Graduate Opportunities in Local Government 2017

tgdaly

Anyone have any idea when there are coming out with the results for the test done for Graduate Opportunities in Local Government 2017? The one's done on either the 2nd or 9th of December in chapter house

Sharon2017

tgdaly wrote: »

Anyone have any idea when there are coming out with the results for the test done for Graduate Opportunities in Local Government 2017? The one's done on either the 2nd or 9th of December in chapter house

I did my supervised test for this campaign on the 9th of December and I emailed them for an update last week. Here’s what they wrote back:


‘Hi

We are still in the planning stage for this campaign. The number to be called forward and when the next stage will be is still to be finalised. It is intended to invite a number of candidates, based on the order of merit, to Stage 3.

We will be in contact with you this month with details regarding the Stage 2 result. Please log in regularly to your publicjobs.ie Message Board where any updates on this competition will be posted.

Regards

Local Government Recruitment’

tgdaly

Sharon2017 wrote: »

I did my supervised test for this campaign on the 9th of December and I emailed them for an update last week. Here’s what they wrote back:


‘Hi

We are still in the planning stage for this campaign. The number to be called forward and when the next stage will be is still to be finalised. It is intended to invite a number of candidates, based on the order of merit, to Stage 3.

We will be in contact with you this month with details regarding the Stage 2 result. Please log in regularly to your publicjobs.ie Message Board where any updates on this competition will be posted.

Regards

Local Government Recruitment’

Thanks for that, hopefully won't be too much longer so!

Jimbob1977

Stage Two was performed in two streams:

o Candidates who sat the supervised test on 2nd and 9th December.

o Candidates who were also participating in the Civil Service campaign. Their 'Assessment Centre' also covered off the supervised test requirement for the Local Government. It was killing two birds with the one stone.

Good luck to everyone called for Stage Three

Mac0783

Results are out! I wonder how many they will bring forward for interview.

Sharon2017

Got my results - I am 125 on the OOM. Is that good? I know it would be a good score for other campaigns I am up for but is it for this? Any idea how many people would have qualified for this?

neilie22

I dropped quite a lot of places from my OOM on the first stage version of the test. I hope they call a large batch to interview so I can stay in the process.

Jimbob1977

It's hard to know exactly how many positions might be available.

'Geography' could become a key factor as people were asked to express a preference on Eastern, Southern or Border Region.

It could depend on the level of interest in your region, i.e. you might be #100 nationally overall, but #10 in the Borders region and #2 in County xyz based on your address. Although specific county was not a choice.

Dublin Local Government you'd expect to be the main employers - Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

The wording of the notification indicates a straight interview. Couldn't see a mention of mock presentations or job simulation.

Some people might have picked all six skills... others will have restricted their picks.

Best wishes to everyone! Fingers crossed for a good day in February

Sharon2017

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

The wording of the notification indicates a straight interview. Couldn't see a mention of mock presentations or job simulation.

Thank feck for that! It would be an annoying extra step. I picked the South and Dublin as my preferred regions so I guess that puts me in for most of the opportunities.

I've picked 3 or 4 skill sections I think but having looked at the campaign booklet again I'm questioning my actually being qualified for some of them.

Do they actually require a degree in the subject matter? I have a broader degree (a Masters in Public Policy) - are they actually looking for people who have a degree in for example Economic Enterprise and Business Development or Innovation Strategy and Change management. If thats the case I'm likely not going to get much further!

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Thank feck for that! It would be an annoying extra step. I picked the South and Dublin as my preferred regions so I guess that puts me in for most of the opportunities.

I've picked 3 or 4 skill sections I think but having looked at the campaign booklet again I'm questioning my actually being qualified for some of them.

Do they actually require a degree in the subject matter? I have a broader degree (a Masters in Public Policy) - are they actually looking for people who have a degree in for example Economic Enterprise and Business Development or Innovation Strategy and Change management. If thats the case I'm likely not going to get much further!

You would pick up a lot of these skills in your professional life and put them on your CV (aka application form), rather than holding specific university degrees in them.

Although a specific degree in them would be a distinct advantage (if they exist)

Sharon2017

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

You would pick up a lot of these skills in your professional life and put them on your CV (aka application form), rather than holding specific university degrees in them.

Although a specific degree in them would be a distinct advantage (if they exist)

That’s what I hoped and thought when I applied but I saw the words ‘with degrees in’ for the description of some of these and got a bit scared!

tgdaly

258 on the order of merit. As people have said it's hasn't been said how many positions they are hiring for and how many they are calling forward for interviews, so it's difficult to be too hopeful

Sharon2017

tgdaly wrote: »

As people have said it's hasn't been said how many positions they are hiring for and how many they are calling forward for interviews, so it's difficult to be too hopeful

I asked PAS how many jobs there would be etc and this is the reply I got this morning:


There are approx 150 vacancies nationwide. We will be calling everyone who passed stage 2 forward to main interview which are due to commence in mid February. As per the message, PAS will be in contact through the publicjobs Message Board regarding interview details.

