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NEW 2020 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

1171820222352

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭HannahR31


    I would gladly take a 10k hit in salary to secure an AO position with Revenue...

    In fact I am currently waiting in an endless competition for that exact position!

    What about the position attracts you to this extent, may I ask? Is it the job security in the short term and then the hopes of a future promotion getting you back up the salary?

    I'm not sure there's any scenario in which I'd actually want a pay cut.


  • Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Nicole2020


    Is anyone else coming to this competition from a private sector background ?

    I am, I didn’t get called in this batch but from what I’ve heard I will in the next batch considering my OOO. I was a temp clerical officer for 3 summers 13 years ago but other than that my career has been purely hospitality management.

    What kind of questions were asked in the video round? Seems crazy you could have 10 years exp in management and be excluded based on lack of management.


  • Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Nicole2020


    HannahR31 wrote: »
    What about the position attracts you to this extent, may I ask? Is it the job security in the short term and then the hopes of a future promotion getting you back up the salary?

    I'm not sure there's any scenario in which I'd actually want a pay cut.

    I know plenty of people who would take the pay cut for benefits and job security alone. For example, we don’t get any maternity pay, pension or sick pay in my industry. But also the possibilities for yearly increases and promotions.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 242 ✭✭berocca2016


    Nicole2020 wrote: »
    I am, I didn’t get called in this batch but from what I’ve heard I will in the next batch considering my OOO. I was a temp clerical officer for 3 summers 13 years ago but other than that my career has been purely hospitality management.

    What kind of questions were asking in the video round? Seems crazy you could have 10 years exp in management and be excluded based on lack of management.

    Hey, one was on effective change implementation, general management and the other a project in what I can remember, mind is totally a blank.

    I'm coming from financial services so I know nothing about the machinations of the civil service really !


  • Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Nicole2020


    Hey, one was on effective change implementation, general management and the other a project in what I can remember, mind is totally a blank.

    I'm coming from financial services so I know nothing about the machinations of the civil service really !

    Thanks a mill, handy to know if and hopefully when I get called!

    I’m the same, but I believe they are hoping to bring in some people from the private sector! This is just what I’ve heard from family who work in civil service mind you!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,742 ✭✭✭StevenToast


    HannahR31 wrote: »
    What about the position attracts you to this extent, may I ask? Is it the job security in the short term and then the hopes of a future promotion getting you back up the salary?

    I'm not sure there's any scenario in which I'd actually want a pay cut.

    All the various benefits of the public sector which are well documented on boards!

    Plus I deal with Revenue everyday and I would much rather be on that side of the fence!

    "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining." - Fletcher



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,677 ✭✭✭PhoenixParker


    HannahR31 wrote: »
    What about the position attracts you to this extent, may I ask? Is it the job security in the short term and then the hopes of a future promotion getting you back up the salary?

    I'm not sure there's any scenario in which I'd actually want a pay cut.
    Nicole2020 wrote: »
    I know plenty of people who would take the pay cut for benefits and job security alone. For example, we don’t get any maternity pay, pension or sick pay in my industry. But also the possibilities for yearly increases and promotions.

    I took a €15k payout to be EO.

    It was a calculated risk that I would get pregnant, have a maternity leave and get HEO or AP within about 3 years. So far its worked out, just.

    Reasons: paid maternity leave was a big one, it massively balanced out the pay cut in the short term.

    Easiness of taking holidays vs being half on call, job security as I used to work for a small business, family friendly policies like its easy to take parental leave or go to 3 days, can take a career break if we move for a few years, can leave on time in the evening.

    Structured career path is another big one. My degree is quite specific but I dont want to work in that field. It was hard to see where to go next if I moved on from my last job that I sort of landed by accident. Now there's clear path with a few optional branches.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 TheStuka


    Yes same here HEO , not enough Management and delivery of results apparently. Even though i have 13 years Management experience , multi project mgt experience and manage both contractors and civil servants. Along with multi EU procurement experience, drafting memos for government in a previous incarnation. (All mentioned and evidenced in my 3 minutes of (fame) in addition Cost estimation and management experience for millions of euros. I guess they are looking for someone who negotiated the good Friday agreement or IMF bailout something like that. Was annoyed for about 1 minute but then was thinking , not worth it expending energy thinking about it, did find below 41points a little insulting. Best of luck the people who made it.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Monkey5 wrote: »
    Ok, then a 26% increase. Still pretty good. I am not new as an AO and I have also been a CO and EO and I have some private sector management experience.

