Third Secretary Competition - 2024

CMC96

Just finished mine there. Agree that it was quite jargon-y in places but otherwise felt alright. It definitely does help to practice a few beforehand so that you've an idea going into it of what you should be doing (and what you can cut out).

boardsenthusiast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122700822#Comment_122700822

No idea of marking but a good example (and other helpful info) can be found at this link: https://www.un.org/dgacm/en/content/precis-writing

TheLukeFella

Anyone know what the timeline for the next steps will be? When roughly will I find out how much I missed out on the next stage?

Desfol88

Anyone else have concerns about how they will police use of AI for the precis? AI use can be very hard to detect and unless someone literally copy and pasted their answer direct from Chat GPT I cannot see public jobs accusing people of cheating.

I also find it very strange that the earlier testing was so heavily monitored and this stage is basically a 'we take your word for it' approach with regards to honesty when completing it.

zorro37

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122701553#Comment_122701553

This is definitely a very valid point. I wondered was the text so specific and so full of complex jargon and abbreviations that AI assisted versions may make clearly identifiable errors or introduce concepts which weren't specifically there, but with right amount of additional prompting and rewording a Chat GPT version could easily have been rehashed. No easy solution there!

lucat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122701553#Comment_122701553

There are a lot of free websites that you can use to detect AI in a given piece of text though.

readoutloud

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122701553#Comment_122701553

I think that a well written precis would be better than an AI-generated one.

As in, if I had the choice between my summary and an AI version, I'd chose my own work first.

I'd also imagine anyone who has to resort to AI use for their precis would be found out fairly sharply during an interview.

lizzyG08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122700822#Comment_122700822

In the last competition it was marked 50/50 content and structure. Maximum score in each was 25 and the qualifying score in each was 10. Those with 43 or higher were called in the first batch.

coolmomjeans

does anyone know when the results are likely to come out ?? Seems like it was 2 weeks last time

MarloStanfield

Results out! 44 needed for interview, missed out by 3. Not overly surprised, felt I had a bit of a mare on the day. Best of luck to all moving forward!

Mayju

Got 42. So close :(

Ah well, always next time!

2024thirdsec

Got 40 😭, wonder will they call further batches? Anyone know?! Hopeful!

M.Diggums

Missed out by a decent margin, 28/30 for content but 9/20 for structure! Tbf I was 18 words over the word count, should have used Word. Congratulatory phrasing of the message threw me a bit.

MeganeMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748548#Comment_122748548

Same here; I thought it was OOM at first and got excited when I saw I scored 38. Ah well, just have to try again in another 2 years.

MarloStanfield

Upon reflection of previous boards discussions, I wouldn’t be entirely discouraged if you (like me) missed out on the 44 mark. There have been instances of them calling additional batches with lower précis scores. I imagine whether they do that/to what extent they do it depends heavily on the outcomes of the first batch of interviews.

Scondol

So if you didn’t get 44 or above you’re cooked? kind of bullshit tbh

MarloStanfield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122748972#Comment_122748972

i don't think cooked but the oven is pre heating

2024thirdsec

I also did this deep dive and it seems like there may be a chance that they call additional batches.

lizzyG08

They definitely called multiple batches last time! So if you don’t get called this time, don’t be discouraged, they are going to keep moving down the list of précis results (to a certain extent).

MeganeMan

Yeah fingers crossed! Hard to tell what percentage of the 250 people who sat the précis got above 44, but I'd say its small enough.

MarloStanfield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122749485#Comment_122749485

What makes you say 250 sat Précis? I understand 340 qualified through OOM after Stage I. If I were to guess, I would say 50-60 have been called to interview, with an unknown number of positions to be filled (based entirely on speculation).

MeganeMan

Sorry, I meant 340.

CMC96

Got through to the first batch interview stage. Sincere commiserations to anyone who wasn't so lucky (I didn't make it through the last competition in 2022 so I can empathise).

I'll also add to the discussion above that I know people who were called in later batches and are now working as third secs, so for anyone who didn't make the 44 cut-off mark definitely keep an eye out down the line!

Dublin2024TS

So this is my first time applying for any civil service / publicjobs role, and I didn’t expect to make it this far to be honest! I made the cut for interviews.

Does anyone have any interview tips from previous years? I saw someone before mention DFA policy documents that it’s worth referring to, etc.

Would appreciate any and all guidance! I also don’t have a Masters and just completed my Undergrad - the majority of Third Secs I can see from my online LinkedIn stalking / on the website seem to be Masters grads. Am I totally out of my depth with this, or is there a shot? I ranked quite well in Stage 1 and evidently in stage 2 also by making the cut, but I’m afraid I’ll be floundering here for the IV!

boardsenthusiast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122751241#Comment_122751241

Hey! Huge congratulations. From what I have heard so far:

• Follow the competencies approach to the interview. Quite similar to your written application where you take examples from your past experiences and apply them within the framework of the stated competencies.
• Don't be afraid to mention examples that don't have any clear link to diplomacy. Like you said, you're straight out of college so you may only have experience in a student group or working in retail. Mention those! If you can find clear examples of things you specifically did that working within the competencies- mention them and be confident in them!
• Definitely read any available policy documents on the DFA website, such as strategies for the next 5/10 years. Also, as per the familiarisation document with the role, get up to speed on all relevant areas of DFA work such as Northern Ireland, Brexit, EU, Ukraine.
• Practice giving succinct answers. The interviewers only have a set amount of time to ask all the questions, so you don't want to chat for 5 minutes on each one. I'm not 100% sure but maybe limit yourself to 90 seconds for each response.
• You're young, presumably Gen Z, so use that to your advantage if any questions about digital communications come up. Irish governance/politics is increasingly being communicated online, so be ready to share how you could use all major social platforms on behalf of DFA.
• Dress formally! A good first impression never hurt anyone.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

Dublin2024TS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122772033#Comment_122772033

Thank you - much appreciated. Best of luck to all in interviews!

Ace_Ace

Best of luck to all doing interviews! I have been lurking on this thread and it's been really helpful, thank you all. I also have some questions if anyone knows anything…

Does anyone know approx. how many are being interviewed this time? I know they took on around 55 3rd secs last competition but I think that was from a number of panels.

Also, I was confused by the interview info doc that mentioned a potential fourth stage of moderate precis but then went onto say that the panel would be created through the interviews, if anyone has any ideas 😅

Borboleta81

Hi All,

Does anyone know if the interviews for Third Sec have been held yet? Thanks and good luck to all interviewing.

bishopbrennan221

I did mine last week. From what I could gather I think they are interviewing this week too. I suspect it will be later next week at the earliest before we hear anything, what does everyone think?

Ace_Ace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122826449#Comment_122826449

I think they're interviewing from 4th - 15th November

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122826846#Comment_122826846

Two weeks for interviews is a lot of interviews so I imagine it will be at least a week or two before we hear anything. Maybe end of Nov / beginning of Dec?