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

I asked PAS how many jobs there would be etc and this is the reply I got this morning:


There are approx 150 vacancies nationwide. We will be calling everyone who passed stage 2 forward to main interview which are due to commence in mid February. As per the message, PAS will be in contact through the publicjobs Message Board regarding interview details.

Very useful information. Thanks for posting.

Jimbob1977

A new email has been received from PAS.

From reading the instructions, it seems that we are required to complete two forms:

PDF - a 'copy and paste' of Section B from our original Application Form. It must be for the benefit of the interviewers?? To boil down the essentials onto one sheet for them.

Online form - basic personal information.

Can anyone see anything extra being asked?

Mid-February remains the target date for interviews.

Jimbob1977

Actually .... the original submission form (Section was just one box to discuss all your skills lumped together.

The supplementary application form has a box for each skill. So it's probably a rearrangement exercise

ver2

I was wondering what happens after the 3 years. Are you guaranteed a job with the local authority or can you be let go again?

I am near the 200 mark so reckon will be lucky to get a place on the panel.

RedNiamhy

Is anyone having an issue opening the forms to complete? I have updated my abode but it's still not opening. Thanks.

Jimbob1977

It's working fine for me.

What type of error are you seeing?

If you right click the file and select 'Open With'.... does that make a difference?

RedNiamhy

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

It's working fine for me.

What type of error are you seeing?

If you right click the file and select 'Open With'.... does that make a difference?

This is the message. I'm getting it on the phone, laptop and pc.

Jimbob1977

RedNiamhy wrote: »

This is the message. I'm getting it on the phone, laptop and pc.

I get that message if I double click the PDF file after downloading it.

Instead of double clicking, can you 'right click' on the file and -> Open With -> Adobe Acrobat.

Sharon2017

RedNiamhy wrote: »

This is the message. I'm getting it on the phone, laptop and pc.

I got this when I tried from work because the PC didn't have adobe reader or acrobat installed. When I tried it at home with my Macbook, which does have it, it worked fine. If you want can try to send you a copy of them form in case its some glitch but maybe make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat first?

mrrobot

Was wondering, if successful during the February interviews, when does the programme typically begin ie. much later in the year or relatively soon after interview?

Jimbob1977

Best wishes to everyone waiting to get an interview date.

Sharon2017

I hope people will start to hear soon about interview dates! If I'm being optimistic it would be great to hear in the coming week

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

I hope people will start to hear soon about interview dates! If I'm being optimistic it would be great to hear in the coming week

To meet the objective of Mid-February interviews, the candidates would need to receive notification this week. Fingers crossed.

Jimbob1977

Hi,

Has anyone received a communication this week? I've heard nothing.

Cheers

neilie22

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone received a communication this week? I've heard nothing.

Cheers

Nothing for me either. I was kind of expecting an update today...

tgdaly

neilie22 wrote: »

Nothing for me either. I was kind of expecting an update today...

Nothing here yet either. I got an email today telling me to book a time for stage 2 of Clerical Positions in the civil service 2017 campaign, would be nice to know when I've an interview for this one before I start booking days off work. Surely will hear back before the end of next week

Sharon2017

Nada - I emailed them last week asking for an update but they said they're still finalising the details. If anyone else fancies writing in or ringing they might have more info this week. I don't want to be hassling them every few days so have to wait a while myself before asking!

I have an interview next week on the clerical campaign but i'd like to know whats happening with this one as obviously the money is a lot better and in general this is the one I'd prefer!

Jimbob1977

Interview email just received on publicjobs.ie

Sharon2017

Me too

tgdaly

Same here. Of course they'd put me on the day before the day I booked off work for my exam for the other Clerical job... But at least we have a date now

Sharon2017

tgdaly wrote: »

Same here. Of course they'd put me on the day before the day I booked off work for my exam for the other Clerical job... But at least we have a date now

I'm the same - could get sacked with all these days off I have to take for the various civil service campaigns but its good to have a date!

I don't usually worry about interviews but I don't know what to expect from this one. I presume it will be a lot more difficult than the clerical one? They didn't give any familiarisation material for this interview at all and I don't even think there was a list of expected skills for this. Does anybody have some insight on this?

redmosquito85

Sharon2017 wrote: »

I'm the same - could get sacked with all these days off I have to take for the various civil service campaigns but its good to have a date!

I don't usually worry about interviews but I don't know what to expect from this one. I presume it will be a lot more difficult than the clerical one? They didn't give any familiarisation material for this interview at all and I don't even think there was a list of expected skills for this. Does anybody have some insight on this?

This is my first time in any of these competitions so really in the dark as to what is to be expected so any insight at all would help.

Sharon2017

redmosquito85 wrote: »

This is my first time in any of these competitions so really in the dark as to what is to be expected so any insight at all would help.

Its new enough to me too but I’m currently on 3 of the civil service campaigns, with this being the one I want most. I had an interview for the clerical officer campaign last week and it was competency based. They went through the characteristics of a clerical officer such as teamwork and information delivery and asked me to give examples that relate to these such as tell me about the best team you were on and what aspects you believe were effective.

