HSE or civil service?

Marv8

Been offered a clerical officer post in both.
HSE is accounts based so dealing with invoices and payments to HSE staff and civil service is in a Garda station.

Sir Ophiuchus

The civil service might give you more opportunity for training, mobility and promotion potential in the future, because mobility between civil and public service still isn't much of a thing. That being said, if they're both permanent contracts on the same salary scale there isn't much practical difference.

stargazer 68

As above but also depends on if you like accounts. I don't so would go with the Garda station.

tomhenryford

What does the job in the garda station involve and where was it advertised (if you don't mind me asking?!)

Sir Ophiuchus

Yeah personally I think you'd gain a far more varied and interesting experience at the Garda station.

On the other hand, I've heard rumours that clerical staff in Garda stations can feel a bit left out / excluded because they're not Guards; obviously, though, that's just rumour and doesn't necessarily imply anything about what your experience might be.

The HSE culture can be very bureaucratic, and processing payments all day can be stressful. If you like very routine work (checking receipts, filling out the same forms, filing invoices) the HSE role looks better, but I'd go for the Garda station.

Kingp35

I'm an Executive Officer and work in a large Garda Station. There is a bit of a divide between civilians and Gardaí but it's nothing major. Promotion prospects are not great internally, you would be looking at an interdepartmental competition to have the best chance of a promotion.

I have found the vast majority of the people to be very nice and the work is interesting and varied.

Marv8

Thanks for all the replies.
The Garda station job is from the 2016 clerical officer competition.
I would always have thought that the civil service would have been the best option to take but to get promoted would you have to do the EO competition or is there other ways?
The girl I spoke to in the HSE said that the position thats available belonged to a person who has been promoted after 8 months in that job and another clerical officer is acting in to a higher grade. Does this happen in the civil service?
She also said that I'd be in a team of 4 clerical officers and the works varys as they swap tasks each week.

Aglomerado

Kingp35 wrote: »

I'm an Executive Officer and work in a large Garda Station. There is a bit of a divide between civilians and Gardaí but it's nothing major. Promotion prospects are not great internally, you would be looking at an interdepartmental competition to have the best chance of a promotion.

I have found the vast majority of the people to be very nice and the work is interesting and varied.

I was a TCO in a Garda station (District HQ) for a year and I loved it! Any hint of a divide I picked up didn't impact on me either. Maybe it was just the Gardai I worked with but they were a great bunch to be around and there was never a dull moment in that job. Some nasty stuff like murders etc but cannabis seizures were always funny....

Not much scope for promotion, so I got an EO post in the open competition outside AGS.

Crunchymomma

I have been an CO and am currently an EO in a garda station and I think it's grand. I don't feel any real divide between sworn members and civilians and I have experience of both a small station and a Divisional hq.

TCM

Stay away from the Garda station.

tomhenryford

TCM wrote: »

Stay away from the Garda station.

Can you elaborate as to why?

august12

I would definitely take the civil service job, if promoted, you would go to EO whereas in HSE there is an additional grade between CO and EO. Better chance of promotion and varied jobs in CS.

Marv8

I took the HSE job. I had over 12 years service in a local authority. The civil service only put you on the 7th point when you have over 10 years service, where the HSE put me on a higher point to match what I was earning. Also I had heard that the superintendent in the Garda station wasn't a particularly nice person!

Sir Ophiuchus

Good for you. Nobody should be expected to take a pay cut when moving post. Wishing you good luck in the new job!