Graduate jobs in the civil service (AO)

Skittlebrau

Lockstep wrote: »

I came 25th for Law, delighted!

Congrats!

I came 53rd for law, 38th for tax policy and 35th for banking and finance.

Dancer656

Lockstep wrote: »

I came 25th for Law, delighted!

Fair play to you, I'm ranked 70th so here's hoping.

ckone

It says I was successful in all three subcampaigns I applied for and gave me a number in the 200's for all three. Personally I thought this would not be enough to progress to interview stage. There were no details yet on the tax policy and HR campaigns but it told me application form would issue to me shortly for the economics. Still not convinced I will get an interiew as I work in the civil service and have been told previously I was successful at selection tests but my position was not high enough to make interview stage. Time will tell!

noodler

maxol wrote: »

Where'd you hear that?

My understanding is next stage us the competitive group interviews and then a panel is formed fromthe successful people after that stage. 2680 sat the tests so to place is a big deal.

Oh, basically I got through with a score in the mid 200s (and thats supposed to be just for my campaign) so I am just doing a little bit of guess work based on the number of campaigns.

Lockstep

noodler wrote: »

Woah! So the number is not an overall?

Its based on the specific sub-campaign?

There must be the guts of 1,000 people who got through then.

It says I've been "placed 25 on the order of merit for the above mentioned Subcampaign."
Law in my case.
Given at least 2000 people were examined, I'd say we're all doing pretty damn well!

maxol

Skittlebrau wrote: »

Lockstep wrote: »

I came 25th for Law, delighted!

Congrats!

I came 53rd for law, 38th for tax policy and 35th for banking and finance.

Do you have the requisite qualifications for EACH section?? If so fair play and best of luck you should be a shoe-in!

noodler

Lockstep wrote: »

It says I've been "placed 25 on the order of merit for the above mentioned Subcampaign."
Law in my case.
Given at least 2000 people were examined, I'd say we're all doing pretty damn well!

Again, I apologise if I sound like I am being overly-pessimistic.

I am just surprised I got through with such a low number (and that I got such a low number!) and assumed that if it was the same for each campaign that there could be


4X 250 or something like that.

Congrats everyone.

Skittlebrau

maxol wrote: »

Do you have the requisite qualifications for EACH section?? If so fair play and best of luck you should be a shoe-in!

Yeah I have the required quals. Law degree gets me over the line in both law and tax policy and I have both economics and accounting in my postgrad which is enough for banking/finance. I've also worked for the last 4 years in tax policy (not in Ireland though) but I don't know whether that will make much difference.

Wouldn't say I'm a shoe-in by any stretch though, there's plenty of better qualified people out there.

footlose

Its says that I was successful also with a score over 400 in the sub campaign law? Cant be right?

noodler

footlose wrote: »

Its says that I was successful also with a score over 400 in the sub campaign law? Cant be right?

Well, I guess 400 out of over 2000 is still the best 20%?

It does seem like they will have alot more admin to do though.

nehemiah

noodler wrote: »

Again, I apologise if I sound like I am being overly-pessimistic.

I am just surprised I got through with such a low number (and that I got such a low number!) and assumed that if it was the same for each campaign that there could be


4X 250 or something like that.

Congrats everyone.

There could be quite a few that have applied under numerous sub-campaigns so there could be a few above you that scored highly and had applied under a few of the campaigns but presumably would still only be once on the interview panel.

Who_8_Paul?

The way it works, based on my experience in various other publicjobs campaigns, is that you are 'successful' if you get over the minimum in each section of the tests but only the first x number will get called to interview initially - probably no more than 50/60 in each sub-campaign I would imagine. That's the way it worked in past competitions anyway

blindside88

It says I was 117 in hr sub campaign, lets just hope there were more than 117 people in hr

noodler

Who_8_Paul? wrote: »

The way it works, based on my experience in various other publicjobs campaigns, is that you are 'successful' if you get over the minimum in each section of the tests but only the first x number will get called to interview initially - probably no more than 50/60 in each sub-campaign I would imagine. That's the way it worked in past competitions anyway

Its weird: It reads like this:

"Further to your participation at Stage 2 of the above Campaign I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful at the selection tests in Croke Park....
......
.....Very shortly you will receive an email to the email address you provided at application stage, this email will contain the Stage 3 detailed application form which you must complete and return as directed.
.....
....Feedback on your performance at the tests will issue towards the end of April. I would like to thank you for your participation in the selection process and wish you the best for the future."


The first two parts sound like you are progressing whilst the final bit sounds like a PFO!

Lockstep

When I applied for the EU, there were successful scores (reaching the minimum) and then the top scorers in each category were picked out.
I passed the exams with an oversall score of 75% but only 85%+ were invited to an interview.

delricyo

Who_8_Paul? wrote: »

The way it works, based on my experience in various other publicjobs campaigns, is that you are 'successful' if you get over the minimum in each section of the tests but only the first x number will get called to interview initially - probably no more than 50/60 in each sub-campaign I would imagine. That's the way it worked in past competitions anyway

Congrats to everybody who got through.

