Local Authority Graduate Programme 2020

November Golf

Closed to application on Wednesday 17th December 2020.

Hi All,

Did anyone apply for the recent Local Authority Graduate programme run by the Local Government Management Agency.

Have you heard anything about the next stage of the recruitment process?

mulligja

Hey applied but not heard anything yet, will keep you posted if do.

exitstageleft

Heard nothing back yet either.

job seeker

I seen this but was unsure and I didn't apply in the end. What was the required qualifications for this? It seems like a great opportunity..

November Golf

job seeker wrote: »

I seen this but was unsure and I didn't apply in the end. What was the required qualifications for this? It seems like a great opportunity..

It does seem interesting unfortunately however it only a three year contract.

The requirement was a minimum of 2.2 honours degree (Level 8) relevant to the specific role you were applied for. The roles were across 7 streams and you could applies for more than one depending on your qualification;

• Economic Enterprise and Business Development
• Project and Programme Management
• Innovation, Strategy and Change Management
• Human Resource Management
• Communication and Marketing
• Data Analytics and Data Metrics
• Climate Action

exitstageleft

Since there are a variety of roles with each council I wonder if they will use a mass testing / application process or if each council will proceed at their own speed with their own lists.

For instance, will people in Cork go through a different or quicker process than those in Dublin? Or will the different streams progress at different times?

job seeker

Mike Foxtrot wrote: »

It does seem interesting unfortunately however it only a three year contract.

The requirement was a minimum of 2.2 honours degree (Level 8) relevant to the specific role you were applied for. The roles were across 7 streams and you could applies for more than one depending on your qualification;

• Economic Enterprise and Business Development
• Project and Programme Management
• Innovation, Strategy and Change Management
• Human Resource Management
• Communication and Marketing
• Data Analytics and Data Metrics
• Climate Action

A three-year contract ain't bad for a graduate program. I've only ever seen 6 months/1 year contracts. It will also be a fantastic addition to your C.V.

I now see I couldn't apply for any of the above anyway with my 2.2 honours degree in culinary arts. :pac:

mouton

I received an email from the LGMA to say that my application is valid and will go forward for shortlisting.

The timeline appears to be:

End January: shortlisting
Early February: email with results of shortlisting

WoolyJumper

I received the same email this morning. Any idea what the shortlisting stage will entail? Is it an interview or some kind of assessment?

November Golf

WoolyJumper wrote: »

I received the same email this morning. Any idea what the shortlisting stage will entail? Is it an interview or some kind of assessment?

In general, shortlisting is usually an administrative task. The applications are assessed by a board against a set list of criteria and given a score.

The next email will likely be to inform successful candidates that they made the shortlist and, if or when, they will be invited to interview.

mouton

From the information booklet:

"Shortlisting will be based solely on the direct relevance of an applicant’s academic qualifications to the skills area being applied for. Graduates who are successful at the shortlisting stage will proceed to a regional interview stage."

Those 50 words in Section D will have a lot of work to do...

BBB25

Hi all. Has anyone heard anymore from the local authorities? They said they would be in touch early February so I was hoping to hear this week.

WoolyJumper

No, haven't heard anything yet. My experience with any kind of civil service job application is things move very slowly.

mouton

I was also hoping for news! But I guess it's still *early* early Feb.

exitstageleft

Anyone else get a fairly pointless email this morning explaining that they're still shortlisting but that they'll be finished shortly and will then send another email?

mouton

exitstageleft wrote: »

Anyone else get a fairly pointless email this morning explaining that they're still shortlisting but that they'll be finished shortly and will then send another email?

Yes! Even though it said more or less nothing, I was happy to receive an update as I has been contemplating calling them.

WoolyJumper

Yeah I got that email to say they are still shortlisting their shortlist but should be finished shortly.

In fairness I'd say the got a lot of queries about it which is why they gave us the update. Though it might have been better to send out that email tomorrow once they finished shortlisting the applicants. Either way looks like we will know by the end of next week at the latest.

mouton

I just received an email from the LGMA. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful.

"For 3 of the 4 regions (i.e.) Dublin; Eastern & Midlands and Southern regions the cut of point at which applicants were called for interview across all 7 skills areas was the maximum score of 11. It should be noted that a maximum score of 11 indicates that the applicant had a directly relevant level 9 postgraduate award or Masters degree for the skills area that they have applied for."