    "Evidence of management experience, including leading teams, managing operations/projects/ budgets and delivering results" is what they're looking for.

    A sideways move won't give that and I've already had my PO refuse to release me for a transfer. Reality is an AO doesn't get management experience.

    I would love to know what the grade breakdown was between HEO's and AO's applying over the last number of competitions and the success rates. There does appear to be a perception that a disproportionate number of AO's are being cut during the competitions on the basis of a lack of staff management experience. If this is the case, it isn't something that can be rectified by bringing up volunteer work or relevant college qualifications - it has to be on the job experience. Past experience is all well and good but considering most AO's are recent graduates you would assume all candidates regardless of grade should be provided with the tools to succeed in an objectively fair competition ran by their employer. Considering the AO grade is primarily a graduate entry position, if an AO is not afforded the opportunity to gain staff management experience then the requirement effectively amounts to a barrier to promotion. If the stats back up this perception surely it would be discrimination under the Equality Acts because one class of employee is being disadvantaged over another.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,094 ✭✭✭TaurenDruid


    And yet I've come across a fair few AOs from various departments, who've been promoted to AP, and a fair few HEOs with management experience told they didn't have management experience. AOs seem to do disproportionately well in some departments' internal competitions, at the expense of HEOs.

    Swings and roundabouts.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    And yet I've come across a fair few AOs from various departments, who've been promoted to AP, and a fair few HEOs with management experience told they didn't have management experience. AOs seem to do disproportionately well in some departments' internal competitions, at the expense of HEOs.

    Swings and roundabouts.

    I think every Civil Servant knows internal competitions seem to be law into their own. I can only speak from my own perspective but those successful in my Department have been older applicants and the majority of them HEO's. The AO's that were successful weren't recent entrants either they had either prior experience outside the Civil Service or were in other Departments before they got promoted to an AO. In any event, PAS is a different beast which every Civil Servant has apply to for the Open/Interdepartmental Competitions. My point was if the facts are there to be seen they speak for themselves.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,149 ✭✭✭Mervyn Skidmore


    Just back from my internal AP interview. Found it awful, the worst of 4 AP interviews I've done. The board had been chopped and changed a couple of times I the last few days and I felt the interview had no structure at all. Didn't ask about my experience or education, just said "we read your form" and started straight into questioning.

    One board member scoffed twice at something I said and rolled her eyes another time. I don't care if she disagreed with me but I found that very unprofessional. Add to this the fact that it was a video interview with slight delay, glitches, and it was near impossible to build up any rapport. Anyway, an interview to forget.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 TheStuka


    Feel for you. Sounds about right, there really should be how to give an interview training on One Learning. Nothing worse than just wanting to elaborate on your experience and being shot down. Happened to me in an inter d comp for HEO , wasn't an interview just a dressing down. Irony is the very next year came nearly top of the pack and got it. And then got another HEO position the next year in a different department specialist comp. Its vert very subjective sometimes. They should invest in giving people a fair shot - Active listening skills , diplomacy and all that.

    Just back from my internal AP interview. Found it awful, the worst of 4 AP interviews I've done. The board had been chopped and changed a couple of times I the last few days and I felt the interview had no structure at all. Didn't ask about my experience or education, just said "we read your form" and started straight into questioning.

    One board member scoffed twice at something I said and rolled her eyes another time. I don't care if she disagreed with me but I found that very unprofessional. Add to this the fact that it was a video interview with slight delay, glitches, and it was near impossible to build up any rapport. Anyway, an interview to forget.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,094 ✭✭✭TaurenDruid


    TheStuka wrote: »
    Feel for you. Sounds about right, there really should be how to give an interview training on One Learning. Nothing worse than just wanting to elaborate on your experience and being shot down. Happened to me in an inter d comp for HEO , wasn't an interview just a dressing down. Irony is the very next year came nearly top of the pack and got it. And then got another HEO position the next year in a different department specialist comp. Its vert very subjective sometimes. They should invest in giving people a fair shot - Active listening skills , diplomacy and all that.

