nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Meath County Council clerical officer

Pepsicass

Hi - did anyone recently enter this recent recruitment campaign? Application forms due in next week. I'd love to know how many they'll be hiring and if they will hire all straight away or put on panel. Money not great but a more reliable job than my current one. Anyone doing this or has already gone through the process. Any insights (good or bad) working with the council or tips for interview if I get to that stage?

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Newgrange Warrior

Pepsicass wrote:

Hi - did anyone recently enter this recent recruitment campaign? Application forms due in next week. I'd love to know how many they'll be hiring and if they will hire all straight away or put on panel. Money not great but a more reliable job than my current one. Anyone doing this or has already gone through the process. Any insights (good or bad) working with the council or tips for interview if I get to that stage?

Just a quick interview tip. They previously asked me alot questions regarding council stucture, management, council functions etc.

AnCatDubh

Newgrange Warrior wrote: »

They previously asked me alot questions regarding council stucture, management, council functions etc.

Their Corporate Plan 2015 - 2019 will be your friend regarding such.

Happy4all

Pepsicass wrote: »

Hi - did anyone recently enter this recent recruitment campaign? Application forms due in next week. I'd love to know how many they'll be hiring and if they will hire all straight away or put on panel. Money not great but a more reliable job than my current one. Anyone doing this or has already gone through the process. Any insights (good or bad) working with the council or tips for interview if I get to that stage?

Did it not close in July?

Pepsicass

Yes - expression of interest closed in July and they've since had the psychometric testing. Thanks for that advice Newgrange Warrior and huge thanks for the link AnCatDubh. Applications forms are due on Wed and hopefully I'll get an interview out of it in which case I'll swot up on it!

ainy

Pepsicass wrote:

Yes - expression of interest closed in July and they've since had the psychometric testing. Thanks for that advice Newgrange Warrior and huge thanks for the link AnCatDubh. Applications forms are due on Wed and hopefully I'll get an interview out of it in which case I'll swot up on it!

Sorry can I just ask, how did you get the application form? Was it sent after the testing? My partner did the test a few weeks back but as far as I'm aware hasn't heard anything since,

Pepsicass

ainy wrote: »

Sorry can I just ask, how did you get the application form? Was it sent after the testing? My partner did the test a few weeks back but as far as I'm aware hasn't heard anything since,

The top 65 were sent application forms about a week after the testing. Everyone should have received an email with their ranking.

ainy

Ah I see! Thanks for that,

Vicxas

Missus got her results and passed, but it seems that the pay seems very low for the position.

stinkbomb

Anyone else get an appt for interview for this? I have mine next week...I don't know if I actually want the job though, the pay is very poor.

Ginger83

stinkbomb wrote: »

Anyone else get an appt for interview for this? I have mine next week...I don't know if I actually want the job though, the pay is very poor.

What are the rates?

stinkbomb

First point in the scale is 23,801 or 476.50 a week

Ginger83

stinkbomb wrote: »

First point in the scale is 23,801 or 476.50 a week

Its not great, is it

skooterblue2

Ginger83 wrote: »

Its not great, is it

I dont know, its better than minimum wage on a zero hour contract and the chance of experiencing an armed robbery 2 or 3 times a year in a convenience store. No chance of being laid of or being down sized. Plenty of perks in the modern working world

Ginger83

skooterblue2 wrote: »

I dont know, its better than minimum wage on a zero hour contract and the chance of experiencing an armed robbery 2 or 3 times a year in a convenience store. No chance of being laid of or being down sized. Plenty of perks in the modern working world

Min wage/ zero hrs are for the unskilled.

My sis in law is starting a new job in 3 weeks with very little experience starting on 28.5k so poor when you compare i suppose.

skooterblue2

Ginger83 wrote: »

Min wage/ zero hrs are for the unskilled.

My sis in law is starting a new job in 3 weeks with very little experience starting on 28.5k so poor when you compare i suppose.

Yeah but you get annual increments dont you? Flexitime, wind of any rezoning or goings on.

Ginger83

skooterblue2 wrote: »

Yeah but you get annual increments dont you? Flexitime, wind of any rezoning or goings on.

