Clerical Positions in the Civil and Public Service

Diddlina

Anyone any guesses on what the cut odd point is likely to be? The guards was 15,000 applied (I think) 5,000 cut off but because they'd so many stages I can't imagine it being that generous as there's only re-test and interview with this.

Tarzana

RobbingBandit wrote: »

Thread has gone quite, too quite, is there anybody out there, out there.

I guess there's not much to discuss until we hear from them again.

Tarzana

irishfeen wrote: »

Best of luck to everyone BTW, the vast majority of us on here will probably be disappointed - the shear numbers going for the positions just show the state of the country but at least the public sector is starting to take on.

Yup, statistically most of us won't get through.

Mayo Miss

dawn8585 wrote: »

agreed! does anyone know if there's separate panels for different areas or how did they do it for d temps?

im from mayo but had to choose 'mayo and roscommon' when choosing the area

For the temp roles each county had it's own panel. You could get the call for anywhere, any dept within the county. For this panel I'd say successful applicants could be placed anywhere from Achill to Lanesborough.

Divisadero

Mayo Miss wrote: »

For the temp roles each county had it's own panel. You could get the call for anywhere, any dept within the county. For this panel I'd say successful applicants could be placed anywhere from Achill to Lanesborough.

The panels should follow the original options offered when you first applied. For example there was a Wexford/Waterford option so there will be a Wexford/Waterford panel. If you are offered a job in Waterford but would prefer Wexford you will have to take the Waterford job or lose your place on that panel. If you are on another panel (remember you could choose up to three) they will all be treated separately until you accept a job offer (if you are lucky enough to get one!).

butterly.john

Diddlina wrote: »

Anyone any guesses on what the cut odd point is likely to be? The guards was 15,000 applied (I think) 5,000 cut off but because they'd so many stages I can't imagine it being that generous as there's only re-test and interview with this.

It says in the info' booklet that people may be re-tested, there's no guarantee that there will be another test.

The_Conductor

butterly.john wrote: »

It says in the info' booklet that people may be re-tested, there's no guarantee that there will be another test.

The vast majority of people won't be retested- its entirely forseeable that perhaps 80% of candidates are knocked out at the initial online testing phase- and only a much smaller cohort brought forward for the supervised testing (its whats been happening in other recent competitions).

Tarzana

The_Conductor wrote: »

The vast majority of people won't be retested- its entirely forseeable that perhaps 80% of candidates are knocked out at the initial online testing phase- and only a much smaller cohort brought forward for the supervised testing (its whats been happening in other recent competitions).

Will only the people retested be going forward for interview?

The_Conductor

Tarzana wrote: »

Will only the people retested be going forward for interview?

Yes- a subset of the people being retested would be brought forward to interview- aka each stage of the process is an elimination, narrowing the pool of candidates further.

If you have a bad day and don't perform as well at the computerised competency tests as you might on another day- it could nuke your chance. Also- if there is a large discrepancy between the original test, and the supervised test- even if you pass both- it could nuke your candidacy.

Its all a process of bringing forward the very best candidates to interview- and employing the very best candidates for the posts available.

The issue is there are a massive number of applicants- but only the capacity to interview a small subset of applicants- so they have to try to get the very best of the candidates out of the applicants- in order to bring a number they have the capability of interviewing, to interview.

Tarzana

The_Conductor wrote: »

Yes- a subset of the people being retested would be brought forward to interview- aka each stage of the process is an elimination, narrowing the pool of candidates further.

If you have a bad day and don't perform as well at the computerised competency tests as you might on another day- it could nuke your chance. Also- if there is a large discrepancy between the original test, and the supervised test- even if you pass both- it could nuke your candidacy.

What I mean is, if 80% are knocked out, but not all of the remaining 20% are brought forward for retesting, what is the cull that cuts down that 20% and why not just cull them with the 80%?

Also, what if you do better in retesting than in the online tests? Say in an hypothetical world where I went forward for retesting. I know I would do better at error-checking the second time because I know what it's about. Is there any allowance for being familiar with the tests from the online testing?

The_Conductor

Tarzana wrote: »

What I mean is, if 80% are knocked out, but not all of the remaining 20% are brought forward for retesting, what is the cull that cuts down that 20% and why not just cull them with the 80%?

A number of those who get through the initial test (some with flying colours!) mysteriously fail the supervised test........ Wonder why.......

Also- Public jobs may decide they have the capacity to interview x number of candidates (lets say 2000 for arguments sake- though I guess it'll be a lot lower than this). The second test can be used as a tool to tailor the number of candidates to fit their criteria and bring them forward to interview.

The actual order of the interviews would be determined by the supervised test results- where they were monitoring conditions etc- and not the random conditions people may have answered the first part of the tests under.

Tarzana wrote: »

Also, what if you do better in retesting than in the online tests? Say in an hypothetical world where I went forward for retesting. I know I would do better at error-checking the second time because I know what it's about. Is there any allowance for being familiar with the tests from the online testing?

There is an acceptable margin of allowance/tolerance- if you do so much better or worse in any particular section- there would be a not unreasonable assumption that you may have received 'assistance' when you did the first set of tests......... You can always dispute it- they actually have a very good dispute resolution mechanism- but if the difference is of a scale thats totally improbable- there probably is a reason for the difference......... (legitimate or otherwise).

eroc79

Diddlina wrote: »

Anyone any guesses on what the cut odd point is likely to be? The guards was 15,000 applied (I think) 5,000 cut off but because they'd so many stages I can't imagine it being that generous as there's only re-test and interview with this.

