Administrative Officer 2017 Campaign

Jimbob1977

Hi,

Has anyone come across a good job simulation website yet?

I find plenty of websites that discuss job simulation exercises... but struggling to find a site that offers free trials.

The_Conductor

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone come across a good job simulation website yet?

I find plenty of websites that discuss job simulation exercises... but struggling to find a site that offers free trials.

Even if you did find free trials online- they wouldn't necessarily be relevant to PAS. I was in the group involved in setting questions for COs and EOs (a long time ago)- I can assure you- they're not to be found anywhere else.

Jimbob1977

The_Conductor wrote: »

Even if you did find free trials online- they wouldn't necessarily be relevant to PAS. I was in the group involved in setting questions for COs and EOs (a long time ago)- I can assure you- they're not to be found anywhere else.

So 'common sense' is the best preparation to have ?

The_Conductor

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

So 'common sense' is the best preparation to have ?

Answer the questions honestly- and don't try to guess what you imagine the person setting the question has in mind for a 'right' or 'wrong' answer- be honest, be you- and you may be very pleasantly surprised.

quad_red

The two hours set aside for ‘verification’.

That’s redo the numerical and verbal assessment again. There’s a job simulation exercise - is that in the same format as the online version?

At what point do all our qualifications etc get checked and processed?

Cheers
Quad

Ravelleman

quad_red wrote: »

The two hours set aside for ‘verification’.

That’s redo the numerical and verbal assessment again. There’s a job simulation exercise - is that in the same format as the online version?

At what point do all our qualifications etc get checked and processed?

Cheers
Quad

Last year, if I recall correctly, the job simulation on the interview day required you to select a single best answer.

Qualifications get checked between the exercises. There are a number of corrals that you wait in as you go through the day and they call you out from these.

quad_red

Ravelleman wrote: »

Last year, if I recall correctly, the job simulation on the interview day required you to select a single best answer.

Qualifications get checked between the exercises. There are a number of corrals that you wait in as you go through the day and they call you out from these.

Thanks Ravelleman.

So I have an hour and a half from the presentation to the verification. And then two hours from the end of verification to interview. Will that be spent in a queue doing the document thing? (Was hoping to do some extra preparation then but good to know if that won’t be possible)

Thanks v much.

baba87

Has anyone that did the graduate economist IGEES case study any idea when the results will be out?

Ravelleman

quad_red wrote: »

Thanks Ravelleman.

So I have an hour and a half from the presentation to the verification. And then two hours from the end of verification to interview. Will that be spent in a queue doing the document thing? (Was hoping to do some extra preparation then but good to know if that won’t be possible)

Thanks v much.

There will only be about 30 people there at the same time as you and this is divided up further into groups that do the same exercises at the same time. I started with presentation, then interview and finally verification. For others, it was the inverse of this. The checking part only took about 3 minutes - they photocopy your passport, diplomas, etc.

I had some down time between the interview and verification and went back to my previous office, which was nearby, for a sit down and a cup of tea.

Hovelette

Am I missing something about local authority interviews? What's happening on the 2nd and 9th December? I thought it was interviews but I've got no word re scheduling.

Is it just tests for people not in the CS AO competition then?

Jimbob1977

Hovelette wrote: »

Am I missing something about local authority interviews? What's happening on the 2nd and 9th December? I thought it was interviews but I've got no word re scheduling.

Is it just tests for people not in the CS AO competition then?

Hi,

I think a person said a few pages back that it was just the supervised online tests for Local Government. Not the interview.

An Capall Dubh

I applied for the CS comp but was under the impression that the application was for both the LG and CS comps.

I got the results of my CS aptitude tests but did not hear anything about the LG results.

Was there 2 separate applications forms to be submitted?

Jimbob1977

An Capall Dubh wrote: »

I applied for the CS comp but was under the impression that the application was for both the LG and CS comps.

I got the results of my CS aptitude tests but did not hear anything about the LG results.

Was there 2 separate applications forms to be submitted?

Yes, the forms were completely different.

The Local Government application form was more detailed. It asked you to pick which skills (out of six listed) you were interested in.

An Capall Dubh

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Yes, the forms were completely different.

The Local Government application form was more detailed. It asked you to pick which skills (out of six listed) you were interested in.

Oh well! Thanks for the reply.

Colli_Flower86

Is anyone else a bit jumpy about the current employer reference? I'm fairly confident that my current employer would sack me immediately if I asked for a reference or if someone rang looking for one.

Claireyy

Colli_Flower86 wrote: »

Is anyone else a bit jumpy about the current employer reference? I'm fairly confident that my current employer would sack me immediately if I asked for a reference or if someone rang looking for one.

I’m also going for clerical officer and am kind of in a similar situation to yourself. I think the references are more to confirm employment dates more than anything. Somebody told me that if you’re worried about references, you can request a print out of your tax contributions from welfare to prove that you were working so that’s what I’ve done!

