ICT Specialists (Executive Officer level) in Civil Service

The_Conductor

Noisin wrote: »

XeCompany if you are already working in the civil service why did you have to apply for the job?

Only 1/3 of the panel is reserved for pre-existing civil servants- depending on how many apply, your chances could very well be significantly better on the open competition- than the confined. I.e. its easier to get a job on the open panel- than it is to get a promotion as a pre-existing civil servant (this is now the whole way up to AP and PO). Its a bit soul destroying for some staff- who mightn't score as well as they should on the electronic exam- its very unforgiving- of course there will be another competition shortly specifically for Revenue- however, its the broad (locational) nature of this one that means its in demand.

xECompanyx

The_Conductor wrote: »

Only 1/3 of the panel is reserved for pre-existing civil servants- depending on how many apply, your chances could very well be significantly better on the open competition- than the confined. I.e. its easier to get a job on the open panel- than it is to get a promotion as a pre-existing civil servant (this is now the whole way up to AP and PO). Its a bit soul destroying for some staff- who mightn't score as well as they should on the electronic exam- its very unforgiving- of course there will be another competition shortly specifically for Revenue- however, its the broad (locational) nature of this one that means its in demand.

Well said. I am 8 yrs an acting EO and those dreaded attitude tests have always hindered my promotional prospects. I understand why they are used but it should not be a prerequisite to securing promotion 100% of the time IMO. It's a stigma with me at this stage, failed in my head even before I do online/centre tests :-(. Anyway, a shot at interview finally..

Slydice

8 YEARS?!?>!

yabadabado

The_Conductor wrote: »

Only 1/3 of the panel is reserved for pre-existing civil servants- depending on how many apply, your chances could very well be significantly better on the open competition- than the confined. I.e. its easier to get a job on the open panel- than it is to get a promotion as a pre-existing civil servant (this is now the whole way up to AP and PO). Its a bit soul destroying for some staff- who mightn't score as well as they should on the electronic exam- its very unforgiving- of course there will be another competition shortly specifically for Revenue- however, its the broad (locational) nature of this one that means its in demand.

Anymore info? ICT jobs or general revenue jobs ?

rostalof

The_Conductor wrote: »

Only 1/3 of the panel is reserved for pre-existing civil servants- depending on how many apply, your chances could very well be significantly better on the open competition- than the confined. I.e. its easier to get a job on the open panel- than it is to get a promotion as a pre-existing civil servant (this is now the whole way up to AP and PO). Its a bit soul destroying for some staff- who mightn't score as well as they should on the electronic exam- its very unforgiving- of course there will be another competition shortly specifically for Revenue- however, its the broad (locational) nature of this one that means its in demand.

I applied this time round solely because there's a regional option. I'm currently an EO(ICT) but applied in the hope I'd get placed on a regional panel closer to home. I've been offered an interview at the beginning of August but I won't be attending, so there's a spare interview going for someone further down the panel.

It's been confirmed that I'm being transferred to a job that's a 40 minute commute from my home. It takes me an hour at the minute in Dublin so things are looking up already! Sadly I'll be moving away from IT but it's the price I have to pay to leave Dublin.

Best of luck to those with interviews coming up!

Calina

yabadabado wrote: »

Anymore info? ICT jobs or general revenue jobs ?

Revenue hired EOs through the public appointments service last year. They have also just completed this years AO ICT recruitment competition so I'm not sure whether they will hire EOs separately this year. Pretty sure there will be some general Revenue stuff later - I know there was an open general competition again for AO second half of last year.

jaqian

IloveIT wrote: »

Hi, I did the interview yesterday. They ask all about you work experience abs ask for some project examples. I have had harder interviews, some technical questions as well, but nothing too difficult. Apparently it will be September before we know the results

Hi,
what techincal questions did you get asked? Thanks

strangel00p

jaqian wrote: »

Hi,
what techincal questions did you get asked? Thanks

Why would he tell you that?? It's a competition...

fxotoole

They shouldn't be asking technical questions in a competency based interview

The_Conductor

fxotoole wrote: »

They shouldn't be asking technical questions in a competency based interview

They always ask specific questions for any confined stream- alongside the competency based questions- its entirely normal- how are they to get any idea of your competences- other than as laid out in your CV- otherwise?

