Civil service - CO exam

jd83

Hi,

Doing the clerical officer exam soon for the civil service. I was looking at the sample questions which seem pretty easy however they dont give you a lot of time like some are 30 questions in 10 min and 40 questions in 7 min. Are you expected to answer them all or is itdo what you can and get them right?
Thanks for your help

superreds

jd83 wrote: »

Hi,

Doing the clerical officer exam soon for the civil service. I was looking at the sample questions which seem pretty easy however they dont give you a lot of time like some are 30 questions in 10 min and 40 questions in 7 min. Are you expected to answer them all or is itdo what you can and get them right?
Thanks for your help

done this test some months ago, you wont have time do all the questions also the maths are a lot different than the sample one's (harder)?take your time, best of luck, let us know how u get on

TheBeach

Speed and accuracy are important. It's just a matter of focusing and trying to get as many done correctly as possible. Good luck!

jaffa20

I'm going for this exam soon too. Guess it will be the same one on saturday :P I thought the sample questions were easy too but i'm still worried. I would love to know if anybody has any other tips. Is there any more tests i could do online that would make me better prepared etc

TheBeach

jaffa20 wrote: »

I'm going for this exam soon too. Guess it will be the same one on saturday :P I thought the sample questions were easy too but i'm still worried. I would love to know if anybody has any other tips. Is there any more tests i could do online that would make me better prepared etc

The only other tip I have is to ensure that you mark your answer inside the little squares that are on the sheet. Don't go outside the line, as the computer can find it hard to pick up with answer you meant. (I hope this makes sense!?!). Also keep your head down and focus. If you make a mistake or don't know the answer to something, don't spend ages on it, just go on to the next question.

miju

On the maths you only have to answer a certain number of questions correctly (IIRC it's 7 or 8 correct answers)

It does not count towards your overall placing in the competition but you just need to make sure you answer the minimum

frantic franny

sitting this test myself. wondering does anybody know how long the it takes and about how may questions there are to each part.

jaffa20

So, how did everyone do

I got 336 place on order of merit for waterford city co and i'm a bit confused as i thought i did **** but apparently passed Is this mark good enough to be called for an interview. It seems doubtful and i'm not sure what next steps are involved. Anyway, i'm happy i passed cos it's my first time at this and thought it went awful on the day.

frantic franny

well at least you passed. got result yesterday didnt make it. I was disappointed, doing a six month relief in CS at the moment. Thought it might be a way to get in. Anyway, maybe i was on the wrong side of 40. :mad:

jaffa20

frantic franny wrote: »

well at least you passed. got result yesterday didnt make it. I was disappointed, doing a six month relief in CS at the moment. Thought it might be a way to get in. Anyway, maybe i was on the wrong side of 40. :mad:

Hard luck frantic franny. What do you mean by wrong side of 40 I don't think they'll be taking on many people anyway because of the recruitment freeses. I guess i could be lucky and be called for an interview but i'm not going to wait around for them to call cause it could take ages i've heard. A very long process Anyway, better luck next time.

jd83

Was doing temp contract with them as well. Got my results 51st but think thats just for my exam group so not sure how many they will interview.

jaffa20

jd83 wrote: »

Was doing temp contract with them as well. Got my results 51st but think thats just for my exam group so not sure how many they will interview.

Wow that's really good. Well done!! I think you will be called for the interview but i've no idea how the recruitment process works. Anybody got any idea of cut off point etc for interviews

frantic franny

that was very good Jd, im on temporary contract as well, so was hopeing to make it in that route. worked in the civil service in a previous life. im in my late forties, so maybe didnt fit the criteria, or maybe just to slow at apt tests.

jaffa20

I don't think the CS can discriminate against any category of people. It was perhaps the maths section that let you down as there is a minimum standard for that. There was also negative marking for the verbal reasoning which is a first because they didn't have that before. I think i did well in everything but the last one where i only got half of it done. Obviously that was enough.

jd83

Hi thanks im not sure like it said on the letter batch one so maybe its 51st in my group which might not be that good. Hard luck, they hire people of all ages i was in revenue and there where people in their forties who were only a year in the service so if you see it advertised again reapply. They will send out a exam feedback and you will see where you done well and where you need to work on.

AOwannabe

I got placed in the 20s for Limerick/Tipperary. It says that places 1 - 50 must fill in the supplementary application form and send it back by October 17th.

jd83

really that sucks for me 51! i would mine missing it by a lot but by one place that just head wrecking

frantic franny

proberly, wasnt comfortable with the verbal reasoning, did 22 out of the 24 numerical reasonable, and happy with those answer, same with next one was that the clerical matching got all those finished, the last one i cant remember how many questions there were, i took my time got about 25 finished. will be interesting to see feedback. i must have been pretty awful when i didnt even get a place. :mad:

jaffa20

Right, so i got this email and i'm assuming everyone got it.

Thank you for applying to the Public Appointments Service and undergoing the selection test for the above.

Unfortunately due to the present economic climate and the public sector cut-back requirements it is not intended to proceed any further with processing these applications at this stage.

I will hold your name on file and if circumstances improve in the future I will contact you again.



What a waste of time! :rolleyes: Bloody recession!

AOwannabe

jaffa20 wrote: »

Right, so i got this email and i'm assuming everyone got it.

Thank you for applying to the Public Appointments Service and undergoing the selection test for the above.

Unfortunately due to the present economic climate and the public sector cut-back requirements it is not intended to proceed any further with processing these applications at this stage.

I will hold your name on file and if circumstances improve in the future I will contact you again.



What a waste of time! :rolleyes: Bloody recession!

Haven't received any e-mail such as above yet. I was placed in the 20's and had to submit the supplementary application which I did. I contacted them to see how far they have reached on the panel and was told they haven't done any interviews yet and also that they don't even have a start date yet.

jd83

I came 51 didnt get any thing about application form or that email about not recruiting

jaffa20

Well, i applied for waterford so i don't know it's only them that have decided this. I thought there would have been a freeze on all recruitment in the civil service though. Anyhow, i'll stick with my banking job for the moment. Good luck all and keep us up to date with how you all get on.;)

AOwannabe

Anybody get called for the interview yet? I still haven't heard any thing.

jaffa20

well i wasted my saturday going for it anyway. they knew there would be a recruitment freeze and i doubt many positions will be going.