Executive Officer in the Civil Service 2026

How long does the interview last for? Is it 1 hour or less?

Oh I didnt know this, cant recall what I provided the last time I had to do a clearance in 2024 for an interdepartmental but it was very little in terms of documentation compared to the time I entered.

I got this update from PAS yesterday.

I hope it's helpful for those waiting to be called. They have reached the following numbers:

Open : 98

Inter-departmental : 28

Edit: This is for Dublin !

Could be a week, a month, could be a year, nobody can answer that question, best off just going through the process and forgetting about it until each stage comes up, it can be a very long process. When I joined I was 16th on the order of merit, from the day of applying to starting the job it was just under a year.

No this was standard CO, it's not unusual for EO or HEO to be waiting that long either, saying that I know of people who did the process in 3 months.

Depends on a lot of factors, time of year, positions available, staff on holidays, staff out sick, staff in vetting offices out sick or on a/l, referees out sick or on holidays and they'll wait til they come back to get said reference, loads of different factors.

Rumour has it garda vetting is taking between 9-13 weeks at the moment, if it's your first time being vetted.

Everyone on here who interviews seems to be 100% sure they didnt pass and then they pass two weeks later, myself included 😅.

I said something in response to a question which I dwelt on driving myself nuts as I thought I had come across badly, but then scored very high across all 4 areas, I wouldn't worry.

Was there very long periods of silence ?

Did the interview last the full 45 mins give or take or cut short ?

When you say you forgot the skills do you mean an entire capability area or just some of the buzz words under your example for said area ?

They let you know which area they are examining so I am sure you were able to respond with something and wing it even if your mind was blank. Dont worry.

hi all, anyone on the Westmeath panel get called for interviews yet? I scored early 100s for the exams not sure if there would a lot of movement though I heard there’s a few departments in Westmeath.

I checked with pas the other day, and they have called 5 from open stream and 2 from internal stream for interview in Westmeath

Is this for Dublin panel?

I take back all my moaning, 😅 clearance entered.

No word yet for my partner and I think he interviewed roughing the same day or so as you. Different county but hoping he’ll hear soon like you have 🙏

I started clearance process by supplying my education qualifications just two weeks ago today and haven’t heard anything since and I was number 1 on interview panel

Does anyone know if it’s standard practice for civil service departments to insist on 5 days working in the office while on probation?

I was asked to talk about a time I lead a team through a difficult task. A time I had to work to a deadline with a positive outcome. How i dealt with staff with different needs or lack of motivation. How I would deal with working remotely and managing a team. There were other questions off the back of my answers. I was asked a few times what qualities/beliefs were important to me in this role eg empathy , trust, etc. they went though my CV (info uploaded at time of application) and ask me had I anything else to add. I wasn’t asked to tell them about myself. Just straight into questions on the capabilities.