EO? Or if anybody can give their experiences on this it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

none of your experience counts in the competition, except that it may help you relate your experience to the questions.

the whole point of the system is that it is purely on merit and results.

J.S. Pill

They're actually advertising for HEOs at the moment and they're citing relevant management experience as a prerequisite - most open competitions don't take take experience etc into account in the first instance, its only after they've narrowed candidates down with the aptitude test that they start looking at CVs. I presume there's still going to be an aptitude test though - but this time they only want people with experience.

I don't have a link to this job (publicjobs.ie is blocked here at work, they don't seem to want us getting any ideas into our heads) so don't quote me on anything.

psicic

The EO competition is pretty intense these days and the PublicJobs people are trying out new systems in recruitment.

You sit a test divided into three parts: Literacy, Numeracy and Job Simulation.

It’s tough – the standard has been steadily increasing in recent years and the number of competitions drastically reduced - but it is do-able.

Experience is a big thing when it comes to the interview. For EOs it’s still a formal interview with questions set around five key competencies you’ll need to demonstrate suitable performance in.

You should call the Graduate Recruitment people in Public Jobs and they can tell you more. (p.s. it’s called Graduate Recruitment for EOs and HEOs, it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be a graduate.)

copacetic

J.S. Pill wrote:

They're actually advertising for HEOs at the moment and they're citing relevant management experience as a prerequisite - most open competitions don't take take experience etc into account in the first instance, its only after they've narrowed candidates down with the aptitude test that they start looking at CVs. I presume there's still going to be an aptitude test though - but this time they only want people with experience.

I don't have a link to this job (publicjobs.ie is blocked here at work, they don't seem to want us getting any ideas into our heads) so don't quote me on anything.

granted, as you say at interview stage etc it may count. getting to that stage is the difficult bit though..

J.S. Pill

copacetic wrote:

granted, as you say at interview stage etc it may count. getting to that stage is the difficult bit though..

The point I was making is that managerial experience is important in the first instance for the particular position thats being adversited here.

Don't suppose anyone can put the text of the job up???

penexpers

J.S. Pill wrote:

The point I was making is that managerial experience is important in the first instance for the particular position thats being adversited here.

Don't suppose anyone can put the text of the job up???

Candidates must (display, I guess?):

- An excellent track record in providing high quality customer service in an efficient and effective manner
- Satisfactory management experience at an appropriate middle management level, ideally including leading and managing large teams
- Satisfactory management experience of projects and budgets.
- A relevant third level qualification is desirable

copacetic

J.S. Pill wrote:

The point I was making is that managerial experience is important in the first instance for the particular position thats being adversited here.

Don't suppose anyone can put the text of the job up???

but it's an open comp and they pretty much let anyone do the exams?

you are saying the managerial experience 'is' important here in the first instance, but exactly how? They don't check it before you do the tests.

I did the AP/HEO tests last year and you needed a degree and management
experience which I have but a lot of people at the tests didn't seem to
have any of the basice requirements but were called for the tests anyway.

hermit

I got in as an EO (Open Comp) 3 yrs ago. Still there now and am next in line on an internal panel for promotion to HEO. Although, i'll probably have left my job b4 then. (thats another story).

As regards experience etc... OP. not much good to you for the aptitude end of things but having said that you may have better knowledge/intelligence through life experiences so could help with ur performance.

Once you satisfy the education requirements you will be grand. The competition part of the process is the aptitude. thats where u compete with other people.

The interview is where you can bring in your various experiences. interviews are competency based and will cover areas such as:

Show examples where you have shown:

"A Committment to achieving results in a difficult situation"

"Team working"

"Communicating and Influencing"

can't remember the fourth one at the moment.

But thats the general stuff - you only need to pass the interview to get the job - The order of merit is based on your aptitude results

hermit

copacetic wrote:

but it's an open comp and they pretty much let anyone do the exams?

you are saying the managerial experience 'is' important here in the first instance, but exactly how? They don't check it before you do the tests.

I did the AP/HEO tests last year and you needed a degree and management
experience which I have but a lot of people at the tests didn't seem to
have any of the basice requirements but were called for the tests anyway.

