Assistant Principal / HEO Successful Applications

DivineBovine

Hi all,

I just want to start by saying thanks! For a few years now the threads here have been super helpful and encouraging so I know I'm coming to the right place with posting my own first thread on a matter. So here's the meat & waffles:

The meat: Anyone here successfully made AP or HEO and willing to share "how" they talked about their competencies/themselves in their application headings? The format of the answers on your initial application form which they grade for Stage 2, the capability framework headings.

The background (waffles): I'm an EO in Dublin for 5-7 years now and have been lucky that I get a lot of opportunities to provide training, office management, budget control, FOIs, and another whole heap of middle/senior management experience I can't get into by providing cover to my HEO and even my AP at one stage because of how things worked out in my Unit. It's been a lot but I figured, hey, it's rare to get that kind of trial run and would look great on an application. Like all of you I've applied to panels and individual job posts that I've had experience for and while I've scored pretty high (always top 30%) in Stage 1 with the psychometric testing stuff I have never been able to crack Stage 2; apparently due to my initial answers on my application form.

I've taken my most recent forms to a HEO I'm friends with in another department to workshop my answer presentation for a public application because I'm not great at writing about myself (never have been since way back in school) and although I've scored better in the recent Stage 2 I still didn't crack it! I've got both wide/varied and specialist experiences and both my Civil Service friends outside my dept. and my direct manager tell me there's not much more experience I could gain unless I was 6+ months in an acting-up role (I've already provided successful cover at HEO level for several months because of reasons).

I'm not looking to copy anyone's detailed personal experiences here, I just want to learn "how" you presented it, or, if you took any courses/got advice on Stage 2 that was a big help to you. I've been trying more to present in a STAR style with a focus on A&R for Action and Response for each heading. I'm just trying to make sure I represent myself as best I can in the correct format of the new frameworks for both kinds of roles. Also yes I do check the capability frameworks as I write!

I've been to enough people now and talked about this for so long that my problem can only be I'm doing a crap job discussing myself or I'm just flat out unlucky. With the way things are going in the country this is the first time I've ever felt real pressure to move up a grade financially, especially with the parents in their early 70's.

Really appreciate the help!

davidoyyy

I applied for and got an ict specialist heo role so slightly different. However what I did for both application form and interview was to list the details of all the key achievements and work I have done in as much detail as I could remember but not worry about phrasing. I then loaded that along with my CV and the role description and comptencies booklet into chatgpt. Asked it to give answers for the form in the style of an Irish professional and also give question/answers in star format based upon the competencies. This gave me a solid base to work on

DivineBovine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123489950#Comment_123489950

I see! Yeah some people have told me to use Chat GPT, not for writing answers mind you but just to use it to bounce ideas off a wall. I didn't think it'd be much use personally because I don't think it would reflect "Irish Civil Service" well or know what that is really.

So you used STAR format, and I'm guessing a load of bullet points? Should it be more BAM BAM BAM short points of achievements or are these things better shown like writing an essay/story of what was achieved?

davidoyyy

I used the job role booklet as a feed into chatgpt this covers more than enough to comprehend the civil service role. The format to use is whatever suits you best. The reason why I default to star format is that is universally used in civil service interviews but also it help structure the answers in the form as stories. A list of bullet points could work but the aim is to demonstrate your abilities in the most compelling way