Technical agricultural officer

No Wexford and Carlow..Placed top in 5 in the panel of Wexford heard nothing for Carlow but could regret not putting down Waterford as second choice

Hi All,

For TAO's working in factories what are the working hours is there shift work.

@thebeefbuck

Posting this to help you and others - wasn't there for me when I looked for tips so really didn't know what to expect.

Two people interviewed me and one took notes, they will take turns to ask questions, e.g. one will ask you three qs and then the other will ask you four qs. Have concise answers to give them, they will interupt you otherwise and that can throw you (it did me).

They will ask you to give a detailed example to prove the following during your previous worklife. Use STAR as an aid to keep you on track.

• Team work 

• Information Management/Processing  

• Delivery of Results 

• Customer Service & Communication Skills

• Specialist Knowledge, Expertise & Self Development

Interview lasts approx 40 min. Best of Luck!

I’m a TAO for nearly two years now in more of an office based role. I could be out in inspectors for 1-3 days a week during the summer/most of the year. As regards to people qualifications. Most getting in have Level 8 degrees but we recently had some come off the previous panel and start with us and the have only their Level 6 greencert so it is definitely possible to get in with a Level 6. Yes the money is quite poor but in my own experience, you are far from killed working. The current policy is two days working from home there is no clocking in/out so as long as you get your work done, you can be very flexible. Yes you’ll make more money elsewhere but the flexibility is extremely good especially if you are farming at home or intending to farm at home. As regards to promotions, competitions appear to run every two years so there is real scope to progress if you really try. The next grade up starts on 10k+ more than a TAO starting wage and your work load is not really much different. Hope this gives people an insight.

There is talk from the union to go to three days working at home but unsure if that will happen. This of course doesn’t apply to TAO’s in factories.

Has anyone here that got a job as aTAO have any experience or knowledge of working in a port? Not involving livestock, what would the role involve?

Finally heard back after doing online interview, met the requirements for the interview but not from qualifications. Green cert even though its a level six is not good enough for them. An absolutely massive waste of time and effort, this process is nearly going on for a year, it would have saved the hassle for everyone involved if I was told this at the time of applying.

Does anyone know when a new competition is starting up again for this role? Had they many applicants for the last competition?

New Competition for selected counties

Last competition was nationwide.

Does anyone know if you already work in the public sector do they still make you start at the minimum pay scale?

dose anyone know how long HR clearance takes for role of a Tao ?

It takes about 3 months roughly

Did anyone here get a job from the last campaign?

I applied for the one that closed on 30th October. I did the online test recently and got email a couple of days ago with the results and order of merit.