Don't want to sound pessimistic, but I received a mail for a previous competition to say I was successful. But I didn't reach the required position for interview.

It looks like PAS have some work to do yet. I'd say some were not successful at this stage. Like the way they only dropped 800 after the online test

Good luck at the next stage(s) everyone !

Dancer656

noodler wrote: »

Its weird: It reads like this:

"Further to your participation at Stage 2 of the above Campaign I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful at the selection tests in Croke Park....
......
.....Very shortly you will receive an email to the email address you provided at application stage, this email will contain the Stage 3 detailed application form which you must complete and return as directed.
.....
....Feedback on your performance at the tests will issue towards the end of April. I would like to thank you for your participation in the selection process and wish you the best for the future."


The first two parts sound like you are progressing whilst the final bit sounds like a PFO!

My email seems slightly different to yours. There's nothing in my one about Stage 3. It just says "Currently we do not have dates as to when the shortlisting/interviews will take place for this particular Subcampaign however once dates have been finalised this office will contact candidates directly."

I agree totally about how the last part sounds.

Pawwed Rig

nehemiah wrote: »

There could be quite a few that have applied under numerous sub-campaigns so there could be a few above you that scored highly and had applied under a few of the campaigns but presumably would still only be once on the interview panel.

I got placed in 3 campaigns 148,116 and 161. So presumably I which ever one I end up in people behind will move forward. Also some people placed won't take the jobs etc

Or is it a case that you can do multiple interviews??:eek:

anbodhran

Could there be people who've applied for positions, done well in the scores, but then won't have the necessary qualifications to be selected for an interview?

People have mentioned that they wouldn't have looked at CV's up to this point, yet they were very specific in what they were looking for in the job descriptions.

noodler

Dancer656 wrote: »

My email seems slightly different to yours. There's nothing in my one about Stage 3. It just says "Currently we do not have dates as to when the shortlisting/interviews will take place for this particular Subcampaign however once dates have been finalised this office will contact candidates directly."

I agree totally about how the last part sounds.

Cool, well I guess you are getting an interview and I'll be on the back-up list so!

Ah well, I understand they want to keep their options open in case the first-choicers don't work out for whatever reason but they could have made that a little clearer!

Lockstep

Dancer656 wrote: »

My email seems slightly different to yours. There's nothing in my one about Stage 3. It just says "Currently we do not have dates as to when the shortlisting/interviews will take place for this particular Subcampaign however once dates have been finalised this office will contact candidates directly."

I agree totally about how the last part sounds.

Yeah, I got that email as well.

Dancer656

noodler wrote: »

Cool, well I guess you are getting an interview and I'll be on the back-up list so!

Ah well, I understand they want to keep their options open in case the first-choicers don't work out for whatever reason but they could have made that a little clearer!

To be fair though it's really hard to know what way it will go. It might be the other way around. They should make it clearer really just by looking at the amount of questions we all have.

delricyo

noodler wrote: »

Who_8_Paul? wrote: »

The way it works, based on my experience in various other publicjobs campaigns, is that you are 'successful' if you get over the minimum in each section of the tests but only the first x number will get called to interview initially - probably no more than 50/60 in each sub-campaign I would imagine. That's the way it worked in past competitions anyway

Its weird: It reads like this:

"Further to your participation at Stage 2 of the above Campaign I am pleased to inform you that you have been successful at the selection tests in Croke Park....
......
.....Very shortly you will receive an email to the email address you provided at application stage, this email will contain the Stage 3 detailed application form which you must complete and return as directed.
.....
....Feedback on your performance at the tests will issue towards the end of April. I would like to thank you for your participation in the selection process and wish you the best for the future."


The first two parts sound like you are progressing whilst the final bit sounds like a PFO!

This looks good for you.
The application form will be the next stage, and hopefully an interview

Don't worry about the 3rd part. It is appended to all mails I would say. The feedback shouldnt matter as you have passed the tests

footlose

Dancer656 wrote: »

To be fair though it's really hard to know what way it will go. It might be the other way around. They should make it clearer really just by looking at the amount of question we all have.

Very true. Very unclear as to what is happening and a good point was raised as to people might not meet the min standards.

noodler

Dancer656 wrote: »

To be fair though it's really hard to know what way it will go. It might be the other way around. They should make it clearer really just by looking at the amount of question we all have.

Ah, you've nearly 200 places on me in the rankings so I am sure it is how I described.

Maybe the majority of the people who did the tests got an email like mine (i.e. didn't fail but not high enough for an interview to be mentioned).

Apologies to earlier posters for my pessimism - I didn't realise your emails actually mentioned interviews!

onak07

Hey, i got placed 126 in HR. Does anyone feel like ringing the Public Appointments Service and asking how many people will get called for an interview!?
Somehow I dont think i'd like to be answering phones in there for the next month....!

anbodhran

Lockstep wrote: »

Yeah, I got that email as well.

