Interdepartmental HEO Competition 2019

Grey Fox · 11-06-2019 8:46pm

Do you need examples ready for all the competencies for the interview, or will just the ones on the application form do?

Jerry the Beard · 11-06-2019 8:51pm

Lagunasecastig wrote: »

There's no Open HEO competition coming and never will be. AO is the grade equivalent for open competition entry, as certain qualifications are required to enter the Civil Service at mid management level

What was the qualifications needed for the open AP competition?

BRYAN Is Ainm Dom · 11-06-2019 9:05pm

Lagunasecastig wrote: »

There's no Open HEO competition coming and never will be. AO is the grade equivalent for open competition entry, as certain qualifications are required to enter the Civil Service at mid management level

Assuming you mean generally HEO role,as there has been in the past and currently is HEO specialist roles that are open, one example being Office of Government Procurement.

Wing Commander · 11-06-2019 9:24pm

Grey Fox wrote: »

Do you need examples ready for all the competencies for the interview, or will just the ones on the application form do?

The advice I got is to have at least one other example for each of the competencies. They may ask you in relation to one or two of the competencies but wont have the time to go through 2 for each

Furby2020 · 11-06-2019 9:37pm

Have people been notified of interview dates? I am in the first batch but have not received a date yet - just email saying interviews week starting 24th June?

Sinus pain · 12-06-2019 1:01am

No - nothing here - I’m just starting to prepare though

Aisling(",) · 12-06-2019 9:52am

Interview date given...2nd of July.Preperation in full flow now!

madnolla · 12-06-2019 9:56am

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Interview date given...2nd of July.Preperation in full flow now!

Best of luck, I’m hoping to hear about the second batch soon (if I’m lucky to make it through the shortlisting)

HannahR31 · 12-06-2019 10:11am

Has anyone ever done a presentation as part of an assessment process with PAS? We have 90 mins of prep time and then 30 mins for the presentation. How does it actually work in practice?

Aglomerado · 12-06-2019 1:26pm

HannahR31 wrote: »

Has anyone ever done a presentation as part of an assessment process with PAS? We have 90 mins of prep time and then 30 mins for the presentation. How does it actually work in practice?

Exactly as described. It's pretty daunting if you haven't done it before but PAS have a good setup.

You are given previously unseen material (emails, charts, tables, etc.) and left unsupervised alone in a quiet room for 90 minutes to read through the stuff, arrive at a decsion and prepare a presentation plus a draft of your findings.

I've done 3 of them now and was successful in all of them (AO/HEO jobs), but each one was very different.

The time passes extremely quickly so don't waste any a single minute once the PAS employee sets their stopwatch and leaves the room. You have zero distractions. The Board (not your interview board, these will be two different people) will give you approx. 7 minutes to present and the remainder is given over to them asking you questions on what you came up with.

Best of luck!

HannahR31 · 12-06-2019 1:33pm

Aglomerado wrote: »

Exactly as described. It's pretty daunting if you haven't done it before but PAS have a good setup.

You are given previously unseen material (emails, charts, tables, etc.) and left unsupervised alone in a quiet room for 90 minutes to read through the stuff, arrive at a decsion and prepare a presentation plus a draft of your findings.

I've done 3 of them now and was successful in all of them (AO/HEO jobs), but each one was very different.

The time passes extremely quickly so don't waste any a single minute once the PAS employee sets their stopwatch and leaves the room. You have zero distractions. The Board (not your interview board, these will be two different people) will give you approx. 7 minutes to present and the remainder is given over to them asking you questions on what you came up with.

Best of luck!

Oh god! That does sound daunting

I had read it as you had to give a 30 min presentation which I would prefer!! When you prepare the presentation, are you to prepare a powerpoint or just written notes which you will stand and talk about for 7 mins?

And do you get a computer or is your presentation and draft of your findings all hand written?

Grey Fox · 12-06-2019 2:04pm

Wing Commander wrote: »

The advice I got is to have at least one other example for each of the competencies. They may ask you in relation to one or two of the competencies but wont have the time to go through 2 for each

Thanks dude, as I expected

Aglomerado · 12-06-2019 2:39pm

HannahR31 wrote: »

Oh god! That does sound daunting I had read it as you had to give a 30 min presentation which I would prefer!! When you prepare the presentation, are you to prepare a powerpoint or just written notes which you will stand and talk about for 7 mins?

And do you get a computer or is your presentation and draft of your findings all hand written?

They do give you a computer. You also have what looks like a leaving cert exam answer booklet to write notes in for your own use. You are given 2 or 3 tasks and to present your findings. Try to be logical and rational.

The PAS rep prints off anything you prepare when your 90 minutes is up, you can have it in front of you at the presentation. No powerpoint or anything like that. The first time I did one I had a flipchart but I haven't seen that in a while. Probably for the best. My handwriting is not good.

eimaj18 · 12-06-2019 7:37pm

Yeah I’ve done the presentation exercise twice before and passed it with good marks (failed interview by a tiny bit each time so hopefully third time is a charm!). You give a presentation about your findings, then they question you about it. They’re looking for the competencies etc. It’s not too bad and the time flies by. I did it all on paper - handwritten notes - and didn’t bother with the computer. But whatever suits you on the day.

