Civil Service - EO exams

Bill2

Thanks for your detailed reply, much appreciated. The reason i ask about deferring is because my current company is closing in 9-12 months and i have a deacent redundancy package coming at the end of this time so if offered a civil service job i will have to weigh up the option of a good secure government job against 9 mths work and a big paycheck and the possibility of no work for an indefinite period afterwards.. decisions, decisions..

K_P

I've just got an email with the interview preparation questionnaire for Meath. So it looks like they're starting on that panel, and possibly some more.

EDIT: I rang the PAS to look into a bit more about this and there's currently a grand total of 2 EO positions going in Meath - 1 in Trim, 1 in Navan. Still, if you're not in... etc etc.

yabadabado

westmeath panel interviews have started think its the first 40 people that have been called up so far

frantic franny

see your on line - just wondering anybody out there know anything about co aptitude tests. one coming up on sat. or even how difficult it is to get on panel

The_Conductor

frantic franny wrote: »

see your on line - just wondering anybody out there know anything about co aptitude tests. one coming up on sat. or even how difficult it is to get on panel

Very similar to the EO ones- but with differing degree of difficulty (its a little easier). Its the verbal and numerical reasoning which are straight forward enough. The workskills test is based on actual situations you are likely to encounter with perhaps 5 or 6 possible choices (all legitimate courses of action) and scored on which choice you make. At interview, if you get through the aptitude tests, you may be asked to justify the choices you made on the workskills test.

Its mostly common sense- there is not a lot you can do to prepare for it. There is a familiarisation booklet which will give you an idea of what to expect- its located here.

S.

turf_stack

How easy is it to move between depts?
Originally I was hoping for ICT role down the country.. but half thinking now if I got offered position in Dublin say, might take it, with hope to relocate in 2+years time. Obviously I need to be offered position 1st, but just wondering? thanks

The_Conductor

turf_stack wrote: »

How easy is it to move between depts?

Originally I was hoping for ICT role down the country.. but half thinking now if I got offered position in Dublin say, might take it, with hope to relocate in 2+years time. Obviously I need to be offered position 1st, but just wondering? thanks

In a technical role- its very difficult to transfer- as you would have to identify a similarly qualified staff member to replace you (if you look at the back pages of the civil service union magazines- they are full of people seeking transfers).

turf_stack

thanks smmcarrick.. By chance would you know if there are likely to be any sizable ICT depts around the country? Read somewhere that many were staying in Dublin due to cost and potential impact of moving the IT infrastructure. Or are things a bit up in the air at the moment due to wage bill reductions etc..
thanks again.

The_Conductor

turf_stack wrote: »

thanks smmcarrick.. By chance would you know if there are likely to be any sizable ICT depts around the country? Read somewhere that many were staying in Dublin due to cost and potential impact of moving the IT infrastructure. Or are things a bit up in the air at the moment due to wage bill reductions etc..
thanks again.

Agriculture in Portlaoise- would be a very big one?

turf_stack

grand thanks smc

Supercell

Yeah, I've had a bunch of emails about ICT positions in Dublin where i'd rather not work TBH, doesnt seem to be any going anywhere else. Wish I'd never put Dublin as first preference on the original application form now, should have put Wicklow. Don't suppose there is any way of changing that?

frantic franny

thanks for that. did test today. was as you said. does anybody know what panels CS are recruiting for in Tipperary.

channelsurfer

if you dont accept the position you automatically are removed from that panel location eg dublin but stay on the other locations. and to those who would ask why take the EO job well where else would you get a max salary of 50000 for a junior...yes junior management position. and retire with a lump sum of 1.5 your finishing salary i.e. 75000 tax free plus half your salary in pension guaranteed if you have the 40 years service.

applicant

channelsurfer wrote: »

if you dont accept the position you automatically are removed from that panel location eg dublin but stay on the other locations. and to those who would ask why take the EO job well where else would you get a max salary of 50000 for a junior...yes junior management position. and retire with a lump sum of 1.5 your finishing salary i.e. 75000 tax free plus half your salary in pension guaranteed if you have the 40 years service.

Do you find the job itself interesting? I understand that every department is different so the job title EO can differ greatly between departments but I'm curious to know what exactly the job would involve.

channelsurfer

yep the job is interesting. every day is different. Depending on where you are based you will have different responsibilities. like for example in social welfare you will have staff and be more or less a supervisor with responsibility for staff and appeals that clerical officers have decided on etc. in education it can be different you will be responsible for projects and maybe no staff..and have more interaction with AP and Po's Assistant principals.. But yeah its to sum up its interesting. it can have its quiet days but those are rare. you will be busy.. despite the image that people outside the civil service are given that we all sit on our ass all day.... its not like that at all.

The_Conductor

You may have to represent your Department at EU Commission and Council meetings and working groups in Brussels. Draft Ministerial speeches. Draft responses to Parliamentary Questions. Prepare press releases. Audit expenditure on commissioned projects. Deal with consultants and external clients. Process claims. Interpret national legislation along with international regulations and guidance. Liaise with the Gardai, Customs and Excise, Staff from other Departments, State Bodies etc on any of a diverse range of matters. Assist in emergency situations that might arise. Supervise and assist in the manning of emergency phone lines. Prepare evaluations or minutes on different matters. Assist in periodic expenditure reviews and the annual estimates exercise etc. etc. etc.

