Clerical Positions in the Civil and Public Service

RoadhouseBlues

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Amen, brother or sister. I hear they're giving Garth Brooks tickets to the top scorers.:)

Hahaha. If only I had friends in high places. Or is it low places. Feck:-). I suppose the online tests are just to whittle down the numbers. I wonder how many people they will actually let through to the supervised one.

dani27

I just got an email to say that I will be doing an assessment questionnaire and aptitude test next week for a clerical position. Am new to this site so I am really nervous about this assessment. I am dreading it.Anyoone any advice on how I study for it? Thanks a mill


Dani

RoadhouseBlues

dani27 wrote: »

I just got an email to say that I will be doing an assessment questionnaire and aptitude test next week for a clerical position. Am new to this site so I am really nervous about this assessment. I am dreading it.Anyoone any advice on how I study for it? Thanks a mill


Dani

Look at post #294 and #296. That's what I'm thinking it will be. Hope that some help.

dani27

RoadhouseBlues wrote: »

Look at post #294 and #296. That's what I'm thinking it will be. Hope that some help.

thanks so much xx

PanaDrama

All good in the hood.

Some very unhelpful and smart people on this thread. Good luck to everyone applying the initial questionnaire just be careful with the responses. Generally its done in a -3 to +3 mark. Therefore if you picked minus 3 for a answer and the supposed correct response is +3 you would only get 1 point and 6 if you picked plus 3. Therefore I would suggest to those doing it to pick -1 if they think its a negative and +1 for something they think is positive as the worst points for doing this would be 3 as you can only be 4 away from correct response. Hope that makes sense !

starlit

Deleted User wrote: »

Some very unhelpful and smart people on this thread. Good luck to everyone applying the initial questionnaire just be careful with the responses. Generally its done in a -3 to +3 mark. Therefore if you picked minus 3 for a answer and the supposed correct response is +3 you would only get 1 point and 6 if you picked plus 3. Therefore I would suggest to those doing it to pick -1 if they think its a negative and +1 for something they think is positive as the worst points for doing this would be 3 as you can only be 4 away from correct response. Hope that makes sense !

Is that not a bit a like negative marking? For every wrong answer you get docked a mark for each right answer you give?

Got message alright but where are the practice tests ones I got no link to them or did I just miss it in the message or in the pre-test booklet?

Practice with aptitude test book or things online might be of help?

Tomblyboo

Read the booklet. it's amazing the amount of people who don't read it and are amazed when the tests dont go as they thought they would. being a co is all about doing what you're told to do. using your initiative will most likely land you in trouble. follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

part a of the assesment is likely to be a combination of the tco "i love filing, data entry, counter services, and telephony" questionnaire and job simulation exercises. for this there'll likely be a scenario and options to choose from. i would expect there will be a more direct decision type of scenarios with a pick one course of action option e.g where you won't have enough time to complete sthg, one where another manager apart from your own has tried to get you to do sthg for them, having to prioritise work... e.g answer the phone or continue filing, deal with a difficult customer either on the phone or face to face, refer a customer to the correct section/department. if you have to rank courses of action then give the negative marks to the ones that involve not communicating, listening, reporting etc. eg saying nothing when you've not enough time to complete a task is a serious no no. give the positive marks to stuff involving keeping your manager informed, organising and planning, like submitting regular reports to your manager on time.

Part
the aptitude tests have a new part in error checking and this will throw a lot of people. practice practice practice. the more you do the better you'll get. and not just in the tests the PAS point to. there a loads of free ones out there. the usual suspects in verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning are there. there is no negative marking in these tests, so if you pace yourself and concentrate on reading the scenario right and getting as many as possible from the ones you do right then you'll score well, because you'll have left a few seconds to go randomly with option a/b/c/d at the end. for example 12 out of 16 absolutely right and guess 4 remaining will put you in the top bracket for sure with maybe the bonus of guessing one of the last for by chance. compare this with doing the tests by giving yourself less time on each question and trying to complete all and you'll make more mistakes, 'cos you've less time, rushing, more pressure, etc. and you may have only 7 out of first 12 right. it's all in your head. these tests are designed to get in there and mess with you.

good luck with the tests to one and all and feck the begrudgers:)

rsl1976

Just completed the questionnaire now. Pretty basic stuff to be honest. The first part was basically about what is important to you in a role for example, how important is it that the role be varied and you can respond very, not very etc. The second one was comparing yourself to people you have worked with. one question was along the lines of "would you be a good listener" so you would pick the reply that applied to you eg.. much better, little better, the same, little worse, much worse.
The last part was asking how you would deal with different situations eg..a colleague answering the phone "yeah" instead of hello, this is Sean in Finance, how can I help you. You are giving 4 different ways to deal with it and you rank them in order best response to worse response. Hope this helps

Tarzana

rsl1976 wrote: »

Just completed the questionnaire now. Pretty basic stuff to be honest. The first part was basically about what is important to you in a role for example, how important is it that the role be varied and you can respond very, not very etc. The second one was comparing yourself to people you have worked with. one question was along the lines of "would you be a good listener" so you would pick the reply that applied to you eg.. much better, little better, the same, little worse, much worse.
The last part was asking how you would deal with different situations eg..a colleague answering the phone "yeah" instead of hello, this is Sean in Finance, how can I help you. You are giving 4 different ways to deal with it and you rank them in order best response to worse response. Hope this helps

Same as the TCO one so. My performance in the TCO assessment only got me into the reserves. Wonder what I can do differently this time?

