Crime and Policing Analyst

BillyoftheBeast

Its a civilian role so not sure if its emergency services...

Anybody every apply for this before or perhaps work as an analyst with the Gardai.
What would be adequate experience?
Any ideas on how many positions are goiing or how competitive its going to be.

sunnyjim

PhD in what?

BillyoftheBeast

,

charlies^angel

Haven't read through the docs about the job but I know someone who's going for this and has a communications degree and several years experience analyising data, although not in this capacity. From what I can gather, it's the experience analysing data that counts, apart from the aptitude tests etc. Whats ur phd in?

bo-sco

Hi
I've applied for this job too. I did fairly well in the aptitude tests so expect to be interviewed next month. Any insights that anyone could provide in to what they're looking for would be appreciated

Garda_boss

Did you finish in the top 30 as they're the only ones who will get an interview initially. Its a crazy system as there are 28 places. They don't even know what qualificaions or experience people have at this stage.

Its a terrible way to run a recruitment competition and it reflects badly on the public service.

bo-sco

Thnaks for your reply. Yeah, I did. Do you know if they are looking for experience of statistical analysis or more on the data mining side of things? How important is experience etc?

deise2dbone

Does anyone know how many people went for this?

I thought I did really well in the aptitude test and was really disappointed with my merit placement.

Garda_boss

Do you know if they are looking for experience of statistical analysis or more on the data mining side of things? How important is experience etc?

I would say they are open enough to a wide range of experience going by the information booklet. Its a brand new division so its hard to know what they are looking for exactly.

Does anyone know how many people went for this?

I rang up and was told there was a lot of interest. I would guess 200-400 people went for it but I could be wrong.

I placed 30-40 in the aptitude tests so I'm a bit pissed off. Aptitude tests are important but I'll be seriously pissed off if I never get a chance to show my experience and skills at an interview.

deise2dbone

I would say you will definitely get called, I went for a Statistician role 2 years ago, I was placed 100 on the merit list after the aptitude test and they were only calling 60 candidates initially, however a couple of months later I got called....that was gap a of 40 you will definitely get a call, 30 people for 28 jobs, the likelihood of all of those being acceptable is low.....

Garda_boss

deise2dbone wrote: »

I would say you will definitely get called, I went for a Statistician role 2 years ago, I was placed 100 on the merit list after the aptitude test and they were only calling 60 candidates initially, however a couple of months later I got called....that was gap a of 40 you will definitely get a call, 30 people for 28 jobs, the likelihood of all of those being acceptable is low.....

Thats true. I just don't like people ahead getting a first shot at a job when in reality they might have only got 1 or 2 questions more than me in the verbal reasoning test.

I will keep you updated as things progress.

Analyst_Alert

Hi All,

I came in the top 30 and expect to be called for interview next month. I can see your point of view on the aptitude test results. I have worked in the Civil Service for a few years and I am used to these tests. It is Civil Service Policy to use impartial tests to avoid possible prejudice, eg towards existing members of An Garda Siochana. I have been pretty peeved off in the past myself when I didn't get an interview for promotion posts as with most Civil Service promotions you have to be an internal candidate (only 1 in 5 comes from an external panel). So to be honest I am glad this was an open competition. As has been mentioned though I doubt they will get all the 28 from the first 30, I would expect a good few more to be called. The interview will probably be competency based, as in marks out of 50 for 5 different competencies, so although you can bring in your experience, success really depends on your answers to specific questions. This is the format of all Civil Service interviews I have done anyway.

bo-sco

Analyst_Alert, is there anywhere I can get more information on the interview format that you've outlined? I'm very keen to be selected for this role and I want to do as much preparation as I can in advance of the interview.