    This. I've had interviews where the panel were clearly interested and engaged, had trained and/or obviously sat on panels before, and who asked relevant questions with follow ups. (Ironically passed an interview like that then failed the e-tray!) And I've had one where the feedback was the only massive "did not demonstrate all the required competencies", to which my reaction was "well, two of you might be able to say that, but the third was literally falling asleep for a good third of the interview!" Passed the e-tray that time, though...

    I've also had a 2-person board for a specialist panel where one asked me questions in the usual way for a competency-based interview, while the other gave me rapid-fire questions with no time at all to answer. That's fine - I guess - if you've been told it's not a competency based interview, but we were told it was...

    No consistency, no feedback, no fairness.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭Addle


    I think every Civil Servant knows internal competitions seem to be law into their own. I can only speak from my own perspective but those successful in my Department have been older applicants and the majority of them HEO's. The AO's that were successful weren't recent entrants either they had either prior experience outside the Civil Service or were in other Departments before they got promoted to an AO. In any event, PAS is a different beast which every Civil Servant has apply to for the Open/Interdepartmental Competitions. My point was if the facts are there to be seen they speak for themselves.
    Your experience doesn’t have to be work related.


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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Addle wrote: »
    Your experience doesn’t have to be work related.

    Staff management was a prerequisite...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭Addle


    Staff management was a prerequisite...

    Staff or people?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,149 ✭✭✭Mervyn Skidmore


    TheStuka wrote: »
    Feel for you. Sounds about right, there really should be how to give an interview training on One Learning. Nothing worse than just wanting to elaborate on your experience and being shot down. Happened to me in an inter d comp for HEO , wasn't an interview just a dressing down. Irony is the very next year came nearly top of the pack and got it. And then got another HEO position the next year in a different department specialist comp. Its vert very subjective sometimes. They should invest in giving people a fair shot - Active listening skills , diplomacy and all that.

    It was a bit weird alright, all of the board were in different rooms and I believe she thought I wasn't able to see her when she was scoffing, laughing, and rolling her eyes, as she wasn't asking some of the questions. It's a pity it wasn't recorded actually, only a note taker was present. Anyway, I've interviewed CO to EO competition before and I wouldn't dream of reacting like that no matter what was said.

    Edit; oh, and her phone started ringing at one point.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Addle wrote: »
    Staff or people?

    Staff unfortunately.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,635 CMod ✭✭✭✭Ravelleman


    Monkey5 wrote: »
    I honestly think I've had enough of this and will have to start planning my exit from the civil service. It is not just sour grapes from being unsuccessful on this occasion but the fact that it's not going to be any different next time.

    I ended up in a Civil Service backwater as an AO and found the atmosphere utterly stultifying. After facing similar frustrations in competitions, I decided to make a bit of a sideways move from AO to something similar to HEO in a completely different type of organisation in the public service more broadly. The role came up via direct recruitment, rather than through a general competition, and matched a specific skill-set and type of experience I have. I would recommend keeping your eyes open for opportunities like this. The HEO salary scale is very reasonable even if your target is c. 70k as an AP.

    A few general observations on the AO role:

    I am not sure if the frequent comparison to HEO is useful. Rather, I think that there are some problems in the general AO experience.

    Being an AO is framed as a graduate role (and literally is in that candidates must have a level-eight degree) and in many people's minds this implies that it should lead to progression at some tangible end point. However, the AO role is very much not in the style of the UK Civil Service Fast Stream programme which leads to an appointment at a higher level upon completion. The number of AOs in the Irish Civil Service has increased significantly over the last seven or eight years and cynics rightly say that this has been a deliberate effort to access cheap labour. Not only has this been greatly successful, there is no incentive to change anything as the AO recruitment process is always oversubscribed.

    While AOs may indeed end up in policy-oriented departments, many will be very junior in those teams and end up doing a lot of water carrying. The work can be tedious and, in my view, lead to a credibility issue for AOs if they don't have diverse work experience. At that level, of course, everyone is managing something but I felt that very little depended on the management done by AOs where I was, whereas HEOs often had a lot of operational responsibility. Managing staff and business operations is onerous and boring, but if you have limited experience then this definitely trumps writing a report on iron ore policy or whatever they have you doing.