I don't know what you'd get or what use rezoning info would be on 23k, i just think its poor for the job. You'd be lucky to get a mortgage of 100k on that.

skooterblue2

Ginger83 wrote: »

I don't know what you'd get or what use rezoning info would be on 23k, i just think its poor for the job. You'd be lucky to get a mortgage of 100k on that.

The smart ones come on when they are immediately out of college or school in early 20's and progress quickly to EO and AO. You are guaranteed promotion based on seniority

Ginger83

skooterblue2 wrote: »

The smart ones come on when they are immediately out of college or school in early 20's and progress quickly to EO and AO. You are guaranteed promotion based on seniority

Oh i didn't know that. The pay would be good there i'd say.

Pepsicass

Did anyone interview for this? I did this morning - hard to know how it went. Two panels interviewing at the same time over three days so lots being interviewed. No idea how many jobs on offer. Agree pay not great but think I'd accept depending on where based, not 100% sure though. Wonder when we'll here and whether it's just whether you get job or not or will there be a panel.

stinkbomb

Yeah I was in on Monday. They are flying through the whole process, I wouldn't say it will be long until they come back to us. They told me they were hiring lots of people.

redfacedbear

skooterblue2 wrote: »

No chance of being laid of or being down sized.

skooterblue2 wrote: »

Yeah but you get annual increments dont you? Flexitime, wind of any rezoning or goings on.

skooterblue2 wrote: »

The smart ones come on when they are immediately out of college or school in early 20's and progress quickly to EO and AO. You are guaranteed promotion based on seniority

Most of this is factually wrong. EO and AO are civil service grades not public service grades and are not available in a CoCo. Nobody is guaranteed a promotion based on seniority in a Local Authority (they are also gone very rare in the CS too, as I understand it). AO is any entry level (for high flyers with very good qualifications) that you don't get promoted to at all.

While it's true that you don't have to do too much right to get your increment and would want to be doing a whole lot wrong to risk being fired it's not an absolute certainty that neither can happen.

The last downturn also proved that unthinkable things (such as pay cuts) that would never happen in the public sector can happen so I'm not certain that lay-offs won't occur at some point over the next 40 years that somebody will work there.

As for the notion that a CO would be in the loop on re-zonings and in a position to exploit that info before anybody else - that's laughable.

skooterblue2

redfacedbear wrote: »

The last downturn also proved that unthinkable things (such as pay cuts) that would never happen in the public sector can happen so I'm not certain that lay-offs won't occur at some point over the next 40 years that somebody will work there.

As for the notion that a CO would be in the loop on re-zonings and in a position to exploit that info before anybody else - that's laughable.

But the Job was still safe? My associate was in the union in the Civil service. It sounded like a complete snoozefest, "we get stuff done when we feel like it" "courses available", two hours off to cash his pay cheque once a fortnight (This guy knew how to play the system).

While I did work experience with public service I was shredding documents, I laughed at some of documents like talking paper about the Jeanie Johnston. "That would never work because we had the Asgard 2". Happened about 15 years later. If I knew what I was shredding at the time I would have taken more notice.

AislingGK

Does anyone have any idea of how many they interviewed? I was interviewed on Tuesday and I'm nervous waiting for results!

stinkbomb

There were three days of interviews, I do know that. I got an email today telling me I am on the panel.

AislingGK

Thanks for the reply. Congrats on getting on the panel. I got an email this evening saying I'm on the panel but not sure I'm high enough to be offered anything. Time will tell!

stinkbomb wrote: »

There were three days of interviews, I do know that. I got an email today telling me I am on the panel.

stinkbomb

Do you have any idea how many they are taking on? I got the impression that it would be quite a few, but they wouldn't really say.

AislingGK

At the aptitude test the recruitment agency said they thought it was about 60 but they weren't sure. That's why I was wondering about how many were brought for interview as it would kinda give an indication of numbers.

Pepsicass

I thought what they said at the psychometric tests was that the top 65 were being sent out application forms?, and no mention of how many positions. At my session anyway.

I'm on the panel as well. I wonder is your number after they give out immediate vacancies or inclusive?

stinkbomb

Its before they have hired anyone

stinkbomb

Its before they have taken on anyone