I found it okay personally, not too bad but I don’t know if this is what we can expect for this campaign. The skill areas are quite specialist really so it's hard to tell. But at the same time I am wondering if maybe it will be a similar type interview as surely a generalist recruiter at the public appointments service won’t have the inside knowledge to give me a grilling about innovation strategy and change management? That's my logic but who knows!

It also occured to me that it was never mentioned that this is the final stage - i.e. what if there is another interview after this with the local authority or a presentation exercise like they mention is possible in the booklet. I really really hope not!

S.breen7

Does anyone have the information booklet we received at the start with the job spec on it? It was on my old laptop and I can't find it anywhere online

Jimbob1977

S.breen7 wrote: »

Does anyone have the information booklet we received at the start with the job spec on it? It was on my old laptop and I can't find it anywhere online

It's one of the attachments to the 'AO in Civil Service' thread

LocalGovBooklet

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/misc.php?do=showattachments&t=2057789672

S.breen7

Thanks a million!

Sharon2017

Does anyone have their interview coming up in the next week or so? Mine is the week after but I'm just wondering what everyone is doing in terms of prep? Will we just be grilled about the competencies on the Local Government booklet or is there more to it?

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Does anyone have their interview coming up in the next week or so? Mine is the week after but I'm just wondering what everyone is doing in terms of prep? Will we just be grilled about the competencies on the Local Government booklet or is there more to it?

If you know someone in Local Government, ask to meet them.

Enquire about the services provided, the scope of what the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) offers, the difficulties, the challenges, the strategies employed. Also the style of interview and types of questions to expect.

Even better if you can share your application form with them in advance... so they might be good enough to give you a mock interview.

Sharon2017

Thanks yeah I have a relative who works in CCC so I was planning to meet them at some stage to see if they have any insight

redmosquito85

Got a message today outlining the people who will be interviewing and the format of the interview.

Couple of questions
-In general, what kind of time length do people experience for these interviews. I have done job interviews that have lasted 20 minutes up to interviews that have lasted 90 minutes. I'm assuming this will be on the higher end of the scale?
- My ranking dropped significantly after supervised tests to mid 200's, I know it depends what area I am focusing on and the region but going on people's experiences from other competitions, if there are about 150 jobs, am I looking at a long shot of getting a look in?

Again, it's all new to me as this is this is my first competition so any advice is good!

snlaesaaa

Hey guys, I also have an interview coming up for the Graduate Opportunities in Local Government Campaign and joining in the thread. Does anyone know if we will have to do any sort of presentation in the interview?

And also I'm still in the final year of my undergraduate degree, jw is anyone else in the same boat or are you all finished and out of college a few years?

Jimbob1977

redmosquito85 wrote: »

Got a message today outlining the people who will be interviewing and the format of the interview.

Out of interest, was this message sent direct to your personal email or via the PAS message board?

I didn't get anything yesterday

Sharon2017

redmosquito85 wrote: »

Got a message today outlining the people who will be interviewing and the format of the interview.

Couple of questions
-In general, what kind of time length do people experience for these interviews. I have done job interviews that have lasted 20 minutes up to interviews that have lasted 90 minutes. I'm assuming this will be on the higher end of the scale?
- My ranking dropped significantly after supervised tests to mid 200's, I know it depends what area I am focusing on and the region but going on people's experiences from other competitions, if there are about 150 jobs, am I looking at a long shot of getting a look in?

Again, it's all new to me as this is this is my first competition so any advice is good!

Would really like to know about this email you received as I haven't received one at all myself! Is your interview soon?

In terms of what to expect for this interview, I would say it would be around 30-45 minutes. There will surely not be a presentation unless they decide to spring that on us all of a sudden via email a week before the interview! I think being in the 200s yes you would have a shot so be positive! There will be people who don’t show up or who are unsuccessful in the interview so I would say your chance is 50/50 which are reasonable odds.The OOM may change based on your region and skill choices as the figure they gave us was nationwide, so if you’re more qualified in a certain skill area than someone else it should jump you up on the OOM.

Sazzie13

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Would really like to know about this email you received as I haven't received one at all myself! Is your interview soon?

In terms of what to expect for this interview, I would say it would be around 30-45 minutes. There will surely not be a presentation unless they decide to spring that on us all of a sudden via email a week before the interview! I think being in the 200s yes you would have a shot so be positive! There will be people who don’t show up or who are unsuccessful in the interview so I would say your chance is 50/50 which are reasonable odds.The OOM may change based on your region and skill choices as the figure they gave us was nationwide, so if you’re more qualified in a certain skill area than someone else it should jump you up on the OOM.

Hi I was told yesterday that interview prep info would be sent out today - so hopefully we will know more once these are received!

Sharon2017

No sign of instructions yet. Anybody else got it?

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

No sign of instructions yet. Anybody else got it?

Ditto. Nothing in my Inbox

It's useful to know the backgrounds of the interview panel.

Sharon2017

My info has been sent- there's a lot of people going to be there from the looks of it!

Jimbob1977

Yep. Just got details of the interview panel.

It's also time to pick our county/counties in order of preference.

We are requested to bring the application forms along.