Upcoming Jobs with CSO for 2011 Census

Cute Hoor

It now appears that those who got that oddly worded 'panel' letter yesterday are the successful ones, although it still doesn't mean you've got the job. All of the panel people have to be assigned areas which will end up with a number of people losing out because of their location, but they will be the backup people should some people reject the job. They should start contacting the successful people from the panel over the next day or 2.
That's my understanding of the situation now.

Gerard G

I'm on the panel - yipee or darn :mad: ?

seanie63

Anyone got anything in the post today? I have gotten nothing today either, beginning to lose hope! It is odd that there are no "regret" or "you have been successful" letters.

seanie63

Postman has just arrived with a "panel letter"!! Good or bad??

JonnyK

Postman hasn't arrived here yet.

I don't get it. Seems we're all on the panel. Doesn't make sense.

Has anyone got an unsuccessful or successful letter?

Beginning to think panel letters are for those who didn't get it.

Strange.

Little A

I go tthe same "panel" letter yesterday - I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who thought it was badly worded & if it was good or bad news!!!

I've read & reread it & I reckon they have gotten as far as the definate yeahs & neays.....so PFO's probably on the way to the no's while they decided exactly which of the yes's they will take on. CSO works to timescales, so they say they will notify by mid December - thats what they do (even if it is with a badly worded letter)

Has anyone got a definate NO or a definate YES letter ??

Did anyone else do the job last time around? I did, I reckon it's like childbirth - you swear never again, but you forget the pain with time!!! I must need my head examined !! Then again, it's very flexible, so suits with kids & definately should not take up 40hours per week.

seanie63

Little A , was it that bad? Really? I desperately need a job and it sounded ideal at the time but I have heard a few people comment similar to you, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth though a job is a job in these times.

I haven't heard of any regret letters or definate yes's yet, wish they were clearer. I can't imagine that they would have sent the "panel" letter to those who were unsuccessful, so surely they must have sent those letters out too. Oh my head is fried at this stage with it all.

JonnyK

Seems like there's a hell of a lot of us on the panel though! Too many to be all offered a job.

Has anyone yet to receive a letter?

Dymo

seanie63 wrote: »

Postman has just arrived with a "panel letter"!! Good or bad??

Good because that's obviously a progression from the interview stage, bad because nobody really knows what it means at the moment.

JonnyK

Agreed Seanie,

We're all like amateur document forensic officers at this point trying to read into its deeper meaning.

Maybe the CSO just sent out the letters to mess with everyone's heads!

Feck it, will wait to see what they come up with next.

seanie63

Thats true Dymo, oh fingers crossed! They must have to make a decision soon as the enumerator positions will need to be filled in the coming weeks won't they?

seanie63

JonnyK wrote: »

Agreed Seanie,

We're all like amateur document forensic officers at this point trying to read into its deeper meaning.

Maybe the CSO just sent out the letters to mess with everyone's heads!

Feck it, will wait to see what they come up with next.

LOL JonnyK

Seems like such a waste of money sending out preliminary letters, postage etc, I dunno they could have done it alot easier

Dymo

JonnyK wrote: »

Seems like there's a hell of a lot of us on the panel though! Too many to be all offered a job.

By my recollection of people posting in this thread 14 people said they were at the interview stage and so far 6 have confirmed getting a panel letter plus new people to join the thread.

Considering people on this thread had more information on the job via the booklet and type of interview questions it is possible that the percentage of people hear could be higher than the national average 1 in 4 or 42% instead of 25%

JonnyK

Dymo,

I'll give you a call if I'm at the races or playing poker. I could do with your mathematical and statistical knowledge!!

Little A

seanie63 wrote: »

Little A , was it that bad? Really? I desperately need a job and it sounded ideal at the time but I have heard a few people comment similar to you, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth though a job is a job in these times.
.

It was a mixed bag.

