Graduate positions in the Civil Service and Local Authorities

cocaholic

What are people naming the uploaded form as?

The_Conductor

cocaholic wrote: »

What are people naming the uploaded form as?

I didn't change the name- I left it 'as-is' that is- 1489705.pdf........
Its the campaign number for the specific competition.

cocaholic

The_Conductor wrote: »

I didn't change the name- I left it 'as-is' that is- 1489705.pdf........
Its the campaign number for the specific competition.

1489705 Detailed.pdf is what downloaded for me so that's what I uploaded.

clonagirl

Form sent off! Thanks for the help, best of luck to everyone!

delricyo

The_Conductor wrote: »

The different streams on the application form (Section - are for the Local Authority Temporary Posts. For civil service AO posts- you complete Sections A and C- and having re-read the instructions- I'd suggest you make them as strong as possible- as they're suggesting your Section A alone may be used for initial short-listing.........



I'm guessing- they'll do a cull of applicants based on the Section As- and then invite us to do the online computerised tests........ (when they'll do a further cull)..........

Good luck to us all!

I doubt they will do a cull on the forms before the tests. Screeing the forms will probably require a large panel of APs meeting up and giving up a lot of their time.

My guess: Online tests - then resit in a supervised environment. Then the final stage could be a presentation and interview.

Of course it's just a guess...

delricyo

Meathlass wrote: »

Same here. The section for roles and responsibilities will only take about 1000 characters so I'm using the supplementary section to flesh out my experience and how they fit the competencies.

That's a good approach. But its always advisable to leave a few "hooks" for them to latch on to at interview. In my case, I once got feedback to say there was almost too much info on my form. In the interview, there wasn't enough left to be asked by the board

Tarzana2

Was going to apply but could not work up an interest.

Best of luck to you all!

InReality

Its a bit of a lottery to get as far as an interview with these jobs so I'd suggest not banking on getting that far at all. That's not to put people off, its just being realistic.

The_Conductor

delricyo wrote: »

I doubt they will do a cull on the forms before the tests. Screeing the forms will probably require a large panel of APs meeting up and giving up a lot of their time.

My guess: Online tests - then resit in a supervised environment. Then the final stage could be a presentation and interview.

Of course it's just a guess...

They already have a large panel of retired APs organised to go through the applications (and conduct the interviews when they get to that stage). Who knows....... Its in the laps of the gods now........

Rock of Gibraltar

The_Conductor wrote: »

They already have a large panel of retired APs organised to go through the applications (and conduct the interviews when they get to that stage). Who knows....... Its in the laps of the gods now........

I suspect the 'first cull' is done by PAS staff based on Section A info to ensure those invited to test meet the basic requirements (degree etc.)

Meathlass

delricyo wrote: »

That's a good approach. But its always advisable to leave a few "hooks" for them to latch on to at interview. In my case, I once got feedback to say there was almost too much info on my form. In the interview, there wasn't enough left to be asked by the board

If I get to interview stage I'll be delighted! In the CO interview they'd actually highlighted parts of my application and asked me about them so I figured I'd put in as much as the form allowed to give myself the best chance.

Vag

Does anyone know the exact amount of jobs that are up for grabs? Also, I wonder how many applied in the end? If anyone finds out, please post it here!

Micilin Muc

I just received a Pre-test Information Material message about the Verbal and Numerical Analysis Aptitude tests, but there doesn't seem to be any deadline mentioned :rolleyes:

Tasden

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I just received a Pre-test Information Material message about the Verbal and Numerical Analysis Aptitude tests, but there doesn't seem to be any deadline mentioned :rolleyes:

Yeah that's just info on the tests for when the next stage does begin afaik

sillysocks

Got that as well. Hopefully they wont delay too long before starting the tests.

The_Conductor

sillysocks wrote: »

Got that as well. Hopefully they wont delay too long before starting the tests.

There are a few more campaigns all lined up- including internal competitions- so I guess they will get going asap on this........

Meathlass

You'd think the person doing the print screen shots for the info booklet would have cropped their screen so as not to show all the folders and docs they had open!

Micilin Muc

Did anyone spot the Internet Explorer screenshot with the Boards.ie "Clerical Positions ..." thread in the favourites bar?!!

Vag

Does everyone who applied get invited to do these tests? I.e., Is it after these tests that the culling begins?

Meathlass

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Did anyone spot the Internet Explorer screenshot with the Boards.ie "Clerical Positions ..." thread in the favourites bar?!!

Yes!! Ok, will be minding my P and Qs from now on.

Hello lovely people from PAS

The_Conductor

Vag wrote: »

Does everyone who applied get invited to do these tests? I.e., Is it after these tests that the culling begins?

