New 2021 Assistant Principal in the Civil Service

I’ve been actively trying to get AP since 2016 and there isn’t a part of this process I haven’t failed! In the top 5 on this one so..perseverance. These would be my tips..

it’s sounds simple but your form is essential. Don’t assume you will get a chance on the day to elaborate. As someone who’s interviewed people it really sets the tone. A good form and your interview only has to meet expectations.

Impact- adding impact into my STAR answers was probably the biggest change I made. Take a step back from your role, all our organisations impact on a national level. Don’t be afraid to mention access to higher grades.

results- your result can’t be “it got done” a result has to be metrics or value added. Keeping the train on the tracks won’t be enough.

be a generalist- there are some low hanging fruit courses like Prince2, Junior management, statistics for policy etc that are low cost and show versatility.

other than that keep in mind this is a subjective process. I wasn’t as bad as my failing last year on the recorded interview suggests and I’m not as brilliant as this result suggests.

best of luck to everyone

Congratulations!

Huge congrats to all who passed .. interview in 2 weeks dreading it!

Does anyone know what the gap is between finding out you've passed and when you're notified of the Department. I know its dependant on a number of factors (such as clearance, vetting etc), but just trying to get a sense.

Hi Guys I've been following this thread since the start.. First of all very well done to all who have been successful so far. Its a long often stressful and onerous comp and well done to those who have succeeded. To those who have not been successful take heart from those who have succeeded as many have stated many of those who have succeeded have tried and failed many times in the past so I am taking heart from that. I am not in the first 3 counties the current panels are clearing so does anyone know if the other counties will be called soon? As a matter of interest what numbers are you guys on from the first stage of the comp, just trying to gauge whether I might have any chance of being called when the other counties open up? What numbers were you on intra dept batch after stage 1? Thanks and well done everyone.

Congratulations all who have got through so far & thanks for all the tips shared! Wish I’d found this discussion sooner!

I’m external & got OOM in 20s on the open panel for Dublin region. Can anyone advise is my OOM for the entire competition or does it just relate to my own interview batch? (which was week before last)

Also are interdepartmental candidates placed first or do both panels get called simultaneously?

Trying to judge if I’m likely to be reached this year or at all...

Thanks a million for your reply, that’s great. Understanding how the whole process works is nearly as hard as getting through the stages 😂 Congrats on your own success, sounds like you did very well

Does anyone know what batch they are currently appointing. I think the batch I was successful in, with interviews finishing April 22nd, was batch 2.2. Anyone from batch 2.1 still waiting for clearance or waiting to be assigned a department?

@crinkley are you staying in the same department or were you assigned a new department?

Thanks so much for this. Im also an external candidate. In terms of giving notice at work do you wait until after Garda vetting? I will have to give a month's notice and wondering when is the best time to give it. I wonder how long after all the above steps does one actually start. All a bit confusing!

Thanks @crinkley

Are you still waiting for Garda clearance? That's taken a while, must be because of the prioritisation for Ukrainian refugees.

Hope you hear a date soon.

The chairperson will introduce the board members and outline what competencies that they will be individually covering. They have really strict on timing and are quite open in telling you that they're stuck for time. They tend to ask 3/4 main qs and a couple of followups if time allows. I would look at the comps and sub-comps and have concise examples no more than 1/2 mins each.

Congratulations to all that have been successful so far!!

Anyone have any tips for the report??? Struggling to decide what to include and exclude.