It seems to be that certain areas need people quite quickly, while others aren't as urgent. We don't know how many people they need for each I suppose. They might need 50 in economics and only 10 for law for example.

Napper McCann

I came in the 200s for both the law and tax campaigns. Don't know if it's enough to get me throught to the next stage. Qualified and work in law and have studied economics too so hopefully they'll look at CVs. Well done to all who got through and hard look to those who didn't.

moving_home

I rang PAS, at this point in time they are only dealing with the Economics stream so have no further information or timeline on any of the other subcampaigns. So annoying as I am going to be out of the country for a few months this summer so even if I get called for interview I probably won’t make it

noodler

moving_home wrote: »

I rang PAS, at this point in time they are only dealing with the Economics stream so have no further information or timeline on any of the other subcampaigns. So annoying as I am going to be out of the country for a few months this summer so even if I get called for interview I probably won’t make it

Which is my stream - I don't know if that is good or bad.

maxol

Yeah I got the email that says that interview dates will be notified to me shortly. I placed 107 for HR.

phoenix999

I got ranked 213 in Hr campaign. No mention of a supplementary application form being sent. So won't hold my breath waiting for an interview.

moving_home

noodler wrote: »

Which is my stream - I don't know if that is good or bad.

From what she said, I think people who were successful in the Economics stream will be getting an application form soon but don’t take that as gospel. I think I would take it as bad news if your message didn’t say that you would be getting an application form. Sorry.

moving_home

phoenix999 wrote: »

I got ranked 213 in Hr campaign. No mention of a supplementary application form being sent. So won't hold my breath waiting for an interview.

There were only application forms mentioned in the Economics stream – not any of the others at this point in time. They are dealing with the Economics stream first.

Dancer656

moving_home wrote: »

There were only application forms mentioned in the Economics stream – not any of the others at this point in time. They are dealing with the Economics stream first.

Now it's starting to make a bit of sense.

noodler

phoenix999 wrote: »

I got ranked 213 in Hr campaign. No mention of a supplementary application form being sent. So won't hold my breath waiting for an interview.

moving_home wrote: »

From what she said, I think people who were successful in the Economics stream will be getting an application form soon but don’t take that as gospel. I think I would take it as bad news if your message didn’t say that you would be getting an application form. Sorry.

Hmmm, I was taking it completely the other way...i.e. that an application form was bad.

Oh well, maybe all isn't lost then.

Napper McCann

My email just says that they will contact me about shortlisting and interviews. it is the same for both the law and tax campaign.

delricyo

288 in tax policy

Fairly disappointed with my result

onak07

I think the economics is being dealt with first because of the recently announced Government Economic & Evaluation Service that is being set up.

http://per.gov.ie/2012/03/06/minister-howlin-announces-establishment-of-new-government-economic-and-evaluation-service/

They will probably be looking to staff this straight away.

maxol

Makes sense that only the strength they're currently dealing with (I.e economics) are the only ones hearing anything about stage 3 forms.

Anyone from any other stream got anything other than.." you will be contacted shortly about interview/shortlisting". If so let us know!

phoenix999

You would be surprised how many people sat the test who might not have an appropriate qualification. I think stage 3 is the supplementary application, to weed out some of these people. My college buddy is an AO in Finance and he said about 150 in each sub- campaign would be interviewed. But that's after reviewing Cvs etc.

moving_home

noodler wrote: »

Hmmm, I was taking it completely the other way...i.e. that an application form was bad.

Oh well, maybe all isn't lost then.

From my limited experience of civil service interviews, they will need an application form to form the basis of what they will talk about at the interview so I would imagine that is why they are looking for it at this stage.

Dancer656

Slightly worried about the whole reviewing my CV bit and that it'll drag me down.

noodler

Dancer656 wrote: »

Slightly worried about them reviewing my CV bit and that it'll drag me down.

Ah well they can hardly employ someone based purely on an exam.

You have loads of time to work on your CV now.

Dancer656

noodler wrote: »

Ah well they can hardly employ someone based purely on an exam.

You have loads of time to work on your CV now.

Ah yeah totally understandable that they wouldn't hire people on the basis of the exam. Ah sure if it drags it down at least I gave it a good try!

maxol

I uploaded my CV as part of the original application. It was requested!

Dancer656

maxol wrote: »

I uploaded my CV as part of the original application. It was requested!

Same here but for others it wasn't the case it seems.

Lockstep

Once they've decided on the people who'll be interviewed, are the exam results still relevent then? As in, do they factor into your final result or was it just for weeding people through to the CV stage.

maxol

>>Currently we do not have dates as to when the shortlisting/interviews will take place for this particular Subcampaign however once dates have been finalised this office will contact candidates directly>>

This is for HR campaign

noodler

maxol wrote: »

I uploaded my CV as part of the original application. It was requested!

Dancer656 wrote: »

Same here but for others it wasn't the case it seems.

In mine, I think it simply asked at the last stage if there were any documents that at this stage you think would be relevant to your application.

I uploaded my CV but IIRC I could have skipped the last page.