Why did you apply for the Garda Reserves

m r c

ok i joined this site to discuss the reserve with anyone else who joined or is thinking of joining. my reasons for wanting to join are simple i genuinely have a strong pride in our garda the uniform the work they do the desire to serve my community and to protect the laws of our land. i have many friends who are officers and admire the work they do i wish to do all of the above and would happily do it for no money. i always wanted to apply but have been probably too afraid of been told no as this is the one thing i really want to do with my life. does anyone know what they look for in an application and so on and so fourth talk to me people,

Tula

Hiya m r c

I'm also thinking of applying for the reserves. People who're in the reserves feel free to correct me but my impression is that they look for good, honest, hard-working people. Leadership and team work skills would be another one and a certain degree of physical fitness (thats where I'm failing :P). You sound like you really want this and I'm sure they'll be able to see that. Good luck with your application!

Tula

fussyhussey

Hey did you look at some of the other threads on this? There are some really good ones. I'm in it and would recommend it to anyone who asked. Such good experience

donal1234

hi can you or anyone tell me what happens after I have passed the first stage.I passed two weeks ago and i have heard nothing since,any ideas what i should do,donal1234

fussyhussey

Wait it out, this process can be really long, you hear nothing for ages and then another flurry of activity. 2 weeks is nothing unfortunately!

donal1234

Thanks for the replies,I called the Garda reserve office this morning and was told that they had just recieved my results and they would email me later on today.Does anyone know about wearing glasses?:cool:

fussyhussey

Few of the lads have glasses in my class, think they just wear contacts when necessary....Good luck today, its really great fun, hope you have a great time!

donal1234

thanks for that I was worried that the glasses would be a stumbling block and if all the replies and help I have got since I first posted my question is anything to go by I cant wait to get started:cool:

Scania580

If you wear glasses your vision must be 6/9 6/12 un aided.
This is very hard unless your vision is only slightly off. the medical req.s are the same as the regulars.Id love to join ,but they dont allow us taxi drivers in.:(

donal1234

Hi can anyone tell me if the interview with the super and sgt at the local station is formal or casual ie suit or not?:cool:

AN SEANDUINE

no need to wear a suit, but dress smartly say a shirt and a pair of trousers.
interview will be just to find out about what sort of character you are,and should be pretty informal,more like a chat.

gilly0512

ok i joined this site to discuss the reserve with anyone else who joined or is thinking of joining. my reasons for wanting to join are simple i genuinely have a strong pride in our garda the uniform the work they do the desire to serve my community and to protect the laws of our land. i have many friends who are officers and admire the work they do i wish to do all of the above and would happily do it for no money. i always wanted to apply but have been probably too afraid of been told no as this is the one thing i really want to do with my life. does anyone know what they look for in an application and so on and so fourth talk to me people.

MRC there is already an excellent thread on this website running on the Garda Reserve, and this thread has being running since November 2006. The link for it is http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055178746, and it should answer most questions that you need to know on the Garda Reserve. Just a few pointers though, the requirements are pretty much the same as for the Regular, although they are not as strict on the educational requirements, which is strange considering the educational requirements for the regular are not much either. Also be prepared for a long wait, as things move very slowly within An Garda Siochana, so while you may pass your interview/written exercise, you could still be waiting anything up to nine months before you actually get to go down to Templemore.

Fyr.Fytr

Took the plunge after talking to serving member and much discussion on here, I've done it

Sent the application in last night so sitting back and waiting now.

How long did others have to wait for the wheels to get rolling

lehanemore

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

Took the plunge after talking to serving member and much discussion on here, I've done it

Sent the application in last night so sitting back and waiting now.

How long did others have to wait for the wheels to get rolling

well done for taking the first step.:cool:

interested to hear what the serving members thoughts were on it?

Fyr.Fytr

Yea, did reasearch talking to both serving reserve and full timers and decided to go for it.

No point faffing about as I've wanted to do it from the start so might aswell do
it you know

SuperSean11

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

Yea, did reasearch talking to both serving reserve and full timers and decided to go for it.

No point faffing about as I've wanted to do it from the start so might aswell do
it you know

Fair Play:)

Fyr.Fytr

My main hesitation was when the reserve was founded alot of full timers were very peed off about it, funds that they needed being diverted etc which is a very fair point which I agree with.

So was worried that if I did get in would face hostility from full timers, but everyone i talked to said there is none of that. They've nothing against the reserves themselfs merely the system, so its all good.

dewsbury

Can I ask WHY did you want to join the reserves??

This is a genuine question from a supporter of the general concept.

Fyr.Fytr

Well i want to join the guards after college so thats no 1.

no 2 I've always had an intrest in the emergency services and i currently volunteer with the order of malta so know the ambulance side of things so wanted to try the reserve and be at the coal face so to speak.

Its the only thing of its kind where your actually out there on the streets responding to calls etc and not tied down to a fixed event like with omac of cd etc.

And most of all i think itd be a great expereince

kerry4sam

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

...How long did others have to wait for the wheels to get rolling

I applied mid-April and over 2months later i still have not heard anything ... It can range from a few weeks to 7months apparently ...

