Clerical Officer - is it a good job?

Lamps

Is a clerical officer with a governemnt body considered a good job?

Reason I ask is, i did a 4 yr degree in a completly seperate area, the area is quite small and really competitve so i never managed to secure a job. Instead was placed on panel after panel but never got called up as nobody ever left the jobs!

So i applied for a few other jobs and have been offered a job as a clerical officer - apparently there was 6 jobs and over 200applications and I got a job , so im pretty happy about that.

It seems pretty good, great location for me, good hours and the office seems a good place and a laugh. There will be little or no stress either hopefully.

Would promotions be realistic to get? Im a very determined person and would be wanting to move up as fast as is possible. Roughly how long are we looking for for somebody to move from CO to EO?

Moneywise, there is a scale as there is with most governement jobs, starting on 23,500 and rising up. Will I have to start on 23.5k? I really dont think i could afford to live on that so I may not accept it on them grounds. But I will be discussing this in a few days but would just like to get a heads up in this area?

Any other adivce form CO's in governemtn jobs would be much appreciated.

chickenchaser

I was a TCO for a 1 year contract, but only stuck it out for 6 months. I too have a 4 year BSc, and some people in the civil service said that with a degree I should apply for an EO position and not CO level.

I'm not in the civil service as I managed to get a job related to my degree last year. I found being a CO to be soul destroying - it was data processing - the work was mindless, and I was micro managed at every turn, and got patronised by management who knew nothing about computers, and treated like a battery chicken.

Mrs. MacGyver

I was a TCO for 3 yrs (summer's) and i enjoyed it, i was responsible for a large amount of cliams and was able to deal with their queries and questions. I enjoyed it and didn't find it sould destroying. I'm an EO now but got it through the open exam (co-incidentally in the same Dept. that i did the term-time work in!)

BanzaiBk

Another TCO, soon to leave though. I've been there for nearly 3 years and generally liked my job but now feel disillusioned with the whole service (hse). Micromanagement was insane, piles of work for minimal amounts of staff, high stress levels.

dory

I´d be interested in one of these jobs too. I´ve read the site over and over but can`t really get a sense of the career.

What exactly is the different between these EO and CO people.

Where would someone with an MA generally start?

TerrorFirmer

I used to love it when I did it, but only because I worked in a good department. Some of the tasks you can have assigned to you are so boring though, and really, words can't emphasis that point. I had to deal with all the over 70's who were sent a letter threatening cancellation of their medical cards last year by myself. Was a bit overwhelming as it was just thrown at me with almost no prior warning, but interesting. Spent most of the day, everyday, on the phone.

So anyway, my point being, depending on what department you're assigned to and what the staff are like (there are often a lot of older staff who fit into cliques) it could be the best or worst job of your life. I liked it, but then again I was only there a year or two. I'm sure after a few years it would have become very stale, very quickly.

Lamps

Thats intresting - nobody has a good word to say about it.

Im thinking maybe this isnt fo me, i enjoy a bit of a challenge and become bored quite easily but if i become bored i can get lazy so dont want that to happen. Im seriously gonna have to think this through.

I also feel it may be a bit "below" me, i know that may sound like ive my head up my arse, but I feel after 4years of study, some decent work experience in the private sector, i may be taking a step backwards. i to feel a EO job may be better but aernt they extremly difficult to get? Would it not be better to start as a CO and make my way up to that level? How long roughly would this take?

Also - pay wise, anyone able to shed some light on that?

stepbar

It's a well paid summer job and that's about it. In terms of work practices / processes, some depts are so backward it's unreal. The office I worked in (social welfare), it took 3 days to progress an application from a to b. Reconfigured, the application could have been done in less than an hour with less resources i.e. staff.

Slydice

It's a good solid boring office job.

Good for when the economy is going down the tubes and you can't get anything else. Also very good for looking for another job from.

ChuckProphet

Lamps wrote: »

I also feel it may be a bit "below" me, i know that may sound like ive my head up my arse, but I feel after 4years of study, some decent work experience in the private sector, i may be taking a step backwards. i to feel a EO job may be better but aernt they extremly difficult to get? Would it not be better to start as a CO and make my way up to that level? How long roughly would this take?

Also - pay wise, anyone able to shed some light on that?

EO starting is 30,628. You would start on the bottom of the CO if u took it. CO is a bit of a monkey job but can be a stepping stone. For internal promotion u need 2 years as a CO to go for EO tho u can apply for the open EO competitions in the meantime - if u did get an open interview after the exam I think by being a CO it would stand to you.

K_P

Degree or not, you start at the bottom of the ladder salary-wise. I have a degree and Masters degree and I still started at the bottom. The type of work you'll be doing will all depend on what office you're put in. I ended up doing the work of someone two grades above me but was still paid a CO salary. I left after 18 months. I liked the people I worked with, it was a good laugh and everything but the work was just far too repetitive. No variety, no challenge, just dull dull dull.

Having said that, I did get great experience there and I wouldn't be in my current job had I not had my CO experience.