Clerical officer in the civil service 2026 campaign

Will there be psychometric tests i wonder and could u be placed anywhere, are these worth going for

I set up a thread but don’t think I tagged it correctly as it wasn’t getting responses.

For Part A, is it STAR or bullet point answers for each of the 350 word responses?

A few people here were using bullets but as their competencies should they not be STAR?

Two of the question were asking specific competencies so I figured since they want a specific example STAR method would be best, especially with the word count? I don’t know to be honest. I imagine they care more about the content than format?

It’s a shame there’s no guidance marking scheme for this form.

I wouldn’t take anything I’m saying as gospel. It’s my first time going through the process and just what came into mind when I saw it but I don’t know... I imagine the SJ responses are more critically marked/have more impact in relation to the assignment of an OOM. I’ll keep the STAR headings off it so and just keep the format as close as possible to STAR answer.

Few questions on behalf of my partner:

For the qualifications page, are you ok if you leave the qualification upload section blank? My partner can't get a copy of their transcripts in time.

For the second part, where it mentions "qualifications from university onwards", does this mean you only fill in university results and not leaving cert? It seems odd that this is a required question if so.

I know it varies based on vacancies being available but would anyone know what OOM range you’d need to score to secure a clerical officer position before the year ends? I’m in Dublin.

For example, if you had a number in the 1000’s is that a certainty you wouldn’t be called for even an interview this year? Unless this competition is extended, it’s only running for a year.

I am 10 months post uni and can’t find any work that doesn’t require experience or a car or is commutable from home. Despite having really good interviews I never progress to getting hired so the thought of waiting over a year is very hard. Even basic work won’t take me.

It’s awful there’s no communication or database about what numbers and batches are being called and essentially people are having to share their own email corresponds here on Boards to inform others of how many are getting called.

Why is there no online counting system within the Public Jobs page for stating what OOM has been called to date?

Do we have to include our LC and college transcripts? I just uploaded my college degree cert that you get at graduation. I’ve not hit submit yet so can upload it just a bother to find it.

It’s kinda mad how strict they are for references and school results. In the private sector in my field they never ask for uni certificate or any references for your first job. Then again I’ve never made it past interview to hiring stage..

What county? There are not guarantees youll get a job, it depends on availability. Being placed 4th means nothing if theres no vacancies.

Yes, going by previous threads you’d be expecting two or so weeks for results.

Just completed the application - before hitting submit which word count max is correct?

The assessment guidelines document PDF on the public jobs advertising page for this year says 200 words max but the actual application form on the portal that you fill out says 350 words max permitted.

Also sorry for being a pain, am I correct in thinking having as many links/buzz words to the appropriate competency for each question example is key to scoring well here?

It’s definitely 350 on the application online. I’ve completed it and had no issues, if you go over the word count you can’t continue the application.

My answers are in the high 200’s as I cut them down a little. Hope that’ll be ok. Same with outline of my work duties. Kinda felt I was waffling a little/giving sentences that would mean nothing to them so cut some bits out that I couldn’t relate directly to the capabilities so the answers were more concise.

From reading here as long as they can see the links to the bullet points under the capabilities we’re on fire.

Are you sure these aren’t Section A: Q1-4? These are the only written task questions for CO.

Hi,

I started an application, not yet submitted and now I wish to delete it.

How do I do this?