New 2021 Assistant Principal in the Civil Service

Kenrach

I took AP in Dublin, my preference would be the county I live in however PAS advised me that they had no requests to fill vacancies so they didn't call forward candidates who had this county listed. So I didn't receive the Oom for my preferred county at all.

legally_binding

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119620080#Comment_119620080

Hi Kenrach, how do you find the commute ? And the office culture? Are you required to be in the office a set number of days from week - what is the WFH policy ? Currently in a job that is quite flexible but have made the AP panel so keen to understand the cultural change I'd experience! Thank you

Kenrach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119620916#Comment_119620916

Congratulations on making the panel. I was commuting for a number of years to Dublin pre pandemic. Im serving civil servant with experience across a couple of depts through previous promotion so I didn't experience culture shock as such. The dept. I'm in now is 2 days per week, the wfh hasn't officially launched for applications yet and when it does that's what I'll be applying for. I'm happy with the dept., and the role. I suppose the flexibility will depend on where you get really and I'm sure you'll be happy.

AGER

Does anyone know what State agencies draw down from this AP panel (apart from the obvious central govt. depts) . For example does the Revenue Commissioners or Garda Civilian?

Anna1976

Yes both Revenue and Garda civilian pull from this panel.

Hi everyone,

Hoping for some insider information. I'm hoping to apply for the next AP com that opens.

I'm a serving AO and so was successful on an external comp about 5 years ago. I bought a practice package with Jobtestprep, a UK company, to work on the verbal, numerical, etc.

I've been a bit shocked at the difficulty on the tests on this package. Maybe things have changed in the 5 years since I did them last, but the AO ones were not this hard!

Could anyone who did both competitions give any insight as to whether the AP tests are actually this much harder? Or perhaps the package I bought is overdoing it?

AGER

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119630929#Comment_119630929

I only did the AP competition but can confirm the practice Jobtestprep questions are about similar difficulty level to the real test. In fact I found the actual maths test even more difficult (I ended up guessing the last 5 questions due to time constraints). That said I passed them all with an above average score and did best in the maths (it was the job simulation I scored least) . Fair play to you for starting now - keep practicing and they get easier and with a bit of luck on the day you will nail it

Anna1976

Could anyone who has been appointed in the last week or two please give us an update on which batch is currently being appointed. Just wondering if they have started clearance for anyone from batch 3 yet?

sellotape47

I'm in batch 3 and started clearance process about 2 weeks ago.

mat_s2020

@Anna1976 I believe that batch 3 is now the current panel. I don't know if anyone has been appointed from it yet though. I'd also be interested to hear of any offers being made to those on B3.

Laggy67

If you are really curious as to how many have been placed you can email PAS at the AP Clearance email and ask them. Last I heard they were on number 6 on the OOM

plasticheart

Does anyone know is there a particular day of the week interview results are issued?

kknative

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119645321#Comment_119645321

Hi, No I don't, but if it is from the most recent batch of interviews that started on the 6th September, they said it would be about 3 weeks from then. So I am thinking either this Friday or maybe early next week.

Roch1963

Just to let people know that I was placed on the Cavan panel following my batch 3 interview six weeks ago and have just been contacted by PAS in relation to the pre-employment clearance process. However, as I am also on the Dublin open and interdepartmental panels, I am inclined to decline the offer of a position in the Cavan region, as to accept it would lead to the withdrawal of my name from the Dublin panels. I chose Cavan as one of two locations on the application form as I was working remotely from there during the pandemic. However, as I currently live and work in Dublin, it doesn't make much sense that I start commuting to what could turn out to be a position not in Cavan town, which would be easy to get to from Dublin, but to some isolated rural small town in the county, should there be any Government offices outside of the town itself, which I imagine there may be. Will give some more thought to it before responding to PAS this evening.

Roch1963

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119645321#Comment_119645321

I was interviewed on a Tuesday, and I got the result exactly four weeks later, on a Tuesday.

legally_binding

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119645718#Comment_119645718

Saw this map previously posted here- in case it's helpful to you. Shows AP positions https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=83eb12efc9c7478a982d39a89f759663

Roch1963

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646729#Comment_119646729

Much appreciated, that's very useful.

Luckyboy13

Does anyone know how it works if you are placed on both panels ,open and interdepartmental.Is it alternated between the two ie one from one panel and then one from the other and so on ?

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119650074#Comment_119650074

It's been explained better on the thread before, but in essence, what's supposed to happen is that each department/employer appoints people in the ratio 1:1:1 from the open panel, the interdepartmental panel, and internal promotion. In practice, departments sometimes appoint people out of order - e.g., with agreement, to keep a person in the department; or to exhaust an internal panel before it expires. So they may end up owing a debt to one or other of the open or inter-d panels.

Luckyboy13

Thank you .Very helpful.

Your own department would have to know then that you are on the open panel and inter panel

Stephanie123

Does anyone have an update on where they are in the oom now

im 57 on open and 42 on interdepartmental. Have i any chance of being offered a position?

ebenes

I am in the 30’s of Batch 3 Dublin (results on the 6th of September) and I haven’t heard anything yet.

Roch1963

I am 14 on interdepartmental and 25 on open, batch 3. No word yet. Received result likewise on 6th September.

Roch1963

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119668983#Comment_119668983

As the panel doesn't conclude until the end of next July, I'd say you have a good chance of being placed. I recall a recent post here which was in response to a person who came in the 70s in the open panel and who wondered if s/he was likely to be placed. The response was that they very likely to be placed. The good thing with Dublin is that there is always a constant requirement of new APs to replace those who retire, move out of Dublin or move up.

Kenrach

A shame that the blended framework isn't fully operational across all depts as that will change how the panels are created and positions are filled. I was surprised that there wasn't another comp. announced at this stage given the speed PAS are going through panels and imagine blended working is a factor to consider.

stoney123

Following an enquiry to PAS last Friday it seems there are 7 gone off the inter dept panel and 14 off open panel

:Keith:

I'd be very surprised if everyone from batch 3 that received an OOM panel placement on 6 September isn't placed before the panel expires.

PAS wouldn't have run another set of interviews so quickly following that interview batch from August if they didn't know or at least had a strong indication that there was more demand for APs in the system than could be satisfied under the existing panels.

Anna1976

Yes I emailed PAS mid last week and was told 6 had been placed. I am number 10 inter-d. I will let you know here when I go into clearance. My current Dept has requested to keep me, does anyone know if those requests are generally successful?

AGER

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646729#Comment_119646729

Does anyone know how accurate this map is? I showed it to someone who works in one of the depts and they reckoned it was not accurate. E.g 100 APs for Courts service seems very high? Is it more of a wish list than actual vacancies?

Kenrach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119679076#Comment_119679076

This is the mobility map that outlines the number of posts by each grade by location. This doesn't give information on current vacancies nor was it ever designed to do so. Additionally, i would highly doubt that the number of posts by grade in each location was ever accurate. This was used for guidance purposes only for people looking across the different depts that maybe available for mobility to them.