    For me, it's a Peter Pan role: AOs are full of promise but may never grow up.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭Cheeseplant


    poundhound wrote: »
    Remote e-tray exercise next.

    Did you get notification of this?


  • Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭Cheeseplant


    It was a bit weird alright, all of the board were in different rooms and I believe she thought I wasn't able to see her when she was scoffing, laughing, and rolling her eyes, as she wasn't asking some of the questions. It's a pity it wasn't recorded actually, only a note taker was present. Anyway, I've interviewed CO to EO competition before and I wouldn't dream of reacting like that no matter what was said.

    Edit; oh, and her phone started ringing at one point.

    Honestly this is terrible. You should put in a complaint about this. How could you be expected to perform at your best with this sh1t?

    For saying that, any money says this is the time you get on the panel :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,064 ✭✭✭poundhound


    Did you get notification of this?

    Yes. I was notified that further details on the next stage of the process, an online simulation exercise in the form of an etray, will issue in due course.


  • Registered Users Posts: 338 ✭✭Cheeseplant


    poundhound wrote: »
    Yes. I was notified that further details on the next stage of the process, an online simulation exercise in the form of an etray, will issue in due course.

    oohh yuck. I was seriously hoping that we would escape that! I say 'we' but I will be in batch 2 I hope.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 429 ✭✭lucat


    Ravelleman wrote: »
    I ended up in a Civil Service backwater as an AO and found the atmosphere utterly stultifying. After facing similar frustrations in competitions, I decided to make a bit of a sideways move from AO to something similar to HEO in a completely different type of organisation in the public service more broadly. The role came up via direct recruitment, rather than through a general competition, and matched a specific skill-set and type of experience I have. I would recommend keeping your eyes open for opportunities like this. The HEO salary scale is very reasonable even if your target is c. 70k as an AP.

    A few general observations on the AO role:

    I am not sure if the frequent comparison to HEO is useful. Rather, I think that there are some problems in the general AO experience.

    Being an AO is framed as a graduate role (and literally is in that candidates must have a level-eight degree) and in many people's minds this implies that it should lead to progression at some tangible end point. However, the AO role is very much not in the style of the UK Civil Service Fast Stream programme which leads to an appointment at a higher level upon completion. The number of AOs in the Irish Civil Service has increased significantly over the last seven or eight years and cynics rightly say that this has been a deliberate effort to access cheap labour. Not only has this been greatly successful, there is no incentive to change anything as the AO recruitment process is always oversubscribed.

    While AOs may indeed end up in policy-oriented departments, many will be very junior in those teams and end up doing a lot of water carrying. The work can be tedious and, in my view, lead to a credibility issue for AOs if they don't have diverse work experience. At that level, of course, everyone is managing something but I felt that very little depended on the management done by AOs where I was, whereas HEOs often had a lot of operational responsibility. Managing staff and business operations is onerous and boring, but if you have limited experience then this definitely trumps writing a report on iron ore policy or whatever they have you doing.

    For me, it's a Peter Pan role: AOs are full of promise but may never grow up.

    Totally agree with this observation re. the AO role. I think it seems to be hard for internal HR to see you in a higher grade for some reason, unless you're older and they feel that you've done your time/you're owed a promotion because of xyz reason.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2 eimscc


    poundhound wrote: »
    Yes. I was notified that further details on the next stage of the process, an online simulation exercise in the form of an etray, will issue in due course.

    I got the same. Wonder will there be another stage after that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 281 ✭✭supersaint3


    I'd say there's a 3 person Board interview after e tray surely ? Does anyone know if the score from the 3x3min video matters now? Is it added to the e tray for a new order of merit ? Best of luck all


  • Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭CBCB


    I'd say there's a 3 person Board interview after e tray surely ? Does anyone know if the score from the 3x3min video matters now? Is it added to the e tray for a new order of merit ? Best of luck all

    I wouldn't think so. I would imagine it just means you are through to the next stage like a normal shortlisting process and all who passed get through to etray. The score on etray may have a bearing on when you are called to interview but the numbers that were called to online interview were small so you would imagine that they will be able to interview all who pass the online interview and etray in the one go.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,064 ✭✭✭poundhound


    Remote e-tray exercise to be completed between Sept 1st and 4th.
    Familiarisation material just received.
    This is moving along quite quickly.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4 red1329


    There doesn't seem to be details of a sample exercise to take before the real one for the purposes of practice. Only a note to say you must go through the tutorial on the day.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 186 ✭✭Brera


    poundhound wrote: »
    Remote e-tray exercise to be completed between Sept 1st and 4th.
    Familiarisation material just received.
    This is moving along quite quickly.

