Graduate Opportunities in Local Government 2017

Jimbob1977

Sazzie13 wrote: »

How did the interview go?

Ran for about 40 minutes. Felt at ease.

Know what LEOs do. They have a website that summarises their activities. It shows initiative if you can reference or name-drop some important material.

Know a bit about your local Council, what services they provide and metrics they track. Possibly they have a website where the Chief Executive delivers a monthly report or performance dashboard.

ver2

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.
Do they ask about the 6 skill sets? I only put 1 or 2 down on my form. Really wish it hadn't been rescheduled, would love it to be over!!

Jimbob1977

ver2 wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.
Do they ask about the 6 skill sets? I only put 1 or 2 down on my form. Really wish it hadn't been rescheduled, would love it to be over!!

They will only ask what you applied for.

Hence you will probably be asked about the four competencies (relevant to every candidate).... and then your two specific listed skill sets.

Mac0783

Hi,

Does anyone know how long the interviews are running for or when we can expect to hear the results?

Sharon2017

Mac0783 wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know how long the interviews are running for or when we can expect to hear the results?

I don't know how long interviews are running until but I was told not to expect an update before the 4 week mark. Such a long time!

Jimbob1977

As it's a fixed graduate programme with some external training involved, I wonder if we'll all be asked to start on the same date.

Sharon2017

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

As it's a fixed graduate programme with some external training involved, I wonder if we'll all be asked to start on the same date.

According to my research, this is what happened the last time they did a LG campaign in 2014. People were sent up somewhere (Dublin or nearby if I recall) for training.

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

According to my research, this is what happened the last time they did a LG campaign in 2014. People were sent up somewhere (Dublin or nearby if I recall) for training.

Hopefully not in the middle of holiday season when people might have already booked a trip abroad

Sharon2017

Found this article about the last batch in 2015 for the 2014 campaign:

https://www.publicjobs.ie/publicjobs/publication/document/Local_Gov_Update.pdf

It indicates that were 3 days of training for all hires nationally in Croke Park and that around 120 people were hired

Mac0783

I'd love to know what grade this is pitched at, I asked in the interview but got nowhere, in hindsight I should have asked, who would one report to? Might have given me some idea

Jimbob1977

Good luck to everyone!

Have all the postponed snow interviews happened yet? Or is the process still ongoing?

Addle

How can applicants not know what position they're applying for?
It's bizarre.

Jimbob1977

Addle wrote: »

How can applicants not know what position they're applying for?
It's bizarre.

It's down to the initial online offer back in October.

It was phrased as 'Administrative Officer' in the material in a few places.

Now there's a sense that it's the equivalent of Administrative Officer in the Civil Service.... and not Administrative Officer in Local Government. There's a big gap in the scale.

I don't think anyone has received an official answer to date

Phoebeleft

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Good luck to everyone!

Have all the postponed snow interviews happened yet? Or is the process still ongoing?

Mine was rescheduled from Wed 28th Feb - new date Monday 26th March.

tgdaly

Phoebeleft wrote: »

Mine was rescheduled from Wed 28th Feb - new date Monday 26th March.

And I'm on Tuesday 27th rescheduled from the Thursday. I guess they're doing the original Friday interviews on Wednesday 28th then as well. And we'll hopefully hear back before the end of April on the outcome?

Sharon2017

Just an Fyi - if any of you get a message from PAS don't have a heart attack as it has nothing to do with results!

They just messaged asking me to fill out a preference form for the region I hadn't chosen out of the 3 (western and border). They must want to give everyone who wants to the chance to pick from all regions if they want to. Presume I'm not the only one who got this?

Jimbob1977

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Just an Fyi - if any of you get a message from PAS don't have a heart attack as it has nothing to do with results!

They just messaged asking me to fill out a preference form for the region I hadn't chosen out of the 3 (western and border). They must want to give everyone who wants to the chance to pick from all regions if they want to. Presume I'm not the only one who got this?

I didn't get an email, but I'd expect it would have to be a focused personal email, instead of a bulk email.... so people might get it at different times.

Sharon2017

Oh I hope its not some error that has put me down for the wrong regions or something!

daithi84

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

It's down to the initial online offer back in October.

It was phrased as 'Administrative Officer' in the material in a few places.

Now there's a sense that it's the equivalent of Administrative Officer in the Civil Service.... and not Administrative Officer in Local Government. There's a big gap in the scale.

I don't think anyone has received an official answer to date

Graduate jobs in the Local Authorities are Grade 4 as far as im aware, so Assistant Staff Officer pay scale.

shineon23

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Just an Fyi - if any of you get a message from PAS don't have a heart attack as it has nothing to do with results!

They just messaged asking me to fill out a preference form for the region I hadn't chosen out of the 3 (western and border). They must want to give everyone who wants to the chance to pick from all regions if they want to. Presume I'm not the only one who got this?

Sharon2017 wrote: »

Oh I hope its not some error that has put me down for the wrong regions or something!