So in my area (Southern) one needed a relevant masters to get to interview. I applied for Climate Action and Innovation, Strategy and Change Management streams and while I took relevant modules as part of my masters, my masters overall (public policy) was not directly relevant so I understand not being successful.

Did any of you make it to the next stage?

exitstageleft

Hard luck Mouton! I haven't heard anything back yet but based off what you said I'm not too hopeful! That's pretty stiff competition for the job level, to be fair.

WoolyJumper

Haven't heard anything yet but I am in the Southern Region so not holding out much hope either.

cvb03

I was also unsuccessful. Congratulations to all those who were successful, best of luck.

K00222043

Hard luck! Did you receive your email yesterday or today? Sitting on my hands waiting for any kind of response here

exitstageleft

Kinda strange that some people have heard back and others haven't.
Has anyone heard back that they are through to the next stage?

WoolyJumper

Still nothing here either

WoolyJumper

Just heard back this morning. I was also unsuccessful. It seems they got a huge amount of applicants which set the standards very high. As Mouton said they are only accepting applicants with Masters degree directly related to the skill area. There are only two exceptions to this in the Border and Western Region:

"For the Border & Western region the cut-off point at which applicants were called for interview was also 11 but only for 5 of the 7 skills areas. The two exceptions for this region being Economic Enterprise & Business Development where the cut-off point was a shortlisting score of 10 and Project & Programme Management where the cut-off point was 9. The variation within the Border & Western region was so as to ensure a sufficient number of applicants for the available vacancies within that region."

Anyway best of luck to those who got through to next stage

Awful nonsense.

I'm a few years in the Public Service since graduating and have worked in an American MNC as well as a Sales Office with a Level 8 degree and couldn't even get by the application process.... I've done a lot since I graduated given the timeframe.

The bar must be set exceptionally high alright.

mouton

Hard luck everyone!

It's not just that the bar was high, it was also very narrow i.e. relevant masters degree only, rather than transferrable skills and knowledge gained through work or less ostensibly relevant studies. I guess the high volume of applicants necessitates such crude criteria to select who to take to the next stage.

I actually feel relieved to know the outcome as on reflection yesterday I realised it was on my mind for month as I waited for the email. The outcome is disappointing but it's good to move on!

Has anyone experience of other local government roles?
I see that Cork County Council are looking for Assistant Staff Officers but I'm worried that I might be over-qualified for this role (I've a masters in public policy and a few years of public sector experience) and therefore find the work dull, but on the other hand it's a start and might lead to other roles. Does anyone have any insight on these Assistant Staff Officer roles and the kind of work one would be doing?
(I realise it's possibly hard to say as they likely vary considerably around the country but I'm not familiar with them myself so any insight is helpful!)

exitstageleft

mouton wrote: »

It's not just that the bar was high, it was also very narrow i.e. relevant masters degree only, rather than transferrable skills and knowledge gained through work or less ostensibly relevant studies.

After a few extra days waiting I received the "thanks but no thanks" email today too.
I agree with Mouton that the absolute reliance on particular degree topics made for an extremely narrow window. It might have been easier if they had just stated they were looking for such specific qualifications from the get-go but I guess the application wasn't all that taxing either.
Congrats to those who made it through!

Zoejohnston08

Has anyone heard anything from the communications stream? The wait is killing me!

K00222043

Yep I didn't get it due to not having a Master's degree. I got 9 in Communication and Marketing but the min was 11 so only 2 off. Thankfully doing a postgrad now so who knows. Best of luck to the people who got in

Klquery

Anyone heard back with positive feedback?

Im still waiting to hear back at all! I did receive an email in January asking me to put my application into a single document, but never got an email to say my application was valid and going forth for shortlisting?

I think I will email them next week cause everyone seems to have got a reply!

I actually have a relevant postgrad so Im hoping Ive been shortlisted.

Zoejohnston08

Klquery wrote: »

Anyone heard back with positive feedback?

Im still waiting to hear back at all! I did receive an email in January asking me to put my application into a single document, but never got an email to say my application was valid and going forth for shortlisting?

I think I will email them next week cause everyone seems to have got a reply!

I actually have a relevant postgrad so Im hoping Ive been shortlisted.

I haven't heard anything yet either. I did receive an email in January to say that my application was deemed eligible but otherwise nothing.

Klquery

Zoejohnston08 wrote: »

I haven't heard anything yet either. I did receive an email in January to say that my application was deemed eligible but otherwise nothing.

Hopefully the old saying ‘no news is good news’ is relevant in this case

StevenToast

Didnt make the cut either.....got 9 in the Economic stream...you need a maximum score of 11 to be called forward...