When you get called for interview you will be asked to submit official documentation indicating your education (e.g. Leaving Cert Results & College Qualifications). Anyone can sit the exams.

In fact you will also be able to sit the interview in most cases but they'll check your education and you will be deemed unqualified for the position and u will be disqualified from the competition.

As far as managerial experience is concerned - it will be more objective - u will have to prove it in your competencies for the interview... i.e. showing where u have used various managment skills to deal with situations.

J.S. Pill

copacetic wrote:

but it's an open comp and they pretty much let anyone do the exams?

Maybe, but...

copacetic wrote:

you are saying the managerial experience 'is' important here in the first instance, but exactly how? They don't check it before you do the tests.

I did the AP/HEO tests last year and you needed a degree and management
experience which I have but a lot of people at the tests didn't seem to
have any of the basice requirements but were called for the tests anyway.

I havn't even looked at the app form so I don't know how they check it exactly but I can guess how they might do it:

I did the AO exams there recently. they stated in the app that candidates should check that they have the appropriate prerequisites (i.e. a first of a second degree) as these will only be chacked after the test. You have to fill out a form on the day stating what your degree is and your grade. I'm presuming that they're only going to check the people they call to interview. Same may apply in this case. Its clearly a lot less hassle to check qualifications etc after they have been narrowed down rather than checking them everyone.

Bottom line is, management experience is still a prerequisite for this job, I guess thats what I'm trying to say.

copacetic

J.S. Pill wrote:

Bottom line is, management experience is still a prerequisite for this job, I guess thats what I'm trying to say.

definitely, but with so many people going for them nowadays it's getting to the stage were they actually check them that is the difficult bit!

dublin15

So basically its about scoring well in the aptitude test, and if you reach the interview stage to be well prepared for the different competencies?Is there a job simulation required?

copacetic

dublin15 wrote:

So basically its about scoring well in the aptitude test, and if you reach the interview stage to be well prepared for the different competencies?Is there a job simulation required?

there is a set of questions on job simulation in the test. they will send you out sample questions. but it would be a good idea to do more research. many of the answers are possible courses of action, you have to pick the 'best' ones in their opinion, so researching the kind of answers they are looking for will stand to you in the test..

hermit

dublin15 wrote:

So basically its about scoring well in the aptitude test, and if you reach the interview stage to be well prepared for the different competencies?Is there a job simulation required?

You got it in one. The higher you score on aptitude the better chance you have of getting called for an interview.

With the interview you only need to get 40% out of the competencies. Thats it and you are in. The only other thing I can remember is that When I did it I also had to do a letter writing exam... basically you are given a set of info. and you have to draft a letter... based on the info provided. mainly to check your spelling grammar and that you know how to integrate materials in prose. Its not too bad.


There is a job simulation in the aptitude test. You are given a scenarios and then you have to decide what next/best course of action to take. You are given 5 choices: There are no wrong answers as such but:

If you pick the most desireable course of action you get 5 points.
If you pick second most desireable you get 4... and so on..

Basically any scenarios that involve the Minister of a Dept. you pick the scenario that makes them look great ... the Minister is God apparently....

dublin15

Can you remember any of the questions you were asked?

tricky@

i just did the open eo interview recently. to put it into perspective on how long these things can be drawn out i sat the aptitude test for this in september 2005, received the pre interview questionaire in december 2006 and sat the interview this month. the five competencies they ask about are planning and organising,interpersonal effectiveness, initiative,team working and commitment to achieving results. and i also had to do the letter writing exercise. have not heard back from them yet,but if its true that you only have to get 40% in the interview that would make me fairly confident of a positive result

dublin15

What was the letter writing exercise like??What do you have to write about and is it hard?

tricky@

hermit wrote:

The only other thing I can remember is that When I did it I also had to do a letter writing exam... basically you are given a set of info. and you have to draft a letter... based on the info provided. mainly to check your spelling grammar and that you know how to integrate materials in prose. Its not too bad.

the above sums up what the letter writing exercise is like. its not hard.