Reserves in Band 2/3 and those who didn't pass

OscarWhiskey

Hi, I am currently a reserve member and am in band 1, awaiting stage 2 results. Should I be unsuccessful at stage 2, I think I will continue to carry out my duties as a reserve, even though I will be out of the running to become a fulltime guard (initial reason I joined) for the foreseeable future.

Where do ye all stand?

Apologies if this topic has already been covered in another thread.

Jammydodger123

Keep the faith. I got band 3, absolutely gutted. Wahey!

Raider190

OscarWhiskey wrote: »

Hi, I am currently a reserve member and am in band 1, awaiting stage 2 results. Should I be unsuccessful at stage 2, I think I will continue to carry out my duties as a reserve, even though I will be out of the running to become a fulltime guard (initial reason I joined) for the foreseeable future.

Where do ye all stand?

Apologies if this topic has already been covered in another thread.

Will continue on no matter what happens love doing it so whatever the faiths hold whether full time or part time the good work will continue

Jammydodger123

Raider190 wrote: »

Will continue on no matter what happens love doing it so whatever the faiths hold whether full time or part time the good work will continue

Great attitude! Are you a reserve? Do you like it?

Raider190

Jammydodger123 wrote: »

Great attitude! Are you a reserve? Do you like it?

I am proud to say I am and it was the best thing I ever did. Would advise anyone who has an interest in policing to apply. You work with some great people and get some brilliant experience

OscarWhiskey

I'd be in the same boat. Love doing the reserves. Some of the life experience's I've gained are invaluable to me. Best way to get a true insight into the workings of An Garda Siochana.

Can't see why some folk havent applied and are then hell bent on joining fulltime. I know people will reply with 'oh ive a fulltime job' etc but that's Bullsh!t. fact is; if you want this job enough you'll give your time to the cause. I have a fulltime job and still manage to get my hours done, so I dont buy into the excuse of 'not enough time'. End of the day th 204 hours isnt a minimum, thats just to be eligible for the E1000 grant.

I literally can't stress how beneficial the reserves is for hopeful recruits. In my opinion and in an ideal world; being a member of the reserves should be a mandatory requirement for anyone looking to join the fulltime Guards, it makes so much sense. I know this wouldn't be possible for lads/ladies in the security/taxi/pub trade but those people could be exempt from the requirement.

Would be a huge cost saving thing too...

Raider190

OscarWhiskey wrote: »

I'd be in the same boat. Love doing the reserves. Some of the life experience's I've gained are invaluable to me. Best way to get a true insight into the workings of An Garda Siochana.

Can't see why some folk havent applied and are then hell bent on joining fulltime. I know people will reply with 'oh ive a fulltime job' etc but that's Bullsh!t. fact is; if you want this job enough you'll give your time to the cause. I have a fulltime job and still manage to get my hours done, so I dont buy into the excuse of 'not enough time'. End of the day th 204 hours isnt a minimum, thats just to be eligible for the E1000 grant.

I literally can't stress how beneficial the reserves is for hopeful recruits. In my opinion and in an ideal world; being a member of the reserves should be a mandatory requirement for anyone looking to join the fulltime Guards, it makes so much sense. I know this wouldn't be possible for lads/ladies in the security/taxi/pub trade but those people could be exempt from the requirement.

Would be a huge cost saving thing too...

Do agree the benefits far outweigh the disavantages. It is only 208 hours per year and with public events like croke park , aviva , etc the hours soon mount up

Jammydodger123

Raider190 wrote: »

Do agree the benefits far outweigh the disavantages. It is only 208 hours per year and with public events like croke park , aviva , etc the hours soon mount up

Its nice to hear ye guys enjoying it. I know one or two reserves who have dropped out because they got band 3. It is disheartening being in band 3 but id rather still try and be involved some bit than not at all.. Did ye apply for the full time garda? Anyone thinking abroad?

Raider190

Jammydodger123 wrote: »

Its nice to hear ye guys enjoying it. I know one or two reserves who have dropped out because they got band 3. It is disheartening being in band 3 but id rather still try and be involved some bit than not at all.. Did ye apply for the full time garda? Anyone thinking abroad?