The standard of candidates must be very high....

Klquery

StevenToast wrote: »

Didnt make the cut either.....got 9 in the Economic stream...you need a maximum score of 11 to be called forward...

The standard of candidates must be very high....

What is the scoring busines? What is a scoring of 9 or 11 mean?

StevenToast

Klquery wrote: »

What is the scoring busines? What is a scoring of 9 or 11 mean?

No idea...they just give you a score...

The maximum score is 11...and thats what you need to get through...

Basically, you need a level 9 postgrad directly applicable qualification...

I have a level 9 postgrad...but not exactly what was required...

Klquery

ANYONE heard anything? Im going out of my mind

KeyRuin

I think interview invites were sent out last week for some roles.

TheRock2020

Had my interview last week and placed 7th on the Order of merit for east and midlands! Does anyone know what the process is now? How long does it take for the offers to come out?

harry8978

what is the VISA requirement for this role? Does 1G visa is accepted?

Vinci

Hello, anyone heard from Dublin Region lead authority? As regards the local authorities graduate program?

Plus, is a panel position per selected field... or the panel position is a general panel position for every candidate for a particular region?

saju

Any idea about how many positions ara available for Data Analytics skillset.for each skillset is there a separate panel or for each region one panel.

Jobi1

I'm currently on a contract from the 2018 graduate programme and applied again but wasn't shortlisted either.
After contacting the LGMA, the short story is that (other than the 2 areas in the west/north west) the only people getting called for interviews are those with a relevant postgrad qualification (level 9 or higher) that graduated in the past 3 years. That is the only way to get the maximum of 11 points needed.

As for the number of posts available for each stream, that is unknown. The local authorities where the various post are available is in the application form.

Jobi1

StevenToast wrote: »

No idea...they just give you a score...

The maximum score is 11...and thats what you need to get through...

Basically, you need a level 9 postgrad directly applicable qualification...

I have a level 9 postgrad...but not exactly what was required...

9 is the maximum score for a relevant undergrad qualification
10 is the maximum for a relevant post grad
+ 1 additional point if you graduated in the last 3 years
+ 0.5 additional points if you graduated in between 3 and 6 years ago

JMariaa

Anybody get any feedback from the Dublin authority? I received my result from the Eastern Local Authority two days after the interviews finished and was told I placed third but I haven’t heard anything since either

saju

JMariaa wrote: »

Anybody get any feedback from the Dublin authority? I received my result from the Eastern Local Authority two days after the interviews finished and was told I placed third but I haven’t heard anything since either

Which skillset u applied for. Even i heard from Eastern and Midlands and waiting for the dublin result

justin8847

Did anyone hear about the results of Dublin City council and cork county council ?

Jobi1

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Awful nonsense.

I'm a few years in the Public Service since graduating and have worked in an American MNC as well as a Sales Office with a Level 8 degree and couldn't even get by the application process.... I've done a lot since I graduated given the timeframe.

The bar must be set exceptionally high alright.

No regard was given to previous work experience for the purposes of shortlisting

Jobi1

mouton wrote: »

Hard luck everyone!

It's not just that the bar was high, it was also very narrow i.e. relevant masters degree only, rather than transferrable skills and knowledge gained through work or less ostensibly relevant studies. I guess the high volume of applicants necessitates such crude criteria to select who to take to the next stage.

I actually feel relieved to know the outcome as on reflection yesterday I realised it was on my mind for month as I waited for the email. The outcome is disappointing but it's good to move on!

exitstageleft wrote: »

After a few extra days waiting I received the "thanks but no thanks" email today too.
I agree with Mouton that the absolute reliance on particular degree topics made for an extremely narrow window. It might have been easier if they had just stated they were looking for such specific qualifications from the get-go but I guess the application wasn't all that taxing either.
Congrats to those who made it through!

Ultimately, you could only get called for interview if you had a relevant postgrad achieved within the last 3 years.
It seems to me to be a deliberate step to exclude other candidates and, I agree, they should have stated this from the get go. It certainly would have saved me a lot of time applying and waiting for the result.

JMariaa

saju wrote: »

Which skillset u applied for. Even i heard from Eastern and Midlands and waiting for the dublin result

I applied for the Economic Enterprise and Business Development stream

saju

JMariaa wrote: »

I applied for the Economic Enterprise and Business Development stream

Oh great. Today I got mail from Dublin Council.