Numerous HEO ICT PAS Roles

I'm going to apply for "ICT Specialists - Digital Transformation and Business Engagement" suits my skillset ... anyone else??

TestLink thanks for the insight.. can I ask which stream you applied for??

Was there AP ICT open competition this year??
I think last year HEO & AP open ICT were ran at the same time?

I’m considering applying for these jobs but I only have the qualifications, missing a year experience. Not sure if there is any hope at all making shortlisting. Anyone applied before any tips on how strict they are with experience. And any tips on how to write the application forms? I’m finding it really tough going. Thanks in advance

The texts say mostly Dublin but potentially anywhere:

"It is envisaged that the majority of vacancies arising over the lifetime of the panel will be located in Dublin. However, a limited number of vacancies may also arise in regional locations which may filled from this panel."

R75MM wrote: »

Very quiet here - does this mean there is no interest?

Just to note:
The Executive Office Panel (
Employing Department/Authority has been changed to: "Civil Service" this was "Office of the Government Chief Information Officer" so it must be all part of the one competition - just different 'streams' etc.

Anyone applying at all?

- R7

Hi - seems like the link you shared is broken - is there another way of accessing it?

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Requirements are generally fairly hard and fast. They will only want to interview those who meet the requirements, so you won't get through shortlisting if you don't demonstrate that you meet the requirements.

Thanks. I suppose what I should have asked is what level of experience are they expecting to hire for a HEO role? Because the requirements don't seem to be in-line with the 3 years experience specified.

I know some non-ICT HEOs who are not long out of college and simply don't have much experience in the workplace. Whereas I know some very experienced ICT people who still couldn't say they have experience in governance of ICT in an organization, or have contributed to standards.

You'll probably get better results by focusing on the one or two streams that best match your experience, and writing really clear applications with good examples rather than the broad blunder buss approach.

I believe I could write 3 adequate unique applications, I'm just wary that PAS might, e.g., have mechanisms to filter out "spammy" applicants.

FenFlynn wrote: »

Just submitted mine today for one stream only. I wonder how long it would take to get a result back.

Booklet says interviews would be starting October/November so shortlisting should be quick enough.

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

This thread is surprisingly quite!

I wonder is that a good sign or is everybody keeping schtum... The posts on FB were similarly quiet.

I do think that the requirements they list are a bit ridiculous. If you wholly fulfil them you would get you a FAR better salary elsewhere at the moment, moreso than the usual public/private discrepancy. Bit weird that 22 year old undergrads are getting a better package from non-FAANG bog standard companies, straight out of college, in Dublin, than senior ICT staff in CS. This may somewhat explain the quietness.

That being said, I also got a few applications in

I'd say it'll be more active after shortlisting. I'm not confident to get through that for the one I applied. Will have to wait and see, hopefully I'm put out of my misery soon.

beauf wrote: »

Anyone with the experience and qualifications will want more money. Anyone with one and not the other night be ok with the money, but don't meet the minimum requirements. Same problem all over the PS. That's my thinking.

I see inconsistent payscales/requirements also, which is confusing as an applicant. E.g. NTA has a senior dev role up now, same requirements as HEO dev, but it's an engineer grade and is 70-90k. Perhaps there's an explanation for this but as an outsider I assumed there'd be more consistency in CS.

trigger26 wrote: »

Never mentioned the opportunities were ICT related nor did I ever expect someone else to sort my training plan for me. I trained to help me get into a role I wanted, luck is a big factor too

Outside Dublin there's a small number of AP positions.And it's all very good but most training requires a business case from PO for sign off(presumably in current role) . I've heard about the educational/training opportunities in civil service but you have to push for them and even at that they still mightn't be signed off. There's not some unlimited training budget, far from it. My experience is waiting years for basic internal courses.

doc22 wrote: »

Outside Dublin there's a small number of AP positions.And it's all very good but most training requires a business case from PO for sign off(presumably in current role) . I've heard about the educational/training opportunities in civil service but you have to push for them and even at that they still mightn't be signed off. There's not some unlimited training budget, far from it. My experience is waiting years for basic internal courses.

Solas are running free ICT courses at the moment due to Covid, exam voucher included to if you complete enough of the course

https://www.ecollege.ie/course/

greyslate wrote: »

I've thrown my hat in the ring for this. Can anyone shed some light on which I can expect from the process?

Also, does anyone have any info on how the pension scheme works in the CS? I've reviewed the detail on the Single Pension Scheme website, and while it's clear what someone would contribute, I'm less clear on how much someone would expect to receive in their pension based on contributions over time.

it's worked out from your career average salary. Pre-2013 it was worked out from your average salary for your last three years.

The current scheme works something like this. You start as a HEO on €48k per year and end up on something like €62k a year. Over your 40 year career, lets say your average salary was €55k per year.

So (40/80) x 55,000 = 27,500
Your pension will be €27,500 made up of the state contributory pension (just under €13) topped up by your civil service pension to €27,500

If your currently 43 years old for example, then you only have 25 years to the projected retirement age of 68 (to be introduced in 2027 although it could be quicker the way things are going)

Then your career average may be lower and your years service will be only 25. Lets say your average is €50k in this instance.

So (25/80) x 50,000 = 15,625
Your pension will be €15,625 made up of the state contributory pension topped up by your civil service pension to €15,625

There's also a tax free lump sum which is worked out in a similar way but I can't remember at the minute.

That my friends, is your "gold plated public\civil service pension" that the media bleat on about incessantly. Oh and there's also an added deduction from your wages, to pay for the premium pensions of the pre-2013 entrants. Isn't that lovely!

TestLink wrote: »

The civil service salary is low but the work load is not that low ! Like the 29K starting salary for EO is pathetic.

Yeah, but we have 'gold plated pensions'.....