After the first online test, 5000 moved to the 2nd online test, 600 of them moved to the supervised test, and I think about 450 got called to interview.

eroc79

Diddlina wrote: »

Anyone any guesses on what the cut odd point is likely to be? The guards was 15,000 applied (I think) 5,000 cut off but because they'd so many stages I can't imagine it being that generous as there's only re-test and interview with this.

After the first online test, 5000 moved to the 2nd online test, 600 of them moved to the supervised test, and I think about 450 got called to interview.

butterly.john

eroc79 wrote: »

After the first online test, 5000 moved to the 2nd online test, 600 of them moved to the supervised test, and I think about 450 got called to interview.

Are you talking about a previous recruitment campaign because you said ''450 got called''

Roisinbunny

Will they email everyone to let them know either way if they are progressing or not?

Starscream25

butterly.john wrote: »

Are you talking about a previous recruitment campaign because you said ''450 got called''

That must of been the garda recruitment campaign, 26k down to 5k down to 600 etc

eroc79

butterly.john wrote: »

Are you talking about a previous recruitment campaign because you said ''450 got called''

I was taking about the garda recruitment process that started back in January. First intake to Templemore is due in September. Clerical officer recruitment could be done in a similar fashion.

eroc79

butterly.john wrote: »

Are you talking about a previous recruitment campaign because you said ''450 got called''

I was taking about the garda recruitment process that started back in January. First intake to Templemore is due in September. Clerical officer recruitment could be done in a similar fashion.

butterly.john

Roisinbunny wrote: »

Will they email everyone to let them know either way if they are progressing or not?

I would presume they will, it would be very rude if they did not let us know one way or the other.

bandit99

Well i don't expect to hear from them... i think i totally f...kd up mine

Tarzana

Totally random pointless question time.

Will there be more clerical officer positions than there was garda positions? I mean, I know the exact number of CO positions isn't known but surely there's a ballpark figure, going on past rates of retirement per annum, past rates of resignations, analysing the age profile of the civil service etc.

The_Conductor

Tarzana wrote: »

Totally random pointless question time.

Will there be more clerical officer positions than there was garda positions? I mean, I know the exact number of CO positions isn't known but surely there's a ballpark figure, going on past rates of retirement per annum, past rates of resignations, analysing the age profile of the civil service etc.

Yes- almost inevitably.
The Gardai have a bottleneck- they can only train a maximum of 110 officers per cohort (someone might like to confirm this figure). The first cohort are due to commence in September- with another cohort due to start in February (apparently they were supposed to start earlier but there is some sort of a delay because they haven't been sanctioned).

Age profile is one thing in the civil service- the absolute numbers are falling- largely through the outsourcing of various functions- but also because of modernisation of many work practices, to make them more user friendly- but also to reduce the staffing needs.

Current average age in the civil service is now 49.......... (and the vast bulk of staff are at lower grades- most notably CO and EO grades- and its just under 70% female (not entirely sure why)).

rebecca79

Hi I completed the on line aptitude tests for the clerical officers posts in civil service. This was on the 26th July and I haven't heard anything since. Just wondering if anyone else has heard from them about the next round or am I still in with a chance??

Technocentral

rebecca79 wrote: »

Hi I completed the on line aptitude tests for the clerical officers posts in civil service. This was on the 26th July and I haven't heard anything since. Just wondering if anyone else has heard from them about the next round or am I still in with a chance??

Would imagine it will be a week or two from now.

butterly.john

rebecca79 wrote: »

Hi I completed the on line aptitude tests for the clerical officers posts in civil service. This was on the 26th July and I haven't heard anything since. Just wondering if anyone else has heard from them about the next round or am I still in with a chance??

I would say you are still in with a chance, I have not heard anything and neither have 1 or 2 others that I know who also did the test.

eroc79

rebecca79 wrote: »

Hi I completed the on line aptitude tests for the clerical officers posts in civil service. This was on the 26th July and I haven't heard anything since. Just wondering if anyone else has heard from them about the next round or am I still in with a chance??

Everyone will be informed one way or the other imo. This was the case in another competition run by PAS that I was part of.

eroc79

rebecca79 wrote: »

Hi I completed the on line aptitude tests for the clerical officers posts in civil service. This was on the 26th July and I haven't heard anything since. Just wondering if anyone else has heard from them about the next round or am I still in with a chance??

Everyone will be informed one way or the other imo. This was the case in another competition run by PAS that I was part of.

darragh o meara

The public appointments service don't work like some other companies who don't bother getting back to you, they'll let each person know.

SONIC2008

Are people applying for many other jobs other there. I apply for about 1 or 2 jobs a week and I don't even get an interview for anything. I've just completed a job-bridge but it looks like I'll be off to do another one.

Tarzana

SONIC2008 wrote: »

I apply for about 1/2 jobs a week and I don't even get an interview for anything.

It's all about volume. Apply for 1-2 jobs a day at the very least. Though obviously make sure they are good applications.

Last February, I needed a job badly. I just had to get one, or I would have been in dire straits. I was a student and not eligible for social welfare. My BF's salary would in no way support us both, and I don't roll like that anyway. I made it my mission to get one in a matter of weeks.

Applied for countless jobs, everything and anything, got rejections or heard nothing. Then, I landed a data entry position within two weeks of starting my search. Less than minimum wage but it was what I needed. Just found in the last hour that I am being made a salaried worker (pay raise! ) and am being given more projects to do, in an area I have little experience but would love to learn more about (marketing). All this came from a desperate, slightly panicked need to make ends meet.

You can do it!!!!