The only thing i have received relating to the Reserves is a request to fill out a survey this afternoon about the reserve recruiting procedure

Murphy(Cork)

From what i can remember, nothing happens during the summer months.

billyhead

Hi Folks,

Just curious about this. I was wondering why people here have applied to joing the reserves or are already in it. I presume most intend to try and get into the full time force. Me personally (still waiting on a medical) just wanted to give back something to the local community. I have no intention of applying for the full time force, as I am happy with my current job and I am undertaking further 3rd level part time studies related to my work. I also wanted to experience at first hand the type of anti social behaviour that is prevalent on our streets today. Also its not the worst past time to be involved in. I would be interested to hear other applicants or members reasons.

da__flash

experince in the job and get insight into it and also to help get in to full time:D

sf94

da__flash wrote: »

experince in the job and get insight into it and also to help get in to full time:D

+1.........I want to get into the full time force. While I admire those who want to do it as a way to give something back I dont think I would be involved other than to gain an (admittedly small) insight into what the job would be like as a career and hopefully boost my chances of getting in once recruitment starts again!!

I will preface what I am about to say here that I am only in training now and that these are my opinions of what i think it to be like and stand open to correction by full timers or reserves alike.

When you are on the streets you are wearing the safe uniform as the full-time and as far as most people are concerned you are one. Thus, you can expect the same threats/job hazards as the full-timers (I think the marketing of the Reserves may portray a different idea.....as someone on here said before theres more to it than giving tourists directions to Shop St). If I didn't want to do this as a full time career I dont think i'd risk being bitten/spat on/assaulted/stabbed/verbally abused to try and give a little back to my community. It's a very serious undertaking (I'm not trying to sound patronising here and the reason I'm saying it is because I will admit I didn't fully consider how serious it is when I submitted my application back in Jan. it only really became apparent to me through all the phases of the process).

You will be out on the front line and you see what the full-timers see.....be this being first on the scene to a road traffic accident/or another incident where there may be fatalities or serious injuries, trying to arrest a drunken eejit whose bleeding all over you, dealing with drug addicts and the dangers that this may entail etc...... There may also be the need to appear in court and give evidence if you are a witness to an incident or you could be injured and risk missing work or the potential to get yourself into legal trouble following your own actions (e.g. accusations of assault by someone whilst they are being arrested etc)

Again I'll re-iterate I'm not trying to put down anyone or turn people off the idea and I hope what I say doesn't appear patronising. Also, like I said I'm only in training so haven't been on the streets myself. Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to join and each is as valid as the next. I'm just using my experience of the process so far to maybe ensure that people fully understand what they are signing up for (because as I said I dont think I really did at the start of the process and I'll admit that). If any reserves think I'm way off the mark with the reality of it then please let me know

EGOSHEA

I also have no intention of switching careers - I'm happy with my profession and I wouldn't see the reserve as in any way leading to a career as a full-time Garda. I'm only at the stage of having my super interview (tomorrow, in fact) so I haven't started the training yet.

My reasons for wanting to join include the following:

I feel that, particularly as the years go by, our society is becoming more violent and a sense of community is diminishing - just observe the headlines that describe crimes which seem to get increasingly vicious. To be part of trying to combat that would be not only very challenging but also rewarding I think. I've known people who (and occasionally myself) have been the victims of crime and it's something that needs to be reduced.

I also work in an area related to dealing with those who are bereaved and I think that Gardai are often called upon in such situations. I'd like to help with this.

Additionally, I think that it's the kind of job that might help a person to develop in certain ways. Joining up purely (or even mainly) for reasons of 'personal development' would be absurd. I nevertheless think that certain skills and abilities, e.g. dealing with conflict or stressful situations, decision-making, overall confidence, discipline, etc, might be well improved through experience in the reserve.

My doubts/worries centre mainly on whether or not I'll be able to deal with the hatred/danger presented by some members of the public, whether or not I'll fit in with full-time colleagues, and whether or not I'll actually be of any use. But I figure I have less to lose by trying than by not giving it a go. If nothing else, at the end of the day it's someone helping out with various tasks so that more full-timers can be out and about and getting their job done. That can't be too bad, can it?

lehanemore

I'm in it for the money.

kerry4sam

lehanemore wrote: »

I'm in it for the money.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

*high five*

:eek: :pac:

sdanseo

I'm a mixture myself. Like EGOSHEA I'm only at the Sgt/Super interview stage yet though.

I'm in in for three main reasons - one as a way of getting an insight into the full time job and with a view to joining it after I finish college. That's the hope anyways.

I also want to give something back though - the community round where I live used to be incredibly close and that has just totally dissapeared recently, to the extent there arent even enough folks interested in the residents association any more to have even a basic committee. (I must be the first person under the age of 30 ever to put my name down for one of those!) I know I won't be posted where I live most likely, but I'd still like to give something back and this has spurred me on so to speak.

Lastly it's a personal goal - some people voulunteer for the IRCG, RDF, Civil Defence, etc and I think this is just another outlet for free time, a desire to help out and a certain ghrá for frontline emergency services that some of we (for now) civvies have in us that just needs to be let out.