I got this email for same region

But it was one of the regions I had already made preferences for previously.

Also had a mild heart attack

lukiluc

I got that email too, heart in mouth time. Realistically i think it'll be another couple of weeks til we hear back...

Sharon2017

Yeah if interviews are still going on as far as next week I think we can count on it being a few weeks away from any news!

I wonder if there was low interest in the border counties to say we're all now being given the option (having not selected it in the first place).

lukiluc

I don't think so. I think they just sent that out to all instead of trawling through to find people who expressed an interest in that region- to inform them of the changes. I did not, nor would I, express an interest in working there, I have to stay reasonably local...

tgdaly

Hey guys, in relation to the job interview and the 4 competencies, what kind of questions are they asking?

- Purpose and Change
- Delivering Results
- Personal Performance
- Personal Effectiveness

When they say purpose and change, what do they actually mean?

Jimbob1977

tgdaly wrote: »

Hey guys, in relation to the job interview and the 4 competencies, what kind of questions are they asking?

- Purpose and Change
- Delivering Results
- Personal Performance
- Personal Effectiveness

When they say purpose and change, what do they actually mean?

It's covered in Appendix I of the booklet. In practical terms..

'Purpose' covers your understanding of what Local Government is all about, ie delivering services to the general public, stimulating economic growth and enterprise, analysing policy issues.

Be aware of the services on offer in your area - like the LEO, Roads and Travel, Housing, Parks and Recreation, etc. Your local council's website will be very useful and split by section.

'Change' is about how you understand change that has occurred and will occur in the Council. The Local Government Reform Act of 2014 amalgamated a lot of councils to streamline them. Google should give you an insight. It's all about working smarter and 'doing more with less'. Maybe you've seen some smart changes in your local area. Try bring in examples of change programmes you have been involved in... where the journey started ('as is') and where you wanted to get to ( 'to be'). It's all about having a vision and a plan.... and keeping stakeholders informed every step of the way.

The rest of them are about decision-making, delivering results, teamwork, organisational skills, communication skills, tricky people you've worked with, resilience, etc.

tgdaly

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

It's covered in Appendix I of the booklet. In practical terms..

'Purpose' covers your understanding of what Local Government is all about, ie delivering services to the general public, stimulating economic growth and enterprise, analysing policy issues.

Be aware of the services on offer in your area - like the LEO, Roads and Travel, Housing, Parks and Recreation, etc. Your local council's website will be very useful and split by section.

'Change' is about how you understand change that has occurred and will occur in the Council. The Local Government Reform Act of 2014 amalgamated a lot of councils to streamline them. Google should give you an insight. It's all about working smarter and 'doing more with less'. Maybe you've seen some smart changes in your local area. Try bring in examples of change programmes you have been involved in... where the journey started ('as is') and where you wanted to get to ( 'to be'). It's all about having a vision and a plan.... and keeping stakeholders informed every step of the way.

The rest of them are about decision-making, delivering results, teamwork, organisational skills, communication skills, tricky people you've worked with, resilience, etc.

Brilliant, thanks a mil! That's extremely helpful

neilie22

I got a reply from PAS re. the timing of results due to the delayed interviews and they reckon that results will issues around mid-April.

Sharon2017

neilie22 wrote: »

I got a reply from PAS re. the timing of results due to the delayed interviews and they reckon that results will issues around mid-April.

This is what I've been advised also. Its a bit of a torturous wait for me and I'm sure I'm not alone in that! I just hope its not delayed further beyond this as I don't think I could cope with waiting beyond the 2 month mark :eek::eek::eek:

I've my interview tomorrow.There seems to be a lot of info online about the council.It's quite overwhelming even though I began my preparation a while ago.There is a panel of 4 interviewers. I know they've given us 4 competencies.Do you have to have prepared examples for everything?What questions did people who've done the interview find tricky?

Jimbob1977

Deleted User wrote: »

I've my interview tomorrow.There seems to be a lot of info online about the council.It's quite overwhelming even though I began my preparation a while ago.There is a panel of 4 interviewers. I know they've given us 4 competencies.Do you have to have prepared examples for everything?What questions did people who've done the interview find tricky?

I think they're looking for people to prove the following:

o That they've done their basic homework on hot topics - e.g. Ireland 2040 National Planning Framework, Local Government Reform Act 2014, Local Enterprise Office, the structure of their own local council, HAP etc. 'Name-dropping' proves that you've done research. Just back it up with some basic facts.

o Using worked examples from your own life, to prove that the candidate understands the competencies...... how change works... planning for change.... how they've worked to tough deadlines, how they have delivered results, how they maintain high standards always, how they've worked as part of a team or on a solo assignment, doing the right thing in an ethical dilemma, overcoming adversity by showing resilience, etc.

You'll always get the interview curve balls about working with difficult people, bringing people around to your point of view, communication styles, management style.

Most importantly.... be yourself... and answer the question they asked (listen carefully)..... bring up awards and recognitions that you won.