    It seems to be moving along quite quickly. Especially by PAS standards 😆

    I’m guessing then the interviews will be the at end of September or early October.

    Hopefully then the second batch will be called around mid October 🀞


  • Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭CBCB


    poundhound wrote: »
    Remote e-tray exercise to be completed between Sept 1st and 4th.
    Familiarisation material just received.
    This is moving along quite quickly.

    wow that's quite a narrow time frame to complete it


  • Registered Users Posts: 112 ✭✭Sarahlaois


    Have all candidates called to etray selected Dublin as a location? Just wondering if batch 2 will be all other non-Dublin candidates who met the original cut off for OOM? I was in top 15 and I've heard nothing yet ☹


  • Registered Users Posts: 141 ✭✭Gadgetman99


    Only candidates who selected dublin and scored 126 went to stage 2. Not sure when they will call regional candidates.


  • Registered Users Posts: 112 ✭✭Sarahlaois


    Only candidates who selected dublin and scored 126 went to stage 2. Not sure when they will call regional candidates.
    Thank you Gadgetman ..... just wanted to ensure I didn't miss anything ðŸ‘


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 242 ✭✭berocca2016


    How many more stages will there be after the etray ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭HannahR31


    How many more stages will there be after the etray ?

    Based on last time I'd imagine just an interview! There wasn't a presentation last time - but there was for the InterD HEO.


  • Registered Users Posts: 128 ✭✭InsideEdge


    Is there anyone with any experience of attempting an e-tray exercise? Any tips would be very welcome!


  • Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭HannahR31


    InsideEdge wrote: »
    Is there anyone with any experience of attempting an e-tray exercise? Any tips would be very welcome!

    I've done a few of them and still don't have any good advice tbh!
    The only thing I can think of is watch the clock. If I remember right, you tend to start off thinking you have loads of time so start with 'slow and steady' but no matter what you end up down to the wire so try to be quick about it from the start.

    And make sure you hit 'finish/submit' or whatever rather than just close it. Every time I hear people getting on to PAS because they're not sure if their data was lost or not because they didn't hit submit.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 311 ✭✭Divisadero


    There are examples online but in my experience unlike general aptitude tests (e.g. numerical reasoning) they are not something you can really prepare for. Each one is different. It's just a matter of focus and keeping an eye on the clock. Try to complete as much of the main tasks as you can and submit everything you have done before time runs out. Don't do one task perfectly and ignore the other. Make a decent stab at both.

    The usual format in the past has been two main tasks e.g. compiling information and drafting a fairly complex letter and organising a schedule for a conference. During the exercise some changes will be requested and you will have to adapt. Also you will get an occasional message on other relatively minor unrelated matters.

    As I said try to keep a cool head and get as much of the main tasks completed as you can. Like all tests the e-tray suits some and not others. But pay attention to what you are asked and focus and you should be fine.


  • Registered Users Posts: 92 ✭✭silverwatch


    Hey
    I scored poorly in this competition. Scored very high on verbal and numerical reasoning but what let me down was the management scenarios. I only got 45 out of 80. I was placed 647....
    Anyway, I am now doing these assessments again tonight for the SEO competition in the local authority and for those of you who scored well in the situational judgement / management scenarios, did you go for a broad range of answers.... I can barely remember them but so so so disappointed and would like to do better this time so any tips appreciated...


  • Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭Chaos Black


    I recommend reviewing the competency wheel on PAS for the relevant role. Each comp has sub bullet points. Be very familiar with them and that should guide your responses as they set out the behavior/traits expected for the role.

    The other aspect is of course working with AP's and familiarity of the role through experience but that may not be applicable.


