2020 Executive Officer Civil Service

Aleece2020 · 06-02-2021 11:20pm

For those who have completed the e-tray and received results, I have a couple of questions if anyone is willing to answer:

1. Did they tell you what the minimum score to pass the etray was and if so, what was it?

2. I see people saying they scored 520, 690 etc. and that they were called to interview. Does anyone know what the maximum score possible is just for some context on the speed here?

3. Is the etray difficult? I have tried a few practice ones but I imagine they're not exactly the same as the real thing; are the sample ones they sent easier or harder?

karlMilford1 · 06-02-2021 11:56pm

Mayoman89 wrote: »

I was 31 on open and 11 for inter for Sligo and got called. I'd say possibly 50 maybe but pure guesswork on my part.

I have the exact same OOM for Sligo

Mayoman89 · 07-02-2021 12:00am

karlMilford1 wrote: »

I have the exact same OOM for Sligo

So you're my competition!ðŸ˜†ðŸ˜œ
Ah only messing. I'm currently working in Mayo so would be hoping to stay where I am if, please God, all goes well! Never done an e-tray before so very apprehensive about it as I know people with more experience than me who have failed them.

blondie007 · 07-02-2021 7:42am

Sooo wrote: »

I’m in 120s for Cork and didn’t get called to etrat yet. I understand you may not wish to share your oom, but can I ask you to give me an indication of how far off I might be? Thank you

Hi Sooo, I'm in the top 5 for Cork. Not sure how many they've called for this round of Etray but if you email PAS, they'll tell you. Best of luck .

MFPM · 07-02-2021 7:50am

floorpie wrote: »

If you're as good as you claim you should be able to get through simple aptitude tests. The recruitment process couldn't be any more fair.

That's an unnecessary snarky response. The aptitude tests are far from simple, and what one person finds simple someone else may not. I know many really good colleagues in the civil service who are excellent at their jobs but have struggled to get through those aptitude tests.

facade · 07-02-2021 8:04am

Aleece2020 wrote: »

For those who have completed the e-tray and received results, I have a couple of questions if anyone is willing to answer:

1. Did they tell you what the minimum score to pass the etray was and if so, what was it?

2. I see people saying they scored 520, 690 etc. and that they were called to interview. Does anyone know what the maximum score possible is just for some context on the speed here?

3. Is the etray difficult? I have tried a few practice ones but I imagine they're not exactly the same as the real thing; are the sample ones they sent easier or harder?

I think the minimum score was the low 400's (Poss 409) and the maximum score was 800.

When I finished I had no clue of how it went for me, I found it very subjective.

Part of the etray is composing an email, which I imagine had to be scored by a person, an algorithm couldn't score it because every answer would be so different.

keanocar · 07-02-2021 9:00am

PinkTulips wrote: »

Obviously somebody who's feeling a bit hard done by... there's plenty of them in the civil and public service, they come in as COs and never get any further and can be very resentful of 'outsiders' coming in on open comps to higher grades.

I'm in the public sector and came in as a grade 4.... got a few comments early on, one woman told me in quite a snipey tone 'I waited 10 years to get my grade 4'. For the most part though people are absolutely fine and very welcoming, there'll always be a handful that blame others for their lack of promotion though. If anything though it's stacked in favour of the ones already in... last open comp I entered only those who'd been there 5+ years got through, no newbies and no outsiders.

Just as a matter of interest, is there certain civil service departments where grades are referred to as 3, 4 and 5 etc.? I only knew of CO, EO, HEO etc but had a friend ask me last week about grade 4 and hadn’t a clue what they were talking about??

Wonderstruck · 07-02-2021 9:06am

keanocar wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest, is there certain civil service departments where grades are referred to as 3, 4 and 5 etc.? I only knew of CO, EO, HEO etc but had a friend ask me last week about grade 4 and hadn’t a clue what they were talking about??

In the local authorities they're called something like that? Grade 4 etc.

There's also technical grades I can't think of any with 4 in the title but like Advisory Council Grade I, II and III.

keanocar · 07-02-2021 9:20am

Wonderstruck wrote: »

In the local authorities they're called something like that? Grade 4 etc.

There's also technical grades I can't think of any with 4 in the title but like Advisory Council Grade I, II and III.

They said it was for Department of Transport so I just assumed that would be the same as the majority CO, EO etc.

Sooo · 07-02-2021 10:00am

blondie007 wrote: »

Hi Sooo, I'm in the top 5 for Cork. Not sure how many they've called for this round of Etray but if you email PAS, they'll tell you. Best of luck .

Thank you!

M1ssym00 · 07-02-2021 10:55am

Aleece2020 wrote: »

For those who have completed the e-tray and received results, I have a couple of questions if anyone is willing to answer:

1. Did they tell you what the minimum score to pass the etray was and if so, what was it?

2. I see people saying they scored 520, 690 etc. and that they were called to interview. Does anyone know what the maximum score possible is just for some context on the speed here?