Nope.
You had to have a minimum of an honors degree to apply- aka a level 8 qualification- a significant number of applicants hold level 7, ordinary level degrees. I don't know the figures- but it wouldn't surprise me if as many as a third of applicants don't actually hold requisite qualifications............

fiachr_a

Are you supposed to complete these tests as quickly as possible? If everyone got each question correct does the person who completed the test in the shortest time get placed first?

The_Conductor

fiachr_a wrote: »

Are you supposed to complete these tests as quickly as possible? If everyone got each question correct does the person who completed the test in the shortest time get placed first?

Its not timed- but having done the HEO recently- you're not going to have time to spare...... Its quite a job to complete the tests as accurately in the time given. Its not a race though- and if everyone were to get them all correct (which most certainly won't happen)- then it would move onto the next tests- such as the work skills (aptitude) test etc- and a composite result would be generated.

No extra marks for doing the Agallamh as Gaeilge, anymore- though if only a few people put it down- it could well be that it may be a far less competitive way of by-passing the bulk of applicants (albeit for posts with an Irish tag on them).

I did the EO exam and the Irish Agallamh back in 2001- and got offered a post by 11AM the morning after I did the interview. Times were different though- everyone said I was off my rocker to join the civil service.

delricyo

First of all - a big shout out to PAS. They more than likely have this bookmarked too

But seriously. Given that there was pretty much only 1 working day since the closing date - I doubt they have had a chance to cull the forms. Im impressed that they got a detailed form out to everyone very quickly. It looks like they have a schedule in mind.

My prediction is close to 10,000 applications. An open EO comp got 11k applications - and that was in the height of the boom. Test window will be last week in November. Then correcting and checking and results of round 1 in early January.

Only my predictions - I've been very wrong before and will be again

Creol1

For context, the last AO graduate recruitment attracted 2,000, which would be a better comparison than the last EO one. Just throwing that out there. I'm not going to make any prediction as to how many likely applications there are.

ezra_pound

Creol1 wrote: »

For context, the last AO graduate recruitment attracted 2,000, which would be a better comparison than the last EO one. Just throwing that out there. I'm not going to make any prediction as to how many likely applications there are.

The last AO recruitment was specialised whereas this is generalist so it's not really a better indication.

Creol1

I was referring to the last general graduate recruitment. The specialised one actually had higher demand.

fiachr_a

The_Conductor wrote: »

Its not timed- but having done the HEO recently- you're not going to have time to spare

What if you answer the testlet of questions and still have 30 seconds left on the clock? Are you supposed to check the answers again until the time runs out or should you finish immediately to get extra marks?

The_Conductor

fiachr_a wrote: »

What if you answer the testlet of questions and still have 30 seconds left on the clock? Are you supposed to check the answers again until the time runs out or should you finish immediately to get extra marks?

You *do not* get extra marks for finishing early.
If you answer it in half the allocated time- on your head be it.
If you do finish early- which very few people do- the actual tests tend to be a lot more difficult than the examples- it makes sense to check any you were unsure of (if you have the option to go backwards- you may not with the online test).

The prudent thing to do is to time yourself and make sure you use your time in the best possible manner. Having a lot of time over- or too little time- shows an inability to keep good time........

IKCL

Any idea how many positions are going for this? And how many will make it to stage 2?
Pretty confident I can reach the qualifying standard in the tests, but like the last junior diplomat comp, afraid I still won't make the cut!

sillysocks

Just got a message to say I'll get the tests by 8th and have to complete by 14th.

Tasden

sillysocks wrote: »

Just got a message to say I'll get the tests by 8th and have to complete by 14th.

Got same

The_Conductor

Nothing here yet- I guess they're doing the exams in batches?
Did anyone find out how many applicants there are?

carleigh

I've just accessed the practice questions, they seem to be the same as for the CO drive that was held recently. I presumed they would be more difficult. I sat the AO supervised test for the Statistics stream earlier this year and they were a lot tougher.

Frankenmurf

The practice questions seem fairly basic and easy, I'm assuming that the actual tests will be much harder?

Whiplashy

I got the email for the test today also. Does anyone know how much notice they usually give for the other stages? I'd be unlikely to be able to get a day off work with just a weeks notice without pulling a sickie!

sillysocks

I'd hazard a guess that either the questions will be harder or the qualifying scores will be a lot higher (or both!) than the CO competition.

delricyo

sillysocks wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess that either the questions will be harder or the qualifying scores will be a lot higher (or both!) than the CO competition.

Time is usually your enemy for these tests. It goes so so quickly. But they are still fairly tiring.
The qualifying score will depend on the marks achieved by the candidates. So, if they are looking for 500 people for stage 2 - they will simply cut off the top 500 people.

delricyo

The_Conductor wrote: »

Nothing here yet- I guess they're doing the exams in batches?
Did anyone find out how many applicants there are?