Diddlina

Deleted User wrote: »

Some very unhelpful and smart people on this thread. Good luck to everyone applying the initial questionnaire just be careful with the responses. Generally its done in a -3 to +3 mark. Therefore if you picked minus 3 for a answer and the supposed correct response is +3 you would only get 1 point and 6 if you picked plus 3. Therefore I would suggest to those doing it to pick -1 if they think its a negative and +1 for something they think is positive as the worst points for doing this would be 3 as you can only be 4 away from correct response. Hope that makes sense !

this might have been helpful for the gards!! I fell down in the questionaire there. So good to know and hopefully I get on better with this.

SONIC2008

I don't even know how to answer "how important is it for the role to be varied?" I mean, Yes I'd like it to be varied. But surely many of these roles are quiet repetitive! Will I lose marks for saying I strong agree that it's important for the role to be varied?

Fluorescence

SONIC2008 wrote: »

I don't even know how to answer "how important is it for the role to be varied?" I mean, Yes I'd like it to be varied. But surely many of these roles are quiet repetitive! Will I lose marks for saying I strong agree that it's important for the role to be varied?

Yeah probably. They want people who love mindlessly boring repetitive tasks, show no initiative and follow precedent, from what I can tell.

eastbono

Fluorescence wrote: »

Yeah probably. They want people who love mindlessly boring repetitive tasks, show no initiative and follow precedent, from what I can tell.

As someone who works in the civil/public sector I find your statement to be very offensive. My role is far from mindlessly boring or repetitive and use my own initiative on a daily basis and that is from what I know not from what I can tell.

Just noticed you are a mod for ranting and raving!!!!!!!!...says it all really.

DesertCreat_15

As a TCO I have spoken with various colleagues whom are frustrated with "senior management" as they ignore the CO's ideas of bettering the processes in which they are involved in, often at no extra cost and even in some situations helping reduce costs.

There is a huge amount of wastage and unnecessary processes in the office i am currently in.

Anyway...

Don't apply for this job thinking you will have a say or an input in anything. It's a job where you need to keep your head down and get on with what you're told....unfortunately.

Fluorescence

eastbono wrote: »

As someone who works in the civil/public sector I find your statement to be very offensive. My role is far from mindlessly boring or repetitive and use my own initiative on a daily basis and that is from what I know not from what I can tell.

Just noticed you are a mod for ranting and raving!!!!!!!!...says it all really.

I wasn't pissing on your job, it was tongue-in-cheek conjecture. That said, when we were filling out our TCO applications I picked answers with more diversity/initiative and a friend chose answers like not important for tasks to be varied, follow previous procedure, etc etc, and the friend got placed much further up the panel than me. Not saying it's due to that but just something to think about what the recruiters might be looking for in applicants, rather than the reality of the job

fangler

Not happy if they're like the TCO test. I got placed in the A1 list but thought the questions were pretty random.

Tarzana

Fluorescence wrote: »

I picked answers with more diversity/initiative and a friend chose answers like not important for tasks to be varied, follow previous procedure, etc etc, and the friend got placed much further up the panel than me.

Duly noted. I did like you did for the TCO competition and only made reserves.

bandit99

Hi I applied for CO temorary and permenant, had interview in Dublin last weekend, but I have the questionnaire online today @4 anyone know the kind of questions they might ask,,,

Tomblyboo

Tarzana wrote: »

Duly noted. I did like you did for the TCO competition and only made reserves.

it's not that they're looking for mindless robots or anything like that. a lot of the jobs involve high volume processing of forms and queries along well established and constantly modified procedures. your job will be varied and you won't be in a corner for 20 years doing the same thing, but it may involve repetitve tasks that require a high level of focus and attention to detail. for example every part of the public services uses forms. the public complete them and as a co you'd be processing them. there is very little variety in the processing but the variety will be that every form will have different information in it so it will require strong attention to detail.