Its entirely normal- and its not just IT positions- accountancy etc- all have similar questions. It can also be organisation related- some organisations (like Revenue for example) go a hell of a lot more indept than do others.

IloveIT

jaqian wrote: »

Hi,
what techincal questions did you get asked? Thanks

Hi They asked me about some commands that can be run from the windows command window, that was easy enough. They asked what I knew about computer networking, I taught that was a question that could have gone on for days. I mostly spoke about the Cisco CCNA for that one.
The actual interview was less than 40 mins, another guy went into another interview room at the same time and we finished at the same time so it looks like they have to keep to a schedule. Also they said that we will not hear back until September at the earliest.

In my view they would want to get a move on, they could loose some good candidates with such a long delay.

crossbeauty

IloveIT wrote: »

Hi They asked me about some commands that can be run from the windows command window, that was easy enough. They asked what I knew about computer networking, I taught that was a question that could have gone on for days. I mostly spoke about the Cisco CCNA for that one.
The actual interview was less than 40 mins, another guy went into another interview room at the same time and we finished at the same time so it looks like they have to keep to a schedule. Also they said that we will not hear back until September at the earliest.

In my view they would want to get a move on, they could loose some good candidates with such a long delay.

and they say september at the earliest i'd say it will be mid september they always seem to run a couple of weeks later than they think.
was your interview for infrastructure or development. Infrasturcture I take it with q's about networking?

IloveIT

crossbeauty wrote: »

and they say september at the earliest i'd say it will be mid september they always seem to run a couple of weeks later than they think.
was your interview for infrastructure or development. Infrasturcture I take it with q's about networking?

yes mine was Infrasturcture. I have had harder interviews so just have to wait & see

anon_1975

Thanks ILoveIT !

Sup08

anon_1975 wrote: »

Just looking back, how did you get on Sup08 ?

Sorry Guys I didn't get back sooner, had a busy schedule over the last 2 weeks including the interviews, maybe the reason why I've posted below.

First Interview I thought went very well although not the stream I would prefer but have I do the most experience in development.

Second one I didn't do as well and think I may have screwed it up. Never really gave the answers they wanted and tried to give other examples (Not IT related projects) that were not on the original application, but unfortunately that didn't go too well. The best part was projects and worst part infrastructure and as said before, the results won't be out until at least September as they are interviewing until near the end of August.

Best of luck to all that make it otherwise.

CryWolf

IloveIT wrote: »

Hi They asked me about some commands that can be run from the windows command window, that was easy enough. They asked what I knew about computer networking, I taught that was a question that could have gone on for days. I mostly spoke about the Cisco CCNA for that one.
The actual interview was less than 40 mins, another guy went into another interview room at the same time and we finished at the same time so it looks like they have to keep to a schedule. Also they said that we will not hear back until September at the earliest.

In my view they would want to get a move on, they could loose some good candidates with such a long delay.

Good luck to you all! Just wondering is there anybody in the 70's on the panel being interviewed in August? Also would you let us know should you get placed what departments, counties etc. they are filling?

Thanks for all the info guys hopefully they will interview further up the panel from September on..

jaqian

IloveIT wrote: »

Hi They asked me about some commands that can be run from the windows command window, that was easy enough. They asked what I knew about computer networking, I taught that was a question that could have gone on for days. I mostly spoke about the Cisco CCNA for that one.
The actual interview was less than 40 mins, another guy went into another interview room at the same time and we finished at the same time so it looks like they have to keep to a schedule. Also they said that we will not hear back until September at the earliest.

In my view they would want to get a move on, they could loose some good candidates with such a long delay.

Thanks man, I've my interview this Friday for the Development side. Fingers crossed all goes well.

Karincha

I applied for this role back in May and have interview at end of August. Just reviewing the job spec now and see it says "entry level...". I've 10 years experience working in IT. Is there any point in me going to interview, the application form seems to point at having previous experience. Confused by it all

xECompanyx

EO is a Junior management entry level, not Civil Service entry level which is CO. The payscale is in the information booklet which should give you an idea. I have 17 yrs experience in IT and I went for it. Hope that helps..

anon_1975

I have over 10 years experience in IT and I went for the position. My interview didn't go well I feel. Anyway best of luck to the rest of you. If it helps they wanted to know what issues I might have going from the private to the public sector. I wasn't sure what they wanted to hear for that one.

