Civil Service - EO exams

The_Conductor

Its a defacto embargo- rather than an official one. All recruitment has to be sanctioned by the Department of Finance. At present they simply are not sanctioning any recruitment. The panels have a set lifespan, in certain circumstances they can receive a temporary extension (typically for a 3 or 6 month period). Once this expires a new competition is called and new panels constituted (irrespective of whether the people on the old panels are placed or not). The argument for doing this is that the very best people who are currently available will have the option of applying- whereas they might not have been available when the previous competition was originally called. A lot of people who might not have considered the civil service because of the salaries, see it in an entirely different perspective in a recession!

Hope this helps,

S.

Vanbis

Anyone when or if they might he hiring again anytime soon? I had a interview before x-mas and was successful and received a letter to confirm but nothing else. I know with the recession everything has changed for the worse.

Anyone know if after a certain amount of time if you had to sit the Aptitudetest and go for another interview process or is just a matter of waiting and hoping?

stevoman

Vanbis wrote: »

Anyone when or if they might he hiring again anytime soon? I had a interview before x-mas and was successful and received a letter to confirm but nothing else. I know with the recession everything has changed for the worse.

Anyone know if after a certain amount of time if you had to sit the Aptitudetest and go for another interview process or is just a matter of waiting and hoping?

not looking so good at the moment im afraid. current internal panels are basically gone by the wayside and the embargo looks as though the wont be hiring at all.

The_Conductor

Vanbis wrote: »

Anyone when or if they might he hiring again anytime soon? I had a interview before x-mas and was successful and received a letter to confirm but nothing else. I know with the recession everything has changed for the worse.

Anyone know if after a certain amount of time if you had to sit the Aptitudetest and go for another interview process or is just a matter of waiting and hoping?

Officially there is an embargo in place, which is due to expire in Jan 2012. There has been a defacto embargo in place for the past 2 years however- and with the new early retirement scheme also announced- its entirely possible that as whole divisions are denuded of people (keep in mind the average age is already in the 50s)- that it may become unavoidable to recommence recruitment.

Vanbis

smccarrick wrote: »

Officially there is an embargo in place, which is due to expire in Jan 2012. There has been a defacto embargo in place for the past 2 years however- and with the new early retirement scheme also announced- its entirely possible that as whole divisions are denuded of people (keep in mind the average age is already in the 50s)- that it may become unavoidable to recommence recruitment.

Thanks for the quick replys. I should've applied a year before and might have had my foot in the door. I'll just wait and see what happens in the coming moths.

BurnsCarpenter

I know there's nothing happening for now but does anybody know if there's a chance the current panels might be used?
Or is there likely to be a whole new competition by the time they start hiring again?

Cheers.

The_Conductor

BurnsCarpenter wrote: »

I know there's nothing happening for now but does anybody know if there's a chance the current panels might be used?
Or is there likely to be a whole new competition by the time they start hiring again?

Cheers.

Until such time as another competition is called- the existing panels are in existence. So- yes, there is always a chance if you're on a current panel that you'll get called (I'm on a number of panels), however- it would be better to be realistic and not have any expectations- and keep an eye on the Publicjobs.ie website.

nevaeh.aaric

You wouldn't be so kind as to tell me if any of those counties you got placed in was Dublin?
I only applied and I've gotten a reply with my placing. I'm just wondering if other people have gotten yet so I work out whether I've made the cut!

Thanks.

caarp

K_P wrote: »

I find the problem is there are usually one or two options that are obviously ridiculous, along the lines of nesf's one above. The remaining three are all very similar. One of the sample questions is:

Scenario 1

You are working in a Government department on a busy project for which there are tight time deadlines.  It is now Friday afternoon and you have an important task to complete by Monday afternoon.  This involves preparing a report for the Minister about an important issue that the Minister needs to respond to.

A senior manager newly appointed to a different but related area in your department, asks you to photocopy a very large amount of material, to be ready first thing Monday morning.

You have no staff of your own and the staff who work with this senior manager have expressed their dissatisfaction with having to do additional work for you in the past.

Do you,


A. Approach the senior manager’s staff directly and ask them to carry out the photocopying work, indicating that it relates to their area of work.

B. Ask your own manager to return the photocopying work to the senior manager on your behalf, having explained the pressures that you are under.

C. Explain the pressures that you are under to the senior manager indicating that you cannot manage an extra task in the time frame.

D. Accept the work from the senior manager but do not do it, and explain to the senior manager later on that you were under too much pressure to do so.

E. Come in over the weekend and do the photocopying work yourself for the senior manager.

I would consider options D and E to be the if-you-pick-these-I'm-amazed-you-even-found-the-test-centre answers. But then A, B and C are very similar. Having said that I'd probably go for C.

I'm a bit nervous of this section as I did an EO competition a few years ago. To be honest I didn't put too much effort in as I had just been told a few days previously that I had got another job. I still did well in the verbal and numerical sections but fell down on the job simulation. I was straight out of college at the time though. Now that I've a few years working I reckon I might be a bit more prepared.

Hi there KP!
I'm applying to the next round of EO positions and was wondering if you have any feedback from your experience please?  Were you successful and do you have any advice you might be willing to give?  I really want to be successful in this competition but the last time I applied, I didn't pass this particular section.  I was gutted.  Do you have any advice on this particular test, in terms of what are they looking for?  Any help would be tremendously appreciated.  MTIA