MommySquish

God, I am genuinely nervous about this. I would like to get out of the job I'm currently in. Any one have any advice?

davydoc

I just done mine, and it looked just the same as the TCO one, which I bombed in, so, good luck lads agus lassies, but I'd say I'm screwed. It's trying to decide if you want to come across as brain dead, or have SOME witt......I worked in it for a year before, so I know it IS repetitive, BUT, at the same time, you don't want to look like a robot. I found it hard to strike the balance

RoadhouseBlues

davydoc wrote: »

I just done mine, and it looked just the same as the TCO one, which I bombed in, so, good luck lads agus lassies, but I'd say I'm screwed. It's trying to decide if you want to come across as brain dead, or have SOME witt......I worked in it for a year before, so I know it IS repetitive, BUT, at the same time, you don't want to look like a robot. I found it hard to strike the balance

Just finished mine as well. Don't know what to make of it. I just got the reserves in the TCO for the last 2 years. Id say I'm fecked as well. Its a fecker to find the middle ground with some of those scenario's. Best of luck all anyway. I wonder will it take long to hear back.

davydoc

No clue.....I'd guess that all the first parts will have to be completed , and - from reading on here, some have from Tuesday to Friday next, so I'd guess a few weeks at least....but sure, how would ya know....lol

paul64

How long did it take to complete?

davydoc

It says 90 mins.......but I'd say 20-25 mins.....not much more....

davydoc

You have a progress bar to tell you how far along you are on each page

RoadhouseBlues

paul64 wrote: »

How long did it take to complete?

Took me about 35 mins and I was takin' my time.

RoadhouseBlues

davydoc wrote: »

No clue.....I'd guess that all the first parts will have to be completed , and - from reading on here, some have from Tuesday to Friday next, so I'd guess a few weeks at least....but sure, how would ya know....lol

Aye that sounds about right. If I got through this one though, at least the next part is more straightforward. In the next one you would know if you went wrong. This one is all up in the air.

Mayo Miss

Done and dusted. I think some of the scenarios were the same ones I got in the TCO questionnaire.

Did it in about 20/25 mins with no rushing. No idea how anyone could spend 90 mins on it.

RoadhouseBlues

Mayo Miss wrote: »

Done and dusted. I think some of the scenarios were the same ones I got in the TCO questionnaire.

Did it in about 20/25 mins with no rushing. No idea how anyone could spend 90 mins on it.

Aye 90 mins would be a bit mad. Best of luck with it:-)

aisinikins2121

First time entering any of the publicjobs competitions. They make it fairly awkward with these scenarios. Don't know what i'm at filling it out.

MommySquish

Wow. Just finished, if it even took 20 it would be alot. That last section was brutal though. Some of the questions were very..... ambiguous!

davydoc

MommySquish wrote: »

Wow. Just finished, if it even took 20 it would be alot. That last section was brutal though. Some of the questions were very..... ambiguous!

That exactly.....I put the feedback through at the end that I thought the same thing, there were a few examples where 'closed' questions would have been better.....it's one thing getting a question wrong cause you don't know the answer, its another when you're not EXACTLY sure what you're being asked....

darragh o meara

Anybody had problems with accessing the sample aptitude tests on the link in the handbook?

corny

I'm of the opinion that these tests are hogwash anyway. I wonder has there been any research done as to establish a link to actual job performance?

They'd be better served rolling some dice.:pac:

KERSPLAT!

Haven't done mine yet, thinking I'll do it tomorrow afternoon

bijou

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Haven't done mine yet, thinking I'll do it tomorrow afternoon

Same here, gonna leave it till tomorrow as well, just started on an 8 week TCO contract this week so my head is wrecked lol

yenom

What time was yer window lads? Mind is for Monday-Thursday next week.

KERSPLAT!

yenom wrote: »

What time was yer window lads? Mind is for Monday-Thursday next week.

Friday to Monday, doing it sometime today after work today

FloatingVoter

Done and dusted. Probably 30 minutes...I made sure to actually read the scenarios and think about them this time.

Milly33

What kind of questions do they ask you. In the boat where I signed up and just got an email saying your window is next week,but sure I have no idea..any tips would be appreciated thanks

butterly.john

Hi all,
I have applied for the civil service positions. I was wondering does any one know if you are successful in the next stages and are offered a particular department and you refuse it what happens. Are you gone or do you go back on a list and get another offering in your selected area if one comes up.
Thanks

butterly.john

Milly33 wrote: »

What kind of questions do they ask you. In the boat where I signed up and just got an email saying your window is next week,but sure I have no idea..any tips would be appreciated thanks

I did the questions last night, its hard to explain what they are like, as far as I could see in some of them there was no correct answer. It does not seem to be somthing that you can study for at this stage, I may be wrong but I think anyone who has worked in an office environment should have no problem with them.

FloatingVoter

butterly.john wrote: »

I did the questions last night, its hard to explain what they are like, as far as I could see in some of them there was no correct answer. It does not seem to be somthing that you can study for at this stage, I may be wrong but I think anyone who has worked in an office environment should have no problem with them.

^ This. Basically, you're given a bunch of scenarios and four possible reactions to each. You have to rate the reactions from 1 to 4 in order of good, adequate, inadequate, incompetent. Some are obvious, some less so.

RobbingBandit

Done in less than 20, read them this time just to be sure.

WhiteWalls

are you supposed to do it as quick as you can?

yenom

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Friday to Monday, doing it sometime today after work today

Thanks, was worried there may of been an error on mine.

FloatingVoter

WhiteWalls wrote: »

are you supposed to do it as quick as you can?

Nope, just as well as you can.

Milly33

Great thank you both.. So just common sense questions really. Perfect should be flying have worked in admin for way too long.. thanks and best of luck to all doing the test