crossbeauty

anon_1975 wrote: »

I have over 10 years experience in IT and I went for the position. My interview didn't go well I feel. Anyway best of luck to the rest of you. If it helps they wanted to know what issues I might have going from the private to the public sector. I wasn't sure what they wanted to hear for that one.

it might not have went as bad as you think. I have over 15 years exp and have yet to do the interview. I am existing public sector. I am thinking with regards to the difference in private and public would be major lack of investment in IT in public sector (however I feel that is changing) and I for one have been dealing with extremely old systems and hardware over the last few years. I did work in private before where everything was all about new technology and things did move at a quicker pace. there are other differences too between pub sec and private, don't get me started on those!

good luck anyway

anon_1975

Well I did say this and that I may be limited in the tools etc I could use. I mean I can use jquery and anything else I want like install DLL's etc but may not have that much freedom in the public sector ? but I didn't feel like they were the answers they were looking for. Afterwards I was thinking that my project experience was more user lead and maybe he was getting at that , that projects wouldn't be lead by the user. No I'm totally out I felt near the end I could have said anything and they weren't bothered really.

Karincha

xECompanyx wrote: »

EO is a Junior management entry level, not Civil Service entry level which is CO. The payscale is in the information booklet which should give you an idea. I have 17 yrs experience in IT and I went for it. Hope that helps..

Thanks for that, first Job I have applied for in Public sector so just trying to figure out what the story is. I had a look at the booklet, 27K starting off seems very low considering the years of experience

Tpau

xECompanyx wrote: »

EO is a Junior management entry level, not Civil Service entry level which is CO. The payscale is in the information booklet which should give you an idea. I have 17 yrs experience in IT and I went for it. Hope that helps..

I thought they were using EO as a starting point for the pay scale for the IT streams rather than it being a junior mgmt role as it would be in the clerical officer career path. I have an interview but I don't want a mgmt role.

The_Conductor

Tpau wrote: »

I thought they were using EO as a starting point for the pay scale for the IT streams rather than it being a junior mgmt role as it would be in the clerical officer career path.

EO is junior management- CO is not.
An EO ICT (or JSA- Junior Systems Analyst)- is simply an EO with a specific skillset. An EO ICT is fully interchangeable with an EO who doesn't have ICT skills- and indeed, there are loads of EO ICTs abandoning ICT rolls- and moving to the admin side- where they get a broader experience of the business of their home departments which can be tremendously helpful in interviews.

There is no pay differential between an EO ICT and a general service EO- there used to be- but it was abandoned- as the perceived wisdom was people were murdering each other to get into the civil service- why pay a penny more than they need to.

Current situation- is a shedload of ICT work has been outsourced (literally) to a handful of external companies (Deloitte, Version One etc etc)- as EOs who are recruited into ICT very often are dumped in situations where they have little opportunity to leverage their skillsets. I had several years networking and infrastructure experience- my experience was on day one- 6 new starts were lined up (literally) and told- you're going to be a SQL programmer, you're doing Java, you're SQL, you're Java, you're SQL, you're Java (quite literally eenie meanie minie-mo.........) There is absolutely no joined up thinking whatsoever........... It is absolutely staggering- ridiculous, and quite remarkable...........

I eventually managed to transfer out of ICT to an admin roll- where I'm very happy- I can use my head and some of my skills- and I feel appreciated- and for the most part genuinely enjoy my job.

I'm not going to moan any further about the limitations of the role- or how it has essentially been used to dumb down recruitment (where AOs were once recruited EOs are now the norm)- but if you haven't spoken to a real live EO ICT already- you really need to- as its becoming very obvious that a significant number of people have no idea of how the civil service works, the various roles, the reporting structures- and what someone in a particular role might expect on a day-to-day basis.

Having an extensive skillset- may ace you the interview (providing you hit the keywords they're looking for- alongside displaying the competencies etc)- however, it may have no relevance whatsoever on your day-to-day job- where you may literally be tossed into an area in which you have no expertise whatsoever- despite remarkable skills and experience in other areas......... It is completely senseless how this happens- however, its what happens on a daily basis.

crossbeauty

The_Conductor wrote: »

EO is junior management- CO is not.
An EO ICT (or JSA- Junior Systems Analyst)- is simply an EO with a specific skillset. An EO ICT is fully interchangeable with an EO who doesn't have ICT skills- and indeed, there are loads of EO ICTs abandoning ICT rolls- and moving to the admin side- where they get a broader experience of the business of their home departments which can be tremendously helpful in interviews.

