Third Secretary Competition - 2024

Dublin2024TS

I’d be assuming the end of the week of the 18th realistically? Particularly given they’re so structured and weighted as individual marked interviews rather than weighing the merits of candidates against each other?

How did people find their interviews? I found it quite hard, not even in terms of content, but felt I was really being probed - if anything, with some panel responses/questions being borderline rude. Equally, I understand they want you sweating.

bishopbrennan221

I definitely felt challenged and pressed, but I wouldn’t say there was any element of rudeness. I was glad to finish and not feel like I had completely messed it up at least!

eiredub10

Hi all. How long did the interview last?And what was the structure? Thanks a mill

CMC96

The interview went maybe a minute or two overtime for me, so it was roughly 51/52 minutes long. It followed the structure outlined in the familiarization material.

I would agree that it was challenging enough, but I didn't feel there was any rudeness - just a little digging/probing when they wanted to delve deeper into something.

Best of luck to everyone still to do theirs!

Ace_Ace

Results from the interviews are out!! Although there is going to be a stage 4 - supervised precis.

bishopbrennan221

indeed! The familiarization material did say this would potentially on the cards but wasn’t expecting for everyone who is successful at interview to go to stage four. Another spin of the wheel I suppose!

Desfol88

Anyone know how many people they are likely to be hiring?

Dublin2024TS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861095#Comment_122861095

also wondering this - thrilled to make it to stage four but also kind of shocked we have another stage to go through… the joys!

Shels1

Interesting that they are doing an Extra stage. Are They in person or supervised remotely?
Also what date did they give for stage 4?
I think I will be in the next batch (assuming they go to the next batch) and I am trying to figure out if they will call me this side of Christmas 😂

Desfol88

Yeah I'm also surprised at another stage at this point, especially since it says this precis result won't effect the OOM. Not sure of the point of another precis now. It could just be for transparency maybe considering the previous precis was open to AI use? Only reason I can think of

zorro37

The requirement was to either pass all 8 areas or pass 7 and get potential in 1 - I passed 6 (some by 10+ points) and got potential in 2, narrowly missing the pass target for both. So about 4 points out of 400something available was the difference for me. Absolutely gutting to be honest, I would love to just forget about it and move on but will be easier said than done.

I'm sure I already know the answer to this but is there any way to request any further feedback from the interview?

Good luck to everyone in the stage 4!

CMC96

Also narrowly missed out, also gutted 😅😂 Oh well...will see about applying next time, but might not feel as interested in two years.

Good luck to everyone who passed! 🙏

dory

To those who did the interview - were the 8 sections from the capability framework , or ones more relevant to the role?

Shels1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861791#Comment_122861791

yeah I suspect it is due to the availability of AI but it does seem strange to conduct it after interviewing people, which of course is more time consuming and costly than a supervised test.

Ace_Ace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861095#Comment_122861095

I think for the last competition they hired around 55 third secs but it was from a number of panels from what I can see from the 2022 third Sec Boards.ie discussion. I don't know how many are on this first panel for our competition.

Dublin2024TS

Do we have any idea of when to hear back about stage 4, or how big the panel is? I was placed in early 20s and am wondering what the odds look like! Thanks in advance.

Desfol88

Not sure when we are likely to hear back about stage 4, was hoping this week but seems unlikely at this stage.

Desfol88

Stage 4 results are out now!

bishopbrennan221

Phew! I thought that wait would be the death of me. I hope whoever else was waiting got good news too. Similar to an earlier contributor, I am low 20s on oom. Any insights as to when I might be called?

Desfol88

Yeah same, the wait seemed endless. Good news for me too thankfully! I've no idea on the timeframe, I'm similar on the OOM. If anyone else has any idea that would be grea

dory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122942782#Comment_122942782

Any of those who made it this far care to offer a little insight on what kinds of questions were asked at interview? Those who didn't make it would be very grateful. 😀

tourna

Just asking how many got on the OOM and do people think people below 44 have a chance of being called at a later stage for interview.

I know no one knows the answer but just asking you to give your best guess.

brown105

I have spoken to a few people about this. A former colleague who went for the 2022 competition told me that she also missed out on the first round of interviews and was called at a later stage. I also asked someone working in the DFA who seemed confident that there would be more than one batch. I scored a 42 and he implied it was highly likely I would get called at some point most likely March/ April. Reading old forum posts it seems the norm to have multiple batches and the hiring process seemed to have stretched out over the full 2 years since the last comp was launched. Obviously DFA can’t officially confirm this but unless the process significantly changes this year it still looks hopeful!

Dublin2024TS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964745#Comment_122964745

not using an exact science here, but a few of us in this chat have said low 20s but haven’t heard of any 30s… if I were to guess, somewhere in 25-28 called? Unless someone can confirm if they were on either side of that.

Gadge98

Was called for clearance this afternoon, not sure how many of us at this stage, but I think last time it was the first 15 or so taken for clearance first!

bishopbrennan221

I have also had the clearance email and am low 20s

Desfol88

Has anyone that submitted documents for clearance received a response? I sent them to the mailbox that we received the email from and have got no response except for an automated e-mail saying this mailbox is currently busy

Gadge98

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122974265#Comment_122974265

I got the same, they said to follow up if we don't hear back from them within 5 working days, but also a little stressful given they said we need to submit them by today. I'm sure they'll get back to us eventually

bishopbrennan221

anyone heard back on clearance yet? Not sure what counts as a working day over Christmas

Desfol88

No haven't heard anything back yet, yeah it's hard to know this time of year 🤷‍♂️