Analyst_Alert

bo_sco,

The application form that will be sent to us soon will probably outline a number of specific competencies that we will be marked on. The idea is to give detailed instances where you displayed these particular competencies. You are only marked on the one you are being asked about at that particular time, so if you are describing say, quantitative analysis skills, you will not gain marks in that section by including a description of your planning/organising skills or your interpersonal effectiveness. Be as detailed as possible and be ready to answer any possible questions that the interviewer is likely to throw in during your spiel. Try to bring in all your relevant experience into your various answers, including College work. A lot of HR Consultants websites will quote the STAR system for answering questions in a competency based interview ie Situation, Task, Action, Result in order to describe your skills. Some of my colleagues here in the Civil Service that are trained to sit on interview boards keep reminding me that the most important thing is to be chatty and don't give short blunt answers, elaborate on everything within reason. Give them as much reason as possible to give you marks, they can't deduct marks for saying too much...

Can I ask you which location you are interested in? They are looking for analysts for Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Mullingar and Sligo/Cavan. I don't know how many for each though, I assume a lot more for Dublin than other locations and I'd say there will be a training period in Dublin first too.
Is your Degree in a technical subject, like Computers or something? Anyways good luck in the interview, I might meet you on the first day of training!

bo-sco

Thank you very much AA, that's a great help. I appreciate it. I'm from Dublin so would be hoping to be based here. I have a background in IT, have a postgrad in it and have worked in that area for the past eight years or so.

Best of luck to you too and like you say, you never know!

Garda_boss

.

Aglomerado

Made it to the top 250. Maybe for general civil service grades this type of selection process works, however for such a specialised role, I think people should have been assessed on the basis of what's on their CV/ application form. I have relevant experience and I thought the exam went OK, but you never know!

DisandDat

I have made it through to interview, only one of two non Garda to progress.

From what I have heard an appointment of 14 positions will be made in May. The other 14 later in the year.

blaugranabhoy

Anybody know how much this pays...just curious...sounds interesting...might apply next time around

dubdub123

Hi - it's my first post here to boards.ie !

Does anyone have any idea how many people completed the test?

Will those that do not have relevant degress be eliminated ?

There was a comment about being the only 1 of 2 non-garda to get through to interview. What's that in relation to ?

any info on this would be appreciated !!!

bo-sco

Disanddat
Where are you getting your info from? What do you mean by 'only one of two non Garda to progress'?

dubdub123

have the interviews already started for these posts? Any idea if there's going to be many outside of Dublin (Sligo or Galway). I was thinking that maybe a lot of people would want to stick with Dublin so that maybe some of the regional roles may be easier to get . Anyone have any ideas on numbers for those? Also - I presume they'll check that candidates have an appropriate degree for this type of work. Would that occur after the interview? Seems odd if the interviews go ahead without confirming that type of info first i.e. could be a waste of time getting peole in if they don't match the qualifications.

cargrouch

Will they be holding another competition for this?

stridnaz

Hi all,

First time poster here..........

Anyone get information on their start date/location for these positions??

Phaetonman

Did you get an interview Stridnaz?

I'm still waiting to see if I will get one. This panel thing is ridiculous.

stridnaz

Hi Phaetonman,

I presume you did the psychometric tests, where did you place?

Only top 30 were initially called for interview, if they got the required numbers from this panel that will probably be it for now.

dubdub123

Has anyone been called for interview in relation to this? Any job offers made as yet - for Sligo or Galway?? Also - just wondering what sortof results people got in the numerical score for this. Not sure how this whole panel thing works really regarding locations!! Do you have to go where you're offered or can you refuse and hold out for where you want?

Esel

If it follows the normal Civil Service standard:

If you refuse a particular location, you won't be offered there again. You will still be on the list for the other locations though.

dubdub123

Grand thank - have applied for EO/ICT EO as well so wondering about that as had to specify a location for EO but not yet for ICT EO.

Has anyone had an interview for the crime analyst role? or any job offers been made yet? Anyone heard if there'll be many slots outside of Dublin?

shakin

i remeber seeing a programme about this an bbc2 a few months ago, i thought it was quite interesting. i didnt know the gardai had these i assumed it was a section of the cso.

stridnaz

dubdub123 wrote: »

Has anyone been called for interview in relation to this? Any job offers made as yet - for Sligo or Galway?? Also - just wondering what sortof results people got in the numerical score for this. Not sure how this whole panel thing works really regarding locations!! Do you have to go where you're offered or can you refuse and hold out for where you want?

dubdub123,

AFAIK all candidates were placed in their preferred locations......