NEW 2018 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

ThumbTaxed

SFC1895 wrote: »

I was thinking of applying for this, having got through a stage of an internal PO comp recently, but to be honest I’m a below mediocre AO so doubt I’d be up to it

I'd put you at favourite so

WAW

How much Irish is in reality required for functional Irish? What kind of extra interview/ test is required for the Irish stream?

Crunchymomma

gmisk wrote: »

I have been a HEO for a few years so might as well give it a go

Just a quick question under the key achievements (1.Leadership etc) are people putting in one good example in detail for each of the headings or a couple...or as many as possible?

I'm doing one but I might regret it later ha

The_Conductor

WAW wrote: »

How much Irish is in reality required for functional Irish? What kind of extra interview/ test is required for the Irish stream?

I had a PAS interview 'as Gaeilge'- where I was fully expected to be able to hold a coherent conversation, discuss current affairs- and give an opinion on various items in the media. There were no trick questions- it was a straight forward conversation- and to be honest- the two interviewers (there wasn't a PAS representative at my interview), couldn't have been nicer.

Functional Irish does not mean Gaeilge fluirseach. It means you have more than enough to get by and hold a conversation or do an interview- if you're called upon to do so.

I'm no longer in a post that is tagged as requiring Irish- I did however end up as the Irish language officer in a Department who had a sizable number of customers who'd rather conduct their business in Irish- which did me a favour in many respects- as I became familiar with the work of many of the Divisions in the Department that would otherwise have taken a lifetime to get to know.

Functional Irish = able to hold a reasonable conversation or take part in an interview as Gaeilge- without panicking..........

WAW

The_Conductor wrote: »

I had a PAS interview 'as Gaeilge'- where I was fully expected to be able to hold a coherent conversation, discuss current affairs- and give an opinion on various items in the media. There were no trick questions- it was a straight forward conversation- and to be honest- the two interviewers (there wasn't a PAS representative at my interview), couldn't have been nicer.

Functional Irish does not mean Gaeilge fluirseach. It means you have more than enough to get by and hold a conversation or do an interview- if you're called upon to do so.

I'm no longer in a post that is tagged as requiring Irish- I did however end up as the Irish language officer in a Department who had a sizable number of customers who'd rather conduct their business in Irish- which did me a favour in many respects- as I became familiar with the work of many of the Divisions in the Department that would otherwise have taken a lifetime to get to know.

Functional Irish = able to hold a reasonable conversation or take part in an interview as Gaeilge- without panicking..........

Would it be an interview a bit like an honours LC Irish Oral as in general topics of conversation or an interview like a job interview: competencies, etc.? I don't use my Gaeilge much but with a bit of practice could chat about a number of topics as I did a two year part time college course in Irish for work (9 years ago I'll admit!). But the Irish is in there! Would that be sufficient for you think?
I would not be suitable for an Irish language officer post but would feel comfortable doing a basic interview ( with mistakes) in Irish.

The_Conductor

WAW wrote: »

Would it be an interview a bit like an honours LC Irish Oral as in general topics of conversation or an interview like a job interview: competencies, etc.? I don't use my Gaeilge much but with a bit of practice could chat about a number of topics as I did a two year part time college course in Irish for work (9 years ago I'll admit!). But the Irish is in there! Would that be sufficient for you think?
I would not be suitable for an Irish language officer post but would feel comfortable doing a basic interview ( with mistakes) in Irish.

General topics *not the competencies*
Best possible advice- watch the Nuacht on TG4 for a few weeks alongside the Irish sections in the papers- and use a proper foclóir to look up any words you don't know.
It is a bit like riding a bicycle- a lot of it will come back to you after a few days- but it will take some effort.........

A lot of places have coffee mornings as-Gaeilge- where you can practice your spoken Irish- which might help too.

I.e. you have to be able to hold a reasonable conversation in Irish and discuss current topics (including personal questions- and why you want the job etc)- but it is straight forward- they're not trying to trick you or trip you up- and if you don't understand a question- they're quite happy to rephrase it- and they honestly want to help you- if you have Irish- they will get it out of you- if you don't have Irish- it'll be blatantly obvious. Its a mechanism to get rid of the candidates who just put a tick in the box- and aren't able to hold a conversation in Irish.

You'll be fine.........

Stheno

ThumbTaxed wrote: »

I'd put you at favourite so

Mod

Ok that's enough. Don't post in this thread again

starbiscuit

Hi everyone,

I'm struggling with this form. Can anyone give me some guidance as to the difference between the Key achievements section and the additional questions? For example Part B 3, asks for management and delivery of results including drive and committment and one of the additional questions you to outline significant management experience , including leading teams etc. I find myself basically writing the same thing in each. Any thoughts welcomed

brownbinman

Anyone know when the tests have to be finished by? Headed to Germany the Friday they are released and don't want to be dying doing them when I get back

WAW

brownbinman wrote: »

Anyone know when the tests have to be finished by? Headed to Germany the Friday they are released and don't want to be dying doing them when I get back

3pm Thursday 6th September application deadline. Aptitude tests thereafter not sure as I haven't submitted my application yet.