Some of the pros:
- very flexible (bar the training week & the recruitment week)
- Def didn't add up to 40 hours, I'd say I did an average of 20hrs....then again, I might just be super organised)
- Met some lovely people
- Some extra cash
- 9 of my 10 enumerators

Cons:
- Public sector job - red tape, protocol, expense sheets (you can just say A to B - 3 miles.....you need A to B via X,Y & Z....just messy)
- Some memebrs of the public can get quite assertive & some even aggressive (bear in mind, you'll only deal with the ones who are a hassle - most of them are lovely, but you generally don't meet those ones!!)
- 1 of my 10 enumerators!!! (she was a pain & seemed to have difficulty understanding she had to do the work to get paid and I had to go to her house one day....I have never seen filth like it). We got there in the end
- Getting access to apartment lobby's
- working out if apartments are occupied or not
- amazing how many people will not answer the doorbell.....you can see them moving about but won't answer the door
- The Forms for when someone has stayed away from home....again, it's just a pain getting other supervisors to come back to you)

You just need to be organised and you'll be fine. Training the team is really important & making 100% sure they are doing things right from Day 1 (or else is it one hell of a mess to sort out afterwards), make sure you are one the road with each of them for a hour or so on their first day or 2 so you can correct any mistakes dragging forward.

They have changed some of the reporting so most can be done on-line, which will be a big time saver. Good luck if you get it! We'll have to start a "support forum" for those who do get it!!

Domscard

Did no one else read Cute Hoor's post? He/she seems to know what they're talking about I got the panel letter yesterday and I know of one other who got it too (not posting here).
As Dymo said, those who accessed this thread had an advantage and therefore I'd expect them to have done a better interview. Also, there are 440 jobs going - plenty to go round ...

Little A

seanie63 wrote: »

Thats true Dymo, oh fingers crossed! They must have to make a decision soon as the enumerator positions will need to be filled in the coming weeks won't they?

Training starts on the 10th of January, so they will have to contact successful candiates soon. The interviews for enumerators, I think, were early Feb.

seanie63 wrote: »

LOL JonnyK

Seems like such a waste of money sending out preliminary letters, postage etc, I dunno they could have done it alot easier

I reckon that they may call the successful candiates at this stage as they will want to get a definate answer & be in a position to forward the contracts. If they write to each one and have to wait for a written response, it will take too long. Now that I think about it, I remember getting a call from my manager the last time....I think (well it was 5 years ago!!)

seanie63

Thanks for that post LittleA, I am sure the other posters will agree, that info will come in very handy. Although I would assume that being super organised would be a must for anybody interested in this job in the first place.

Defo agree that we should set up a supporters thread, its amazing the help people can get by just sharing information and doing things a little differently.

Domscard, i did read CuteHoors post, hopefully we will hear in the next couple of days. I would imagine they would need to give successful candidates a full 2 weeks notice prior to starting the job, which is due to start on the 11th January.

seanie63

LittleA, can you remember if you would have gotten a similar "panel" letter before you got the call?

Little A

seanie63 wrote: »

LittleA, can you remember if you would have gotten a similar "panel" letter before you got the call?

I can't remember, TBH. I reckon I'd rememebr such a badly worded letter. I reckon we'll get phone calls over the next few days or early next week offering the job & then followed with a formal letter offering the job. So make sure you put on you best "phone" voice when you are answering over the next few days.

Seanie.....you would assume all getting the job would be fairly organised, but they aren't. There was one supervisor who just didn't get it!! He let 2 of his enumerator give out their "D" number all wrong & didn't realise for ages......it took 3 days to try & sort it out. He could get to grips with his weekly reports....every week they would be wrong - totally wrong. I remember the manager bawling him out of it at our weekly meeting, in fairness she had to sit and correct each one with him every week.
He went into a tissy if he was asked to call to a house.

alexsmum

ya i got a bit lost there with all the calculations.

i thought that at the time that seanie seemed very happy with his interview and i thought he'd definitely get a yes letter but now that you have a panel letter my amateur sleuth thoughts are

that we are all on the bloody panel and are ranked on how we performed so in essence as i think seanie did well ???

he should be in the 1st cut as such

i didn't think my interview was very substantial and i reckon i'm quite low down on it so may not get a job


jesus it would wreck your head. damn civil service and their waste of money, time etc!!!!