There is no pay differential between an EO ICT and a general service EO- there used to be- but it was abandoned- as the perceived wisdom was people were murdering each other to get into the civil service- why pay a penny more than they need to.

Current situation- is a shedload of ICT work has been outsourced (literally) to a handful of external companies (Deloitte, Version One etc etc)- as EOs who are recruited into ICT very often are dumped in situations where they have little opportunity to leverage their skillsets. I had several years networking and infrastructure experience- my experience was on day one- 6 new starts were lined up (literally) and told- you're going to be a SQL programmer, you're doing Java, you're SQL, you're Java, you're SQL, you're Java (quite literally eenie meanie minie-mo.........) There is absolutely no joined up thinking whatsoever........... It is absolutely staggering- ridiculous, and quite remarkable...........

I eventually managed to transfer out of ICT to an admin roll- where I'm very happy- I can use my head and some of my skills- and I feel appreciated- and for the most part genuinely enjoy my job.

I'm not going to moan any further about the limitations of the role- or how it has essentially been used to dumb down recruitment (where AOs were once recruited EOs are now the norm)- but if you haven't spoken to a real live EO ICT already- you really need to- as its becoming very obvious that a significant number of people have no idea of how the civil service works, the various roles, the reporting structures- and what someone in a particular role might expect on a day-to-day basis.

Having an extensive skillset- may ace you the interview (providing you hit the keywords they're looking for- alongside displaying the competencies etc)- however, it may have no relevance whatsoever on your day-to-day job- where you may literally be tossed into an area in which you have no expertise whatsoever- despite remarkable skills and experience in other areas......... It is completely senseless how this happens- however, its what happens on a daily basis.

Do you think there's a good chance that as an ICT Specialist then that you would be doing very basic IT support ,ie helping out people with their IT problems in your office / building.... I've applied for this to get out of Dublin , have small kids and more interested in the other things that go along with the job ie flexi , term time etc. Hope none of the interviewers read boards.ie!! Couldn't give a toss about the IT tag even though I've been doing it for what seems like forever I don't care what I'm doing as long as those couple of perks I mentioned are there. I more than likely have a different view on it to someone who is early twenties and just out if college who wants to progress their career.

Calina

crossbeauty wrote: »

Do you think there's a good chance that as an ICT Specialist then that you would be doing very basic IT support ,ie helping out people with their IT problems in your office / building.... I've applied for this to get out of Dublin , have small kids and more interested in the other things that go along with the job ie flexi , term time etc. Hope none of the interviewers read boards.ie!! Couldn't give a toss about the IT tag even though I've been doing it for what seems like forever I don't care what I'm doing as long as those couple of perks I mentioned are there. I more than likely have a different view on it to someone who is early twenties and just out if college who wants to progress their career.

It can vary although I suspect support might be more likely outside Dublin. But I'm not involved and that's only a guess.

I will say this though - if moving out of Dublin, and if particularly interested in certain locations, it is worth your while doing your best for the interview.

Just to add to the Conductor's comments: the extent to which you wind up in a skills appropriate role may vary according to which part of the civil service. It varies.

blue_blue

What is a civil service interview like for a software dev position? How low level do they go in their questioning?

xECompanyx

Tpau wrote: »

I thought they were using EO as a starting point for the pay scale for the IT streams rather than it being a junior mgmt role as it would be in the clerical officer career path. I have an interview but I don't want a mgmt role.

Hi,

EO grade in the civil service is junior management. You may or may not have staff in an EO ICT role, just a heads-up. EO grade in main stream civil service will almost definitely have CO's reporting to him/her. Anyone recruited from this competition could become main stream if your principal officer decides to move you to let's say a processing area for example. Could be wrong though, perhaps EO ICT will never be moved from an IT area. Nothing stopping an ICT EO going for main stream promotion to HEO where at that point, the technical skills will be lost with the individual. This is a generalised issue in the CS IMO

The_Conductor

xECompanyx wrote: »

EO grade in main stream civil service will almost definitely have CO's reporting to him/her.

Depends entirely on the Department/Division/Section you're working in- from personal experience, as often as not, as an EO, you'll not have staff reporting to you.