That's crazy I would be advising people to stick with it .you never know what the next phase of evolution for the reserve will be

Copaholic

anyone in band 2 and 3 should stick with it even if it does feel disheartening. there was an article published last week where the current minister was asked if reserves with 2 years experience should be allowed proceed straight to the interview and not having to go through aptitude tests, the minister responded by stating that the stages up to the interview are more rigerious than those requirements for reserves. this is annoying as any good reserve will have gained far more experience and competiencies and aptitude test may not be the best method of picking these up. in any garda recruitment campaign there are 2 distinct groups applying--those with no policing experience whatsoever and those that do (reserves). accreditation for this kind of experience should be awarded from the commencement of the campaign and not only at stage 4 (interview). while the current legislation driving the campaign does allow for reserve experience to be taken into account at interview I believe that it is flawed as it recognises this experience too late in the campaign. What is interesting is the fact that the minister was asked the question which may lead one to believe that there might be some move from somewhere to better recognise reserve experience in a recruitment campaign.

Copaholic

like I said if your in band 2 or 3 then your still in the campaign so chins up and keep up the good work. its just a matter of seeing what happens and how many the first 600 will yield.

WilcoOut

Copaholic wrote: »

anyone in band 2 and 3 should stick with it even if it does feel disheartening. there was an article published last week where the current minister was asked if reserves with 2 years experience should be allowed proceed straight to the interview and not having to go through aptitude tests, the minister responded by stating that the stages up to the interview are more rigerious than those requirements for reserves. this is annoying as any good reserve will have gained far more experience and competiencies and aptitude test may not be the best method of picking these up. in any garda recruitment campaign there are 2 distinct groups applying--those with no policing experience whatsoever and those that do (reserves). accreditation for this kind of experience should be awarded from the commencement of the campaign and not only at stage 4 (interview). while the current legislation driving the campaign does allow for reserve experience to be taken into account at interview I believe that it is flawed as it recognises this experience too late in the campaign. What is interesting is the fact that the minister was asked the question which may lead one to believe that there might be some move from somewhere to better recognise reserve experience in a recruitment campaign.

All reserves should have known that nothing was going to give them special credit even though it should

any reserve worth their salt should have known that and should have played the game as it is

any reserve out there cribbing and moaning about not getting in or being way down the pecking order only has themselves to blame

no minister is going to change it for us any time soon. Minister have been asked over and over again for years and they havnt changed it. Even though it has obvious benefits


thankfully there are a high number of GRs now in the top 300 or so who will be in the first and second classes this year. But they relied on nobody but themselves

i agree that the system needs to be changed but people are victims of their own efforts this time around and not victims of the system

Peppa Cig

WilcoOut wrote: »

All reserves should have known that nothing was going to give them special credit even though it should

any reserve worth their salt should have known that and should have played the game as it is

any reserve out there cribbing and moaning about not getting in or being way down the pecking order only has themselves to blame

no minister is going to change it for us any time soon. Minister have been asked over and over again for years and they havnt changed it. Even though it has obvious benefits


thankfully there are a high number of GRs now in the top 300 or so who will be in the first and second classes this year. But they relied on nobody but themselves

i agree that the system needs to be changed but people are victims of their own efforts this time around and not victims of the system

With posts like that won't be long before your a fully fledged GRA anti-reserve full time member. Welcome on board reserve Wilco.

WilcoOut

Peppa Cig wrote: »

With posts like that won't be long before your a fully fledged GRA anti-reserve full time member. Welcome on board reserve Wilco.

I reject that entirely, what a lazy way to summise my point

i have seen plenty fantastic GR colleagues slip down and slip out due to the fact that they didnt little to zero prep for the test. They were over reliant on their service as a reserve. And now that they have a slim to none chance of getting in, its everybody elses fault. My point is - they should have know hows the systems would let them down and they should have made sure they were prepared properly. Sitting around now blaming everyone else is of no use

Santa Cruz

I certainly wouldn't be a fan of the Reserves in its present format. I do feel that many of the better ones have been badly served by the current recruitment process. Other have been found out and maybe that is for the best. But unless the Reserves stand up and demand changes the present treatment of Reserves who apply for the full time service will continue in any further recruitment.