AGC

Colli_Flower86 wrote: »

Is anyone else a bit jumpy about the current employer reference? I'm fairly confident that my current employer would sack me immediately if I asked for a reference or if someone rang looking for one.

They will only contact a reference once an offer of employment is made and you give them permission.

PCX

Colli_Flower86 wrote: »

Is anyone else a bit jumpy about the current employer reference? I'm fairly confident that my current employer would sack me immediately if I asked for a reference or if someone rang looking for one.

You don't need to actually get the references until you have been offered and accepted the job.

At that stage it really doesn't matter if your employer isn't happy that you looked elsewhere as you know you have another job to go to.

The part that might be tricky is PAS insist on a reference that goes beyond the 'statement of employment' which many companies are willing to give that just confirms dates with the company. This can be written or over the phone. Luckily I had a manager willing to break company policy to give a verbal reference for me.

Sarahlaois

Re the references - does anyone know how far back they go. I joined the service as a CO in June 2017 and my private sector bosses gave me a reference (to PAS) at that point. Will they now accept a reference from CS or will they go back to my old employers? Thanks in advance

Australia33

2not4get wrote: »

Sorry if this has already been answered.

I applied to both Local Government and Civil Service.

I got results and invited to Civil Service next state, which I know covers the verification for Local Government.

Have decided to pull out of the Civil Service competition but have notified Local Government and now have verification on the 9th of Dec.

How do I know my placing in the Local Government competition ?

Be in your messages on public jobs

argonaut

baba87 wrote: »

Has anyone that did the graduate economist IGEES case study any idea when the results will be out?

They're out now in case you haven't noticed the email - hope you got on okay!

evancunny95

argonaut wrote: »

baba87 wrote: »

Has anyone that did the graduate economist IGEES case study any idea when the results will be out?

They're out now in case you haven't noticed the email - hope you got on okay!

Has anyone done a competitive interview like this before? Presume it means you're up against one or more people being asked the same questions?

Also, I cant access the campaign leaflet so I don't remember if this is the last stage or is their another one after the interview?

vicrox

evancunny95 wrote: »

Has anyone done a competitive interview like this before? Presume it means you're up against one or more people being asked the same questions?

Also, I cant access the campaign leaflet so I don't remember if this is the last stage or is their another one after the interview?

I have never done a competitive interview before, they said they would get back to you shortly with more information.

On the leaflet that I have it says "December - Successful candidates are called for interview. January'18 - Successful candidates are offered places in departments".

argonaut

evancunny95 wrote: »

Has anyone done a competitive interview like this before? Presume it means you're up against one or more people being asked the same questions?

Also, I cant access the campaign leaflet so I don't remember if this is the last stage or is their another one after the interview?

I don't know specifically what the deal is for the IGEES thing but in general civil service interviews just tend to be asking you about examples of times you applied your various skills etc. in your career/education. Pretty nervous about it but we'll see.

baba87

I'd imagine it's heavily based on the examples we provided in the application originally plus the competencies for the AO grade...

baba87

vicrox wrote: »

I have never done a competitive interview before, they said they would get back to you shortly with more information.

On the leaflet that I have it says "December - Successful candidates are called for interview. January'18 - Successful candidates are offered places in departments".

Is that for IGEES interview? Have exams over the next two weeks. Was really hoping to avoid an interview this side of Christmas!

argonaut

baba87 wrote: »

Is that for IGEES interview? Have exams over the next two weeks. Was really hoping to avoid an interview this side of Christmas!

Same (IGEES). I just hope I don't have mine on the same day as an exam since they can be pains about rescheduling.

vicrox

evancunny95 wrote: »

Has anyone done a competitive interview like this before? Presume it means you're up against one or more people being asked the same questions?

Also, I cant access the campaign leaflet so I don't remember if this is the last stage or is their another one after the interview?

baba87 wrote: »

Is that for IGEES interview? Have exams over the next two weeks. Was really hoping to avoid an interview this side of Christmas!

Yes it is for the IGEES interview. Hopefully, your interview won't be on the day of an exam.

Ravelleman

evancunny95 wrote: »

Has anyone done a competitive interview like this before? Presume it means you're up against one or more people being asked the same questions?

The interview is private. You will be asked to respond to questions that correspond to each of the competencies identified for the role. Your answers will then be assessed and assigned a score by the panel conducting the interview following the criteria set by PAS. The combined results of your scores across the interview, presentation and verification will determine your place on the order of merit. The higher you are on the order of merit, the more likely it is that you will be offered a job. In that your interview will contribute to your final place on the order of merit, it can be considered competitive.

Chocolate Teapot

Are the supervised tests always a similar level of difficulty to the online ones? Has anybody found the supervised tests significantly more difficult than the online ones? When I went for EO the tests were practically identical but I've heard this is not always the case.