Emergency Call Takers and Incident Creation Representatives in An Garda Siochana

luke in cork

SueEllen80 wrote: »

That was an absolute disgrace of a test. UK based not Irish. Spaces between Postcodes and full stops after Mr and Mrs? I have friends who have worked as Guards in the call centre and the test was no where near reflective of what is expected. The Public Service is a huge government section and this is the best they could afford to devise up? I'm still baffled at the UK theme and names used.

I for 1 agree with you completely. There is no fairness in the test whatsoever and the more that email them the better for all of us.
It shouldn't have been UK based. Sure there is a 3rd party company in Ireland that would have done a more relevant test and also the space for email. In fairness if a 999 call came in I don't imagine for 1 minute that we would be asking a caller for their email address.
With regards to UK phone numbers not everyone is going to know where to divide the numbers as with Irish mobiles we all know the format 085 xxxxxx
May I ask has anyone here who has done the 2nd test email them with regards all these issues.

Kazzie07

SueEllen80 wrote: »

That was an absolute disgrace of a test. UK based not Irish. Spaces between Postcodes and full stops after Mr and Mrs? I have friends who have worked as Guards in the call centre and the test was no where near reflective of what is expected. The Public Service is a huge government section and this is the best they could afford to devise up? I'm still baffled at the UK theme and names used.

I completely agree. By the sound of it the majority of us didn’t put the full stops after Mr/Mrs or the spaces in the post codes so it will be interesting to see how it will be marked.

luke in cork

Anyone feeling nervous on waiting on the results.
Wish I knew now to get it over with.
Anyone any idea provided we get through what's the nxt stage,??.

I wouldn't get bogged down on missing spaces in the postcodes and missing full stops after Mr and Mrs, people. Spaces make no difference to the accuracy of the postcode.

Those are minor things that can be ironed out during training.

luke in cork

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I wouldn't get bogged down on missing spaces in the postcodes and missing full stops after Mr and Mrs, people. Spaces make no difference to the accuracy of the postcode.

Those are minor things that can be ironed out during training.

Good point.

sheepgobaa

Did this recruitment 3 years ago, don't every remember full stops being necessary, so I wouldn't be concerned about that! Also, thought I failed it back then, I didn't! So i'm sure ye all did great! I'm following it as I have a partner applying for position this time!

job seeker

sheepgobaa wrote: »

Did this recruitment 3 years ago, don't every remember full stops being necessary, so I wouldn't be concerned about that! Also, thought I failed it back then, I didn't! So i'm sure ye all did great! I'm following it as I have a partner applying for position this time!

I assume you're currently working in this position yourself?

luke in cork

sheepgobaa wrote: »

Did this recruitment 3 years ago, don't every remember full stops being necessary, so I wouldn't be concerned about that! Also, thought I failed it back then, I didn't! So i'm sure ye all did great! I'm following it as I have a partner applying for position this time!

Well done are you a current garda call taker.
Process is confusing as I personally don't know what the nxt stages are to complete.
Wishing your partner success also.

sheepgobaa

Currently in this position yes!

mrscoco30

sheepgobaa wrote: »

Currently in this position yes!

How do you find the process now (via your partner) compared to when you did it?

sheepgobaa

mrscoco30 wrote: »

How do you find the process now (via your partner) compared to when you did it?

Exactly the same to be honest, if not moving slightly quicker! We did have to repeat stage 2 in a supervised environment in large groups, so I'm not sure what will happen this time

luke in cork

I would love to know how many positions are available in each station and how many are currently in the process for the posts.

Itainire

sheepgobaa wrote: »

Exactly the same to be honest, if not moving slightly quicker! We did have to repeat stage 2 in a supervised environment in large groups, so I'm not sure what will happen this time

Can I ask you how long it took more or less to start the job from applying to it ?

sheepgobaa

Itainire wrote: »

Can I ask you how long it took more or less to start the job from applying to it ?