3. Is the etray difficult? I have tried a few practice ones but I imagine they're not exactly the same as the real thing; are the sample ones they sent easier or harder?

Yea, as someone else said, it's min 409 out of a max of 800.

I found the e-tray pretty straightforward, there was nothing that they were trying to catch you out with. My best advice would be to not over think it and just read everything a couple of times, there's loads of time.

PinkTulips · 07-02-2021 7:41pm

keanocar wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest, is there certain civil service departments where grades are referred to as 3, 4 and 5 etc.? I only knew of CO, EO, HEO etc but had a friend ask me last week about grade 4 and hadn’t a clue what they were talking about??

I'm in the local authority and we use the numbers quite a lot for admin grades.

Clerical officer = 3
Assistant staff officer = 4
staff officer = 5
senior staff officer = 6
administrative officer = 7
senior executive officer = 8
director of services = 9
chief executive = 10

I have no idea why it starts at 3... I think back in the day there were entry grades below clerical officer which have been done away with now.

Mayoman89 · 07-02-2021 8:20pm

Does anyone know where you can get practice E-Trays online? I can only see ones from UK websites and I'm not sure how relevant they'd be for this role. I've literally never done or seen an E-Tray before so want to practice as many as I can before the real thing?

huawei73 · 07-02-2021 9:04pm

Hi people I'm new here and would love to apply to get into the CS but i never passed the leaving cert failed English Irish and Maths in
1991. In recent years i went back to college and did a one year level 6 cert 30 credits a one year level 7 cert 30 credits and a one year level 8 cert 30 credits. Just wondering would the three certs compensate doing a crap leaving cert?

Redsettee90 · 07-02-2021 9:06pm

huawei73 wrote: »

Hi people I'm new here and would love to apply to get into the CS but i never passed the leaving cert failed English Irish and Maths in
1991. In recent years i went back to college and did a one year level 6 cert 30 credits a one year level 7 cert 30 credits and a one year level 8 cert 30 credits. Just wondering would the three certs compensate doing a crap leaving cert?

Pretty sure your level 8 degree overrides leaving cert

huawei73 · 07-02-2021 9:10pm

Hi red it is not a degree was only a year course 30 credits

Darren1881 · 07-02-2021 9:16pm

huawei73 wrote: »

Hi people I'm new here and would love to apply to get into the CS but i never passed the leaving cert failed English Irish and Maths in
1991. In recent years i went back to college and did a one year level 6 cert 30 credits a one year level 7 cert 30 credits and a one year level 8 cert 30 credits. Just wondering would the three certs compensate doing a crap leaving cert?

Doesn't hurt to apply and include all your further education in the education section. Leaving cert was a long time ago for some of us myself included. I know there is currently an open competition looking for CO's a good place to start. That's what I did. Also many new EO competitions become available to apply for on publicjobs also

Redsettee90 · 08-02-2021 2:04pm

Hi just a question for people who were successful with Etray was the familiarisation Etray a good indication of the tasks from the actual one. Thanks

Darren1881 · 08-02-2021 2:10pm

Redsettee90 wrote: »

Hi just a question for people who were successful with Etray was the familiarisation Etray a good indication of the tasks from the actual one. Thanks

In the past from my experience the actual exam is more complicated than the example. There is far more to do , in the example you may find yourself with lots of free time but during the actual you may find yourself under pressure.

westhamlady · 08-02-2021 2:48pm

Anyone from Kerry called for etray and what OOM please.

tomjmsn · 08-02-2021 2:57pm

What does everyone make of this perception that everybody gets through the interview? Or the fact that, as one poster said, it's just a matter of your placing on the panel after interview, not so much whether you will get through or not...

Having read through the preparation materials it says to 'expect a challenging interview'. I'm certainly not finding it all that easy to come up with examples that cover all the points.

Jay328 · 08-02-2021 8:15pm

tomjmsn wrote: »

What does everyone make of this perception that everybody gets through the interview? Or the fact that, as one poster said, it's just a matter of your placing on the panel after interview, not so much whether you will get through or not...

Having read through the preparation materials it says to 'expect a challenging interview'. I'm certainly not finding it all that easy to come up with examples that cover all the points.

I don't agree with that perception. I say a good few people fail at interview stage.

One good thing is that the interview is structured and based around the competencies. I know it can be hard to come with an example for each but I would suggest to have two just to be prepared.

T900i · 08-02-2021 10:06pm

huawei73 wrote: »

Hi people I'm new here and would love to apply to get into the CS but i never passed the leaving cert failed English Irish and Maths in
1991. In recent years i went back to college and did a one year level 6 cert 30 credits a one year level 7 cert 30 credits and a one year level 8 cert 30 credits. Just wondering would the three certs compensate doing a crap leaving cert?