My mail only arrived late in the evening. It looks like a quite short window. Lets hope their systems can cope with 100's (or 1000's) of people doing the tests during this window. There was an internal comp for one department recently - that had lots of system crashes during the tests.

delricyo

Whiplashy wrote: »

I got the email for the test today also. Does anyone know how much notice they usually give for the other stages? I'd be unlikely to be able to get a day off work with just a weeks notice without pulling a sickie!

It depends on how many more stages there are and what they consist of. You could get a bit of notice for interviews. And given that there will be lots of interviews taking place - you might be able to reschedule.

But if there are more tests - you may not get more notice than this short notice

The_Conductor

delricyo wrote: »

My mail only arrived late in the evening. It looks like a quite short window. Lets hope their systems can cope with 100's (or 1000's) of people doing the tests during this window. There was an internal comp for one department recently - that had lots of system crashes during the tests.

Mail received @ 04.20AM........
I hope they weren't working through the night to get them out!

Aglomerado

carleigh wrote: »

I've just accessed the practice questions, they seem to be the same as for the CO drive that was held recently. I presumed they would be more difficult. I sat the AO supervised test for the Statistics stream earlier this year and they were a lot tougher.

That was a toughie all right!! But I suppose it had to be! :pac:

duffman13

Got an email to say I had a mail in my inbox but can't view it on the phone. What's the time frame to complete these tests? Thanks

The_Conductor

duffman13 wrote: »

Got an email to say I had a mail in my inbox but can't view it on the phone. What's the time frame to complete these tests? Thanks

Its just a message to say you will be getting an e-mail from Saville Consulting on the 7-8th and you'll have until the 16th to complete the tests. Its not a link to the test- its a reminder really to add the Saville Consulting e-mail address to your list of allowed recipients- so the mail, when it does arrive- doesn't end up in your spam folder.

Not necessary to do anything at this stage- keep your powder dry.

Micilin Muc

The_Conductor wrote: »

Its just a message to say you will be getting an e-mail from Saville Consulting on the 7-8th and you'll have until the 16th to complete the tests. Its not a link to the test- its a reminder really to add the Saville Consulting e-mail address to your list of allowed recipients- so the mail, when it does arrive- doesn't end up in your spam folder.

Not necessary to do anything at this stage- keep your powder dry.

My email will come before Saturday 8th and I have to complete the tests by midday on Friday 14th.

fiachr_a

Those practice test are too easy.

DuchessduJour

fiachr_a wrote: »

Those practice test are too easy.

Presumably the actual questions will be more challenging, that was certainly the case with the tests for the clerical positions.

Besides, what could possibly be the downside of questions being too easy, especially at this stage? It would just mean you'd do really well and be confident of progressing to the next stage!

starlit

Micilin Muc wrote: »

My email will come before Saturday 8th and I have to complete the tests by midday on Friday 14th.

Same applies to me. Best of luck everyone in the tests!

Whiplashy

I found out today that one of my friends,who has the same degree as me, applied for the last recruitment for the guards and failed the online assessment. Are these assessments likely to be as difficult? The practice ones don't seem to be giving any indication, as obviously they're not going to be that simple! I was feeling confident enough about this part but not anymore.

The_Conductor

Whiplashy wrote: »

I found out today that one of my friends,who has the same degree as me, applied for the last recruitment for the guards and failed the online assessment. Are these assessments likely to be as difficult? The practice ones don't seem to be giving any indication, as obviously they're not going to be that simple! I was feeling confident enough about this part but not anymore.

Its scored as a composite of all the online tests- and the top 10% (or whatever percentage they decide on- to bring their desired number of candidates through to the next round) pass the exam. Aka- the pass rate for the exam could be as high as 95% (or even higher)- or if there were very few candidates- it could be set at a very low level.

The whole purpose of the exercise- is to recruit the very brightest and the very best- just because you got a first in your Masters- have studied actuarial science or whatever- means nothing.

Its a very blunt tool- but its equally unfair on everyone- and those who can think rapidly and accurately on their feet- will rise to the top.

The top scorers are then brought in to replicate the exams in supervised conditions (PAS have a computer room- where the computers all have monitors with polarised screens in front of them so candidates can't see each others screens etc)- and if your score is within a certain percentage of the original score- you make it to the interview stage........ Aka- its a check to ensure people don't have family/friends do the online tests for them.

Interview- would then involve a presentation and possibly group exercises- alongside an additional agallamh for those who ticked the Irish language stream.

As a recruitment mechanism it leaves a lot to be desired- but then again- no mechanism is going to be fair to everyone- and you could argue at least with the current system- all the candidates are treated in a similar manner........