14 months from date of employment, to date of starting! We had two parts to stage two, then interview , vetting etc!

luke in cork

sheepgobaa wrote: »

14 months from date of employment, to date of starting! We had two parts to stage two, then interview , vetting etc!

Hopefully it be quicker due to the pandemic.

sheepgobaa

It was the vetting which took the longest to be honest!!

luke in cork

sheepgobaa wrote: »

It was the vetting which took the longest to be honest!!

Which is crazy because they will know if you have convictions or not at the touch of a button.

Slippin Jimmy

For people that work there, how long/many breaks do you get?

luke in cork

Anybody feeling a bit nervous about stage 2 results.

mrscoco30

luke in cork wrote: »

Anybody feeling a bit nervous about stage 2 results.

Extremely. Just the fear that I ruined my chances. I felt like I was only getting into it when it was over so probably not my best effort but sure aren't we are own worst critic!

Shari77

Nervous as hell , I keep checking e mail even though results aren't out for another few weeks ,.I'm wondering what the next stage will be ?

luke in cork

mrscoco30 wrote: »

Extremely. Just the fear that I ruined my chances. I felt like I was only getting into it when it was over so probably not my best effort but sure aren't we are own worst critic!

Im the same as yourself, just as I was getting into the the beat of it on my 3rd page I literally had 2 minutes left and just about got 2 more done.

luke in cork

Shari77 wrote: »

Nervous as hell , I keep checking e mail even though results aren't out for another few weeks ,.I'm wondering what the next stage will be ?

Same here. I keep checking my emails and my online pas account.

Hopefully nxt stage is not another test, hopefully interview.

Shari77

Luke I think I bearly finished page 4 and my time was up ,.f8 f9 didnt work , as for the email section I know I screwed them all up , seriously doubting myself but fingers crossed , from what I read on last years procedures I think another test, but like urself hoping its interviews , that's if I've passed level 2 , fingers crossed for all

luke in cork

Shari77 wrote: »

Luke I think I bearly finished page 4 and my time was up ,.f8 f9 didnt work , as for the email section I know I screwed them all up , seriously doubting myself but fingers crossed , from what I read on last years procedures I think another test, but like urself hoping its interviews , that's if I've passed level 2 , fingers crossed for all

Ya alot of people had issues with F8 AND F9 me included.
Hopefully due to pandemic it just be interviews. Don't doubt your self. 4 is good.
I think anyone who got between 4 and 8 hopefully go through.
I think the format was unfair as it was UK relevance with UK mobiles and emails etc.

Shari77

Luke , pm sent

job seeker

mrscoco30 wrote: »

Extremely. Just the fear that I ruined my chances. I felt like I was only getting into it when it was over so probably not my best effort but sure aren't we are own worst critic!

Whatever will be! I have applied for many competitions with P.J. over the past few years and you'll get on better in some than others. You just gotta take it as it comes. It's a great experience no matter what happens. I'm a firm believer in what's for you won't pass you! Plus it's not the end of the world. What is the worst that can happen? We don't get it and then we just apply for it next year!

job seeker

luke in cork wrote: »

I think the format was unfair as it was UK relevance with UK mobiles and emails etc.

Why? Surly the opposite? It's most likely going to be people who reside in Ireland (for obvious reasons) who apply for this. So applications aren't going to be familiar with the format of the above personal details. Therefore, everybody is going to be in the same boat so to speak... Just my opinion..

Junior Blue

The format of the assessment is not ideal, but it is what it is, we all had to do the same one. In reality the accents / place names / surnames being UK based is completely irrelevant as a huge amount of the calls on the 3 9’s are made in a heightened state of anxiety making an accent or spelling of a strange name meaningless.

People don’t ring an emergency service to check their car insurance in a calm manner ( although some idiots actually do 🙄 ) They ring because they are generally having a truly bad day & most have never interacted with an emergency service before so either say little or nothing or scream at 100 miles an hour.


Best of luck to all in any case.

sheepgobaa

It should be outlined in the booklet what relevant stages are, and I know people complain about them using uk details, but realistically in the job, you won't know most addresses and place names etc?