Copaholic

The legislation covering the current recruitment campaign was only finalised late last year and was only published on 3/12/13--just a few days in time for this campaign. this legislation was being put together over a number of years and so there was plenty of time to better recognise the service and experience of reserves in the final legislation than it actually did. the fact that reserves experience only comes into play at the interview which is a late stage and the fact that the legislation does not clearly quantify how this experience is weight up says it all about how the reserves are viewed in the big picture. Of course one will also argue that the campaign is in its current state a level playing field for all to equally play on to compete on.
Perhaps reserves shouldn't be treated any differently but in that context does it mean that the years of experience they have counts for nothing or very little officially.
In most jobs (if not all) experience is an advantage (for obvious reasons) so why does it not count to the same extent regarding reserves ????

WilcoOut

Copaholic wrote: »

The legislation covering the current recruitment campaign was only finalised late last year and was only published on 3/12/13--just a few days in time for this campaign. this legislation was being put together over a number of years and so there was plenty of time to better recognise the service and experience of reserves in the final legislation than it actually did. the fact that reserves experience only comes into play at the interview which is a late stage and the fact that the legislation does not clearly quantify how this experience is weight up says it all about how the reserves are viewed in the big picture. Of course one will also argue that the campaign is in its current state a level playing field for all to equally play on to compete on.
Perhaps reserves shouldn't be treated any differently but in that context does it mean that the years of experience they have counts for nothing or very little officially.
In most jobs (if not all) experience is an advantage (for obvious reasons) so why does it not count to the same extent regarding reserves ????

Could you post the legislation please copaholic?

If its like the legislation that dermot aherne passed recognising reserve experience that its not worth the paper its written on

Copaholic

Here is the link to the legislation.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/2013/en.si.2013.0470.pdf

(ye might have to copy and paste it)

Reference to the recognition of reserve service is at:

Admission as a trainee
5. (1)b

WilcoOut

Copaholic wrote: »

Here is the link to the legislation.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/pdf/2013/en.si.2013.0470.pdf

(ye might have to copy and paste it)

Reference to the recognition of reserve service is at:

Admission as a trainee
5. (1)b

Thanks copaholic

those provisions have been around since 2006

nothing has changed in all these years

Copaholic

Ok , I wasn't aware of the 2006 provisions.

well if nothing has changed it does say a lot doesn't it

Copaholic

To all,

There is a poll taking place on the Garda Recruitment side called "the recruitment process.

Cast your vote if you wish

Copaholic

Is there anyone out there that attended any of the reserve seminars with management that are scheduled and if so how did they go ?

Peppa Cig

Copaholic wrote: »

Is there anyone out there that attended any of the reserve seminars with management that are scheduled and if so how did they go ?

Do you really think boards.ie is an appropriate place to ask this question?
Cop on Copaholic

Copaholic

Relax, just wondering how any of the seminars went.

TallGlass

Why is it people feel the need to have a hissy fit at the idea of the Reserves going full time and holding internal campaigns for limited places first. Yet no one has mentioned that only recently DFB another emergency service in there recruitment campaign, DCC filled the vacancy from existing call room staff (as far as I am aware) then held a campaign to recruit from the public for call center staff.

Copaholic

Your spot on. I opened a thread on the Garda recruitment side of this forum back in May with the idea that there should have been a separate internal recruitment campaign for reserves this time and going forward. I also stated that this time they should have drawn from the reserves first and then go public campaign which is what a lot of other departments have done across government. the defence forces have taken 500 first from the reserves and then will have a public campaign. It makes perfect sense and further more reserves given their experience would not take as much time and resources to train as per non reserves. I don't want to take up this thread with this topic but if there is a bit of constructive debate Perhaps I might open a separate thread on this side.