It really depends on where you end up, and on your immediate manager and their line manager- but you could potentially be given a lot of responsibility and very very interesting work to do.

Some Departments are incredibly grade conscious and this is often one of the determining factors when the interesting jobs are being divvied up. As an EO you are junior management though- and can reasonably expect to be involved to a certain level in a lot of the management tasks and duties.

gary the great

Anyone know if you have to wear a shirt and tie in the local offices? Or is it dependent on the department? Id love to be able to wear my own clothes everyday

channelsurfer

you can wear a jeans and tee shirt except for formal interviews etc. or formal meetings. As long as its reasonable ie no holes in the jean.. no graphic statements on the tee shirt etc. Once you go above EO level though there is a reasonable expectation that you dress in shirt and tie...

The_Conductor

gary the great wrote: »

Anyone know if you have to wear a shirt and tie in the local offices? Or is it dependent on the department? Id love to be able to wear my own clothes everyday

It depends. If you have to deal with the public in general you have to be presentable in semi-formal clothes. That said- it does depend on the department. Some departments are very informal- in others an EO would be expected to wear a shirt and tie normally, unless attending meetings- where they would be expected to wear a formal suit. Occasionally there might be dress down days in aid of a charity (Goal/Concern etc).

Supercell

Had my written and interview today.
Its been a long long time since i wrote anything by hand, suffice it to say, it looked pretty awful! Ran out of time on the first written totally misjudged how long it was going to take and spent too long planning the layout on the rough paper , finished the second one well ahead of time but again presentation was awful..
Interview seemed to go pretty well so will have to see how it turns out..hope the marks for the panel are not 50:50 written:interview !!

Best of luck to any of ye that were there today and hubba hubba to the fox that was there

notahappycamper

My girlfriend did the last open eo exams and ranked 400 and something on the Dublin panel. She rang the EO & Graduate section today and asked how the panel was progressing, she was told 107 have been called and that the panel is not progressing as they thought it would.

She is just wondering if anyone knows the kind of timescale she should expect to wait as the girl on the phone didn't sound so sure!!

applicant

+1! I think we are all in the same boat here just hanging around waiting for our number to be reached. It is frustrating not knowing when to expect a call. If it's any help when I rang the PAS two week's ago I was told that:

Interview Preparation Questionnaires have only been issued for the following five regions to date

DUBLIN – 204
WATERFORD - 47
CORK - 50
WESTMEATH – 52
WICKLOW – 50

They have interviewed 107 for Dublin to date. They will be interviewing 7 for Wicklow (with one position on offer!!)

The_Conductor

Unfortunately, you´re just going to have to hang in there and wait.
The Public Appointment Service have no idea themselves how panels will progress- it depends entirely on requests for new staff coming in from Departments. As it stands Departments are getting far more than their pay elements slashed in the current estimates exercise- so noone is recruiting, and probably won´t be, until possibly after the budget when they have a better idea of the lie of the land. Hang in there- perhaps contact the PAS every couple of weeks for an update- they will move slowly but surely.

Supercell

smccarrick wrote: »

As it stands Departments are getting far more than their pay elements slashed in the current estimates exercise- so noone is recruiting, and probably won´t be, until possibly after the budget when they have a better idea of the lie of the land. Hang in there- perhaps contact the PAS every couple of weeks for an update- they will move slowly but surely.

Do candidates get advised if they have been successfully placed on the "panel" before a job becomes available?

The_Conductor

Supercell wrote: »

Do candidates get advised if they have been successfully placed on the "panel" before a job becomes available?

Yes.
Once you have done the interview and the presentation- you normally get feedback on how you did at the interview (it can take a few weeks- and will only be done once they have finished all the interviews). You will be told your results in the different parts of the interview, along with your presentation results- and whether it has "reached the required standard".

If you have reached the required standard, you are assigned a place on the panel, and as requests for new staff are received by the Public Appointment Service, they will get back to you when they reach your assigned place on the list. The speed at which they make their way through the list, is dependent on requests for new staff coming in from the different government departments, the prison service etc. (Ps- prison officers are civil servants by the way )

S.

tricky@

smccarrick wrote: »

you when they reach your assigned place on the list. The speed at which they make their way through the list, is dependent on requests for new staff coming in from the different government departments, the prison service etc. (Ps- prison officers are civil servants by the way )

S.

Yes they are but nobody on an eo panel is going to be assigned as a prison officer, they run a specific recruitment campaign for that grade. They do take people from panels though for their head office,which is now based in longford and is part of the dept of justice.

BurnsCarpenter

Woop Woop! Passed the interview (even though I made a bags of the letter exercise).

No mention of place on panel - will they let me know about this?

Lamps

I started my job there a few weeks ago. Was origianlly told i was going to DFSA but was put into Justice which i was happy about. A lot of politics in the office, everything takes ages to get done (took me 2 weeks to have my log in for a computer and 3 weeks to get a desk), most people in the office and women in their 50's who dont like a young lad coming in and being an equal grade/above them but sure I cant help that, a lot of people who have never worked outside the CS and tbh I dont think they would ever be able to.

Other than that its grand, a lot more responsability than I originally thought as well

Supercell

I think I'll pass on the general EO role so and focus on waiting for an ICT one, you just confirmed everything i suspected, I hope a techy roll would be less old fashioned.

gary the great

Did EO's get the Spet 1st increase? Or is there soemthing going on and there not going to get it?