Crunchymomma

brownbinman wrote: »

Anyone know when the tests have to be finished by? Headed to Germany the Friday they are released and don't want to be dying doing them when I get back

It says 21-26 September on info booklet

brownbinman

Crunchymomma wrote: »

It says 21-26 September on info booklet

Lovely thanks

PhoenixParker

I'd recommend downloading the booklet and saving it somewhere handy. It's a useful reference to have to hand n 2 months time when you can't remember the order of the stages.

Crunchymomma

PhoenixParker wrote: »

I'd recommend downloading the booklet and saving it somewhere handy. It's a useful reference to have to hand n 2 months time when you can't remember the order of the stages.

Totally agree, you never know when you will want to look back on it

The Scientician

Best of luck to everyone applying. If you think there's a possibility you could get it and you want it, I would encourage you to apply.


Q3 on the application form says "Please outline significant experience you have had in policy development/analysis and the provision of advice (if any):" Is this a new question? I don't recall seeing it on the AP 2016 form.

CBCB

never_mind wrote: »

Mine are fine as answers but they each only have maybe 150-200 words in each block. Trying to be concise!

I think concise is better, if you can cover off what is asked. But that's just my opinion.

dee75

The Scientician wrote: »

Best of luck to everyone applying. If you think there's a possibility you could get it and you want it, I would encourage you to apply.


Q3 on the application form says "Please outline significant experience you have had in policy development/analysis and the provision of advice (if any):" Is this a new question? I don't recall seeing it on the AP 2016 form.

Yeah that's a new one!

WAW

For anyone who has done the EO tests, how different are the verbal & numerical tests for AP?

RunRoryRun

Application in

gmisk

I am at 15 pages now.....Key achievements answer are big....
My additional questions are fairly small though

Crunchymomma

Application is gone in :-)

quad_red

The Scientician wrote: »

Best of luck to everyone applying. If you think there's a possibility you could get it and you want it, I would encourage you to apply.


Q3 on the application form says "Please outline significant experience you have had in policy development/analysis and the provision of advice (if any):" Is this a new question? I don't recall seeing it on the AP 2016 form.

Having issues with that myself.

It’s so niche. Seems like unless you’re a very lucky AO that’s really going to strip our a lot of potential candidates.

Aglomerado

quad_red wrote: »

Having issues with that myself.

It’s so niche. Seems like unless you’re a very lucky AO that’s really going to strip our a lot of potential candidates.

If it's any consolation, that same question appeared on the 2017 HEO form.
I wrote that I had not had policy experience & it didn't count against me at interview as I was successful in that competition.
Now as a HEO some of the work I've done does go to inform policy so at least I could write a line or two.

PhoenixParker

My guess it's to help rebalance the competition for people who are more on the policy end of things. AOs and even some HEOs. It helps people who have less on the leadership side of things with few direct reports but plenty of experience dealing with the overall high level departmental stuff.

coloneldecker

gmisk wrote: »

I am at 15 pages now.....Key achievements answer are big....
My additional questions are fairly small though

That seems way too big.

quad_red

gmisk wrote: »

I am at 15 pages now.....Key achievements answer are big....
My additional questions are fairly small though

I'm at 17 pages in total... I got criticised last time for not working my examples through properly.

Crunchymomma

gmisk wrote: »

I am at 15 pages now.....Key achievements answer are big....
My additional questions are fairly small though

Mine was 17/18 pages I think by the end

PhoenixParker

The final page count is a bit meaningless. Some of us might have eight pages of jobs while others have 2. I've about a page on each of the four competency questions and half a page or thereabouts on the others. I felt that was enough to tick the sub-competency boxes well with my own examples. I'm no expert though.

No point worrying about it now it's in.

Crunchymomma

PhoenixParker wrote: »

The final page count is a bit meaningless. Some of us might have eight pages of jobs while others have 2. I've about a page on each of the four competency questions and half a page or thereabouts on the others. I felt that was enough to tick the sub-competency boxes well with my own examples. I'm no expert though.

No point worrying about it now it's in.

Too true, I'm just glad I managed to get it all done tbh!

Jentle Grenade

PhoenixParker wrote: »

The final page count is a bit meaningless. Some of us might have eight pages of jobs while others have 2. I've about a page on each of the four competency questions and half a page or thereabouts on the others. I felt that was enough to tick the sub-competency boxes well with my own examples. I'm no expert though.

No point worrying about it now it's in.

Utterly pointless to worry or be hung up on the page count. You need to be adept at making your point efficiently in these application forms, remember that someone is going to be reading a lot of them. I went to AP in DFAT with 12 pages (really 11.5).