HannahR31 · 13-06-2019 11:22am

eimaj18 wrote: »

Yeah I’ve done the presentation exercise twice before and passed it with good marks (failed interview by a tiny bit each time so hopefully third time is a charm!). You give a presentation about your findings, then they question you about it. They’re looking for the competencies etc. It’s not too bad and the time flies by. I did it all on paper - handwritten notes - and didn’t bother with the computer. But whatever suits you on the day.

Do you remember the broad details about either of the exercises? I'm just flying completely blind. Is it similar to the e-tray in that you're given a job role and told where you're working and then given a problem to solve/come up with ideas for?

HannahR31 · 13-06-2019 4:45pm

Does anyone have the information booklet? I normally save them but can't find it.

Sinus pain · 13-06-2019 7:04pm

I posted it a page or two back

Furby2020 · 13-06-2019 7:17pm

Has anybody got any tips on doing the presentation? I failed it the last time as I was thrown by the amount of information given - I had no idea where to start!

Connected99 · 14-06-2019 3:53pm

eimaj18 wrote: »

Yeah I’ve done the presentation exercise twice before and passed it with good marks (failed interview by a tiny bit each time so hopefully third time is a charm!). You give a presentation about your findings, then they question you about it. They’re looking for the competencies etc. It’s not too bad and the time flies by. I did it all on paper - handwritten notes - and didn’t bother with the computer. But whatever suits you on the day.

Ive passed the interview part twice and failed presenation twice under Analysis and evaluation competency. and each time ive only failed by 10 Marks approx.
Maybe time for me to give up !! ??? !! :-)

Augme · 16-06-2019 2:06pm

Lagunasecastig wrote: »

There's no Open HEO competition coming and never will be. AO is the grade equivalent for open competition entry, as certain qualifications are required to enter the Civil Service at mid management level

Oh don't worry there will be. There was a big push to make this current one an open one but they couldn't get it through. I'll be surprised if the next one isnt open.

Addle · 16-06-2019 2:51pm

Hopefully not.

Sinus pain · 16-06-2019 10:37pm

I haven’t even looked at the material we were sent on friday. I’m feeling quite daunted by it to be honest! I was very busy on Friday in work and the all weekend I’ve been up to my eyes. I’ll be having a look tomorrow in work and then working on it the next week or two. Why do I put myself through this!!!!!

Cushtie · 17-06-2019 8:39am

folks,

for these competency type interviews (not this position specifically, but a similar grade (HSE), do they rigidly stick to the competencies.

I have examples of the competencies sorted but just wondering do they ask any "Personal" questions

IE, why do you want this Job? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Tell me about your strengths / Weaknesses? etc etc/

thanks in advance, Cushtie

Lagunasecastig · 18-06-2019 10:07am

I doubt it, otherwise there would be no point in having an AO grade title.......

Augme · 19-06-2019 12:24am

Lagunasecastig wrote: »

I doubt it, otherwise there would be no point in having an AO grade title.......

Yea there would. AO is a graduate role for people who are looking at more of a policy aspect of things. HEO is considered to be a middle management role.

While they are both in the same grade level both roles are vastly different and from my experience most AOs would struggle to pass a HEO interview as they normally don'thave sufficient management experience or even the interest in managing either.

gerrybbadd · 21-06-2019 10:21am

Cushtie wrote: »

folks,

for these competency type interviews (not this position specifically, but a similar grade (HSE), do they rigidly stick to the competencies.

I have examples of the competencies sorted but just wondering do they ask any "Personal" questions

IE, why do you want this Job? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Tell me about your strengths / Weaknesses? etc etc/

thanks in advance, Cushtie

Yes, these types of questions are scattered about, and can come in the middle of competency questions. 2 comp questions, 1 personal, another 2 comp questions. It's up to the interviewer really.

Stuff like, have you ever changed your manager's mind? What kind of leader are you? Have you ever had a conflict in work and how did you deal with it? How do you build relationships with other stakeholders?

Vlthap · 23-06-2019 10:32pm

The very best of luck to everyone who is on tomorrow. Ye have the hard job of going first!

ðŸ˜ŠðŸ˜€ Knock them out of the park!!

Lagunasecastig · 24-06-2019 2:08pm

20 years in the civil service mate, AO applies no more to policy than HEO. Both are middle management level and equivalent grades, it just so happens that AOs are less often asked to manage staff as most HR units across the civil service will try to assign AOs to an area where their qualification is relevant. I've worked to an AO as my line manager before and another person in my unit has an AO as his line manager at the moment. One is the entry level for outside at middle management, the other is a promotion to middle management for internal staff - hope this helps!

cosmic · 25-06-2019 12:34pm

Can anyone tell me how long the interview lasts? And are they likely to start on time?

I'm just putting in for my leave so need to know :rolleyes:
Cheers!

Connected99 · 25-06-2019 1:11pm

Is it still only Dublin Region candidates that are being shortlisted, attending Supervised tests and attending interviews?
Is this the 1st of 2nd round/batch for Dublin region - Would anyone know please?

Also has any regional Candidates been shortlisted yet?

Thank you.

Interdepartmental HEO Competition 2019

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