Gardai HELP!!!!!

eroo

ok,im doing the leaving this year and plan on joining the Gardai.some Gards ive spoken to say 'wait till your in your early 20's' and then others have said 'join once your 18 if you want'.the latter is what i REALLY want to do but will i actually get in at 18??
now there are only 2 careers that i'd be interested in:1.Garda Siochana.2.Defence Forces
if you join the DF you have to stay for 5 years.now would you say go for Gardai at 18(thats what i plan on) or join army and then go for Gardai when i leave at 22?
ive no interest what so ever in going to college but if they almost certainly wont take me into the Gards at 18 then i dont want to waste my time working in a job i dont want to work in, while waiting to apply for gards the next year when im 19...

anyway,complex i know but id appreciate any advice,especially from any trainee Gardai

eroo

Random

Will you get in or won't you? It really depends on many things.

Your ability to pass the various tests, medical, physical, etc.
Your performance at the interview.
Your background checks.

You'll never know unless you try - if you fail try again if you really want it.

Don't limit your options in the meantime.

brayblue24

For what it's worth I was a trainee Garda (many years ago now) and now I'm counting down to retirement. I joined at 22 and with hindsight I am stilll glad that I saw the world from a different perspective. Wait! Try something else first

Dave!

As far as I know you can buy your way out of your contract at any time in the Defence Forces for somewhere in the region of €400.

Maybe it would be worth your while enlisting there and if/when the Gardaí start taking on new people you can apply there... I'm sure your military experience would stand to you in the interview. I know it does in the fire service anyway.

ian_m

You said it yourself its what you really want to do. If you don't try you'll never know. Go for it.
If you don't get in you can change your mind or just try again.
When you are a guard you can do lots of different college courses related to your career which are subsidized by the state.

Its a tough and respected job. Give it a shot... you have nothing to lose

seamus

He probably advised you to hang on for a few years to see the world as it should be seen. Life turns into something altogether different (and much more exciting IMO) after you've left school. By going straight from regime (school) to regime (Gardai), you may be depriving yourself of some good life experience.

There's absolutely no rush to go and join the Gardai. Enjoy your freedom for a couple of years, then decide if you want to go in. I'm making it sound like joining the Gardai is a life sentence, of course it's not, but I really don't think anyone should be choosing a lifelong career at 18. You don't know enough about life to choose such a career.

But join the Gardai earlyish. After your 30 years are served, you'll be young enough to enjoy your early retirement while the rest of us suckers are still slaving away.

r3nu4l

Some people will laugh at what I'm about to say but I know for a fact that it has helped some people who wanted to become Gardaí and/or enter the PDF.

Join the Civil Defence.

There, I said it.

Why? The Civil Defence is an organisation that serves the community. You don't get many people joining it because they are gung-ho wannabes or power trippers. It's hard to be a power-tripper when you are wearing a yellow jumpsuit so it's not egos that make people join, it's a true desire to help the community at large. This is viewed very positively by the gardaí. It's not a gaurantee of getting into the gardaí but it is another piece in the armoury.

Joining the RDF may help in joining the PDF but so too does being a member of the Civil Defence. You won't be cool, you'll take some stick but it's a fun organisation, you'll learn a lot and it may help when it comes to applying to join the gardaí.

Rihanna

if you want only army or sioachana i would highly recommend the army first, with the army you keep your scope in life open and get a bit of experience in life. in the army you get great pay and great time off, so you can work and see the world, 28days holidays plus bank holidays & army holidays extra, if you go on over seas missions which last approx 6 months, the money is brill and you usually get 3-4weeks off to come home during the trip and a month off at end of trip to ease your self back into society.
as the other poster said you can by your self out of the army if all comes to all so your not stuck to anything.
its a huge decision at the age of 18 to make, so look at the big picture.
also however many years you serve in the army you can carry it over to the gardai. alot of army people transfer into the gardai after a while.
hope this helps.
best of luck

ian_m

thats not a bad idea r3nu4l

eroo

thanks for the help so far guys

eroo

a5y

A garda who knows nothing but the force isn't much of a garda. Do something else first, gardai deal with people from every walk of life in the most unlikely of situations.

You'll never get everything in life your own way (gardai certainly don't, just think of the bull**** they put up with every night of the week...).

If you do apply for the force but don't get in, do not start feeling sorry for yourself. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off, take a long hard look at yourself and look for your faults.

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

PeteK*

r3nu4l wrote: »

...
Join the Civil Defence.

How is that done?


Edit; Thanks, r3nu4l

r3nu4l

Chatmaster wrote: »

How is that done?

Hi Chatmaster. Try the volunteer enrollment page on the website. Be aware that sometimes the CD can be a bit slow getting back to people. You could also try the Local Authority pages in your phone book as they control the budgets and enrollment...even though the CD comes under the remit of the Department of Defence.

Also maybe post a query here. There are a couple of Civil Defence Officers posting on boards who may be able to help. I left the CD Rescue service a few years ago because of work committments and then I moved to England so I haven't been back but I really enjoyed my time there and learned a lot.

MajorMax

I've a couple of friends who are guards. They both applied straight out of school but were rejected then went to college and got their degrees, re-applied and were accepted, get your degree, it gives you more options including the cadet option

Jo King

MajorMax wrote: »

I've a couple of friends who are guards. They both applied straight out of school but were rejected then went to college and got their degrees, re-applied and were accepted, get your degree, it gives you more options including the cadet option

What cadet option? The guards don't have cadets and the army takes the majority of cadets from school leavers.
The o/p should learn a trade before joining the guards. Very useful for maintaining his flats.