  • Registered Users Posts: 99 ✭✭Nicole2020


    Hey
    I scored poorly in this competition. Scored very high on verbal and numerical reasoning but what let me down was the management scenarios. I only got 45 out of 80. I was placed 647....
    Anyway, I am now doing these assessments again tonight for the SEO competition in the local authority and for those of you who scored well in the situational judgement / management scenarios, did you go for a broad range of answers.... I can barely remember them but so so so disappointed and would like to do better this time so any tips appreciated...

    I got 63 on this segment so not too bad. The thought process I used for a lot of the answers was to try and avoid differing to someone else unless necessary because this is a management position. Also to try and pick across a range of ratings for each answer, generally there should be an obvious high and low and then a variety in between. In saying that, on some of the scenarios I ended up having 2 in a couple of the ratings, especially the ones with a lot of options / answers. There was also one or two where I think all bar one of my answers were in the negative segments.

    Best of luck!


  • Registered Users Posts: 25 MrMistoffelees


    Hey
    I scored poorly in this competition. Scored very high on verbal and numerical reasoning but what let me down was the management scenarios. I only got 45 out of 80. I was placed 647....
    Anyway, I am now doing these assessments again tonight for the SEO competition in the local authority and for those of you who scored well in the situational judgement / management scenarios, did you go for a broad range of answers.... I can barely remember them but so so so disappointed and would like to do better this time so any tips appreciated...

    My approach to this was to look at all the options, then start with the most obvious i.e. if there was an action you clearly would or wouldn’t do them rank if highest/ lowest as appropriate. Then I’d look at the other options and score them relative to the first ones. I’m doing the Local Authority SEO tests over the weekend too - good luck!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 351 ✭✭dee75


    InsideEdge wrote: »
    Is there anyone with any experience of attempting an e-tray exercise? Any tips would be very welcome!

    Just a few tips for what worked for me: -
    1. Respond to messages as they arrive in your "inbox".
    2. Make sure your spelling, grammar and language skills are good.
    3. Show that you can manage your time well throughout the e-tray exercise by prioritising emails/assignments effectively.
    4. Where possible, try to show initiative and refer to additional documents provided in the exercise when preparing your response.
    5. Try to ensure your responses address (or attempt to address) the majority of issues mentioned in the exercise.

    Best of luck!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 139 ✭✭Bobby2004


    Sorry not really related to this comp but can someone tell me if I take up a role in the civil service like an EO position. Am I correct in assuming I cant go for promotions till I have 2 years service completed or can I still apply for open competitions. I kno there will prob be an AO competition upcoming!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,094 ✭✭✭TaurenDruid


    Bobby2004 wrote: »
    Sorry not really related to this comp but can someone tell me if I take up a role in the civil service like an EO position. Am I correct in assuming I cant go for promotions till I have 2 years service completed or can I still apply for open competitions. I kno there will prob be an AO competition upcoming!

    You can apply for open competitions (if you meet the criteria such as Leaving Cert honours); you can't apply for internal/interdepartmental competitions until you've 2 years service.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,094 ✭✭✭TaurenDruid


    My approach to this was to look at all the options, then start with the most obvious i.e. if there was an action you clearly would or wouldn’t do them rank if highest/ lowest as appropriate. Then I’d look at the other options and score them relative to the first ones. I’m doing the Local Authority SEO tests over the weekend too - good luck!

    Did mine yesterday evening. Adobe Flash?! Lol!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭s1ippy


    If you've been selected for a position, submitted your pre-employment documents and the PAS have contacted your employer, how long might it be before they get in touch regarding commencement of employment? It's quite embarrassing; they required my current employer fill out a reference... the boss knows I've "one foot out the door" the past few weeks, but I have no sure start date yet, so they can't advertise my position. Tis a bit of an awkward situation.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,094 ✭✭✭TaurenDruid


    s1ippy wrote: »
    If you've been selected for a position, submitted your pre-employment documents and the PAS have contacted your employer, how long might it be before they get in touch regarding commencement of employment? It's quite embarrassing; they required my current employer fill out a reference... the boss knows I've "one foot out the door" the past few weeks, but I have no sure start date yet, so they can't advertise my position. Tis a bit of an awkward situation.

    Depends on where you're being assigned. Some departments will require security clearance, which is done by the guards, which can add time on. No harm asking PAS if they can tell what department it is and following up with that department's HR.


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