I applied to CS 5 years ago via a CO competition with no state examinations. I am now in the process of applying for EO interdepartmental through length of service. There are further education opportunities on offer if that is what you want from the CS. Nothing ventured nothing gained, best of luck in what ever you decide to do.

Em_Caramel · 09-02-2021 8:44am

Hey - been lurking here for a while! Great info, thanks so much to all who shared.

I passed the etray (just under 500 points) but still no call for an interview. I can see other etrays getting called now, so getting worried! If you get over the passing score in etray are you guaranteed interview? Or could they change the passing score later?

gestappo · 09-02-2021 9:09am

Em_Caramel wrote: »

Hey - been lurking here for a while! Great info, thanks so much to all who shared.

I passed the etray (just under 500 points) but still no call for an interview. I can see other etrays getting called now, so getting worried! If you get over the passing score in etray are you guaranteed interview? Or could they change the passing score later?

You’ll get called for interview. Only those who didn't meet the massing mark won’t be called for interview.

gestappo · 09-02-2021 9:11am

tomjmsn wrote: »

What does everyone make of this perception that everybody gets through the interview? Or the fact that, as one poster said, it's just a matter of your placing on the panel after interview, not so much whether you will get through or not...

Having read through the preparation materials it says to 'expect a challenging interview'. I'm certainly not finding it all that easy to come up with examples that cover all the points.

I’ve known quite a few competent people (both in the private sector and existing COs) who didn’t pass the EO interview so I don’t agree with that statement st all.

09-02-2021 9:49am

Have one strong example per competency as given on your form, and one fallback (doesnt have to be as strong)

Be prepared to talk about it from a few angles- how it shows each subcompetency, why you did x, how exactly you did y, why was it important.

Know why the competency and subcompetencies matter.

Most importantly: listen to the question, and answer what was asked- not what you wish youd been asked.

The interviewer very likely chose their angle to either test something they werent sure of from the form or to just confirm that the experience given rings true, its never just trying to catch you out (but they have to do their job too)

People who have been shortlisted based on their form are basically accepted as being up to the grade on paper, the interview is where that experience is tested to see does it ring true.

Peoplr who go in with a good cv/form but who are only able to talk through their examples from start to finish will struggle.

harrb · 09-02-2021 12:03pm

Hi,

My OOM is just about 1000 in Dublin does anyone know how many have been called to Etray?

Just wondering how long of a wait I have left!

Thanks!

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:07pm

Can anyone who has done the E-Tray tell me if the sample one is in any way similar to the real one? I.E is your role the same? Is it the same company? Etc. I'm extremely nervous as I've never done one before and any of the practice ones online seem to be a different format to the sample one.

budget1984 · 09-02-2021 12:16pm

Hi did anyone find the sample etray very straightforward. I'm not sure if I'm missing something. Think I'm going to be in for a wake-up call with the real one.

gestappo · 09-02-2021 12:18pm

When is the real etray exam window?

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:21pm

gestappo wrote: »

When is the real etray exam window?

Feb 11th - 18th.

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:22pm

budget1984 wrote: »

Hi did anyone find the sample etray very straightforward. I'm not sure if I'm missing something. Think I'm going to be in for a wake-up call with the real one.

I did. It mentioned to work with urgency but only had two tasks to deal with. Wouldn't say it prepared me for the real deal. Also I thought we could access it a few times but turns out its the just the once.

Redsettee90 · 09-02-2021 12:30pm

Mayoman89 wrote: »

I did. It mentioned to work with urgency but only had two tasks to deal with. Wouldn't say it prepared me for the real deal. Also I thought we could access it a few times but turns out its the just the once.

I thought the same with the sample but I imagine there will be possibly 10 or 20 scenarios across the time 90 minutes I think where you possibly get a number of tasks and they are looking to see which ones you prioritise I presume now I don’t know because I’m a newbie to this. Will there be any multiple choice answers. Good to get some feedback if people have already completed.

gestappo · 09-02-2021 12:36pm

I would agree to work with an urgency. I was flat out for the majority of the 90min exam. The etray I sat was very similar to the sample but I’m not sure if they’ll use the same test as last time but read over all the notes in the sample test.

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:37pm

Redsettee90 wrote: »

I thought the same with the sample but I imagine there will be possibly 10 or 20 scenarios across the time 90 minutes I think where you possibly get a number of tasks and they are looking to see which ones you prioritise I presume now I don’t know because I’m a newbie to this. Will there be any multiple choice answers. Good to get some feedback if people have already completed.

Going by the sample alone I imagine there will be multiple choice options with regards applications being referred to you by CO'S but I'm purely basing that on the sample. Unfortunately I'm completely new to this myself too and have never sat an E-Tray before.