Shamrock128

From the Field Supervisor Information Booklet:

"Panel

A panel of successful candidates for each position will be created following this competition from which the required compliment of officers may be drawn. It should be noted that the filling of any posts is subject to prior attempts to fill from available civil/public service surpluses, plus budgetary constraints. Successful candidates will be appointed from these panels according to their panel placing and geographical location. An offer of a contract to work as a Census Field Supervisor with the 2011 Census of Population will not guarantee a similar subsequent offer.
The panel will remain in place for the duration of the census. However, the CSO reserves the right to complement or terminate the panel at any time."

Maybe they are busy filling as many positions possible with existing civil servants before they get to us lowly lot :rolleyes:

It's a tad frustrating isn't it!

Cute Hoor

Shamrock128 wrote: »

Maybe they are busy filling as many positions possible with existing civil servants before they get to us lowly lot :rolleyes:

It's a tad frustrating isn't it!

No that's definitely not the case, the only people getting these jobs will be from those who were interviewed.

I reckon Little A almost certainly has one of these jobs in the bag, she (I'm assuming it's she given the painful child bearing comment) has done it already, and if she had made a balls of it previously she wouldn't get within an asses roar of getting on the now infamous 'panel', so it makes sense that she gets one.

Shamrock128

Cute Hoor wrote: »

No that's definitely not the case, the only people getting these jobs will be from those who were interviewed.

I said this "Maybe they are busy filling as many positions possible with existing civil servants before they get to us lowly lot" because of this line in the FO handbook:

"the filling of any posts is subject to prior attempts to fill from available civil/public service surpluses"

Am I missing something or have I read it wrong?

tarahill

well just to let ye know I have just got a call and and have been offered one of the field supervisors jobs, I was told I will stary on Jan 10th with 3 days training. has anyone else had a call yet.:)

Shamrock128

tarahill wrote: »

well just to let ye know I have just got a call and and have been offered one of the field supervisors jobs, I was told I will stary on Jan 10th with 3 days training. has anyone else had a call yet.:)

Congratulations!

Cute Hoor

Shamrock128 wrote: »

I said this "Maybe they are busy filling as many positions possible with existing civil servants before they get to us lowly lot" because of this line in the FO handbook:

"the filling of any posts is subject to prior attempts to fill from available civil/public service surpluses"

Am I missing something or have I read it wrong?

I'd reckon that even if they were using available civil/public service surpluses, they would also have to go through the selection process to determine their suitability - could be wrong on that though. Can't see it being an issue at all though Shamrock, can't see any surplus c/ps person rushing for these temporary jobs with all sorts of unsociable working hours etc, I'd be amazed if any of these positions were filled from these, but obviously they have to stick that into the handbook.

Cute Hoor

tarahill wrote: »

well just to let ye know I have just got a call and and have been offered one of the field supervisors jobs, I was told I will stary on Jan 10th with 3 days training. has anyone else had a call yet.:)

Congrats!

Had you got the 'panel' letter?

Shamrock128

Cute Hoor wrote: »

I'd reckon that even if they were using available civil/public service surpluses, they would also have to go through the selection process to determine their suitability - could be wrong on that though. Can't see it being an issue at all though Shamrock, can't see any surplus c/ps person rushing for these temporary jobs with all sorts of unsociable working hours etc, I'd be amazed if any of these positions were filled from these, but obviously they have to stick that into the handbook.

Ok, that makes sense.

Thanks for the clarification.

JonnyK

Congrats Tarahill,

No call yet!

Well done.

Sounds like people will start hearing this evening and tomorrow so.