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:39pm

gestappo wrote: »

I would agree to work with an urgency. I was flat out for the majority of the 90min exam. The etray I sat was very similar to the sample but I’m not sure if they’ll use the same test as last time but read over all the notes in the sample test.

Thanks Gestappo. I managed to get a few notes down from the sample do hopefully they will help.

tomjmsn · 09-02-2021 12:41pm

Mayoman89 wrote: »

Going by the sample alone I imagine there will be multiple choice options with regards applications being referred to you by CO'S but I'm purely basing that on the sample. Unfortunately I'm completely new to this myself too and have never sat an E-Tray before.

It may sound obvious but my advice would be to not underestimate the sample. In the one I did late last year it specifically said in the sample it would be the same scenario as the actual etray. So going through this and knowing the guidance can really help you save time.

JDWW · 09-02-2021 12:46pm

I'd also agree with the above. While the sample is straight forward and extremely generous on time, the lay out and tabs are the same as the real thing.

Also with the sample you can come and go from it, I found doing 10/20 mins on it and then coming back the next day to do a bit more helped getting familiar with it,

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 12:52pm

JDWW wrote: »

I'd also agree with the above. While the sample is straight forward and extremely generous on time, the lay out and tabs are the same as the real thing.

Also with the sample you can come and go from it, I found doing 10/20 mins on it and then coming back the next day to do a bit more helped getting familiar with it,

I had planned on doing it as I thought you could revisit it as often as I wanted. Unfortunately with a 3 year old I got distracted and my time elapsed. I thought I could go back in to it again but not the case. Still, I managed to get a few notes, mostly the important stuff.

gestappo · 09-02-2021 12:54pm

Mayoman89 wrote: »

Thanks Gestappo. I managed to get a few notes down from the sample do hopefully they will help.

Are you not able to go back into it? I know I was for mine, which proved beneficial in the end.

Make sure you read all the information for the exam, all the documents in the sample test along with the info booklet that accompanies each stage.

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 1:21pm

gestappo wrote: »

Are you not able to go back into it? I know I was for mine, which proved beneficial in the end.

Make sure you read all the information for the exam, all the documents in the sample test along with the info booklet that accompanies each stage.

Once the elapsed on it i couldn't get back in but I managed to get the gist of what they were after. Before the real deal, what info do they provide before you click 'start exercise'? Thanks for your help.

gestappo · 09-02-2021 1:23pm

Mayoman89 wrote: »

Once the elapsed on it i couldn't get back in but I managed to get the gist of what they were after. Before the real deal, what info do they provide before you click 'start exercise'? Thanks for your help.

it was nearly exactly the same as the sample if I remember correctly. The whole background, and lead up to the questions. You’re given 10mins to orient yourself and get ready before things kicked off too.

Mayoman89 · 09-02-2021 1:26pm

gestappo wrote: »

it was nearly exactly the same as the sample if I remember correctly. The whole background, and lead up to the questions. You’re given 10mins to orient yourself and get ready before things kicked off too.

I was thinking it would be more or less the same cos it said the real thing will be a week on from the date given in the sample. Be a lot better if the 10 minutes was a hour

SONIC2008 · 09-02-2021 2:13pm

Am I correct in saying each progression round throws out a brand new OOM?

Eg If I pass the etray and get through to interview, my OOM following interview does not consider my etray OOM?

clairevoyant · 09-02-2021 2:28pm

does anyone have any good links for practice etray tests please - iv been looking for a few and when I click into them they are blank

M1ssym00 · 09-02-2021 4:28pm

budget1984 wrote: »

Hi did anyone find the sample etray very straightforward. I'm not sure if I'm missing something. Think I'm going to be in for a wake-up call with the real one.

I don't think you will be. The overall layout and objective is the same in the real one, there's just more to do really.

M1ssym00 · 09-02-2021 4:29pm

SONIC2008 wrote: »

Am I correct in saying each progression round throws out a brand new OOM?

Eg If I pass the etray and get through to interview, my OOM following interview does not consider my etray OOM?

As far as I can tell your e-tray and interview scores get bundled into the final score. I wasn't sent an updated OOM after e-tray, just my own score.

Account2021 · 09-02-2021 6:12pm

harrb wrote: »

Hi,

My OOM is just about 1000 in Dublin does anyone know how many have been called to Etray?

Just wondering how long of a wait I have left!

Thanks!

Hi,

My OOM is in the 940’s for Dublin and I have been called for the E-tray. (open competition)
Must have just scrapped in.

Have been following this thread regularly. Thanks all for updates and advice and good luck this week for anyone else doing the E-tray.

Ellienoodles · 09-02-2021 7:47pm

Has anyone got called for Dublin EO interdepartmental etray. Competition moved pretty quick at start and after passing the assessment stage have heard nothing.

2020 Executive Officer Civil Service

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