NEW 2018 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

CBCB

Bill1982 wrote: »

Still waiting on my clearance from Garda Vetting. Anyone one been through it. I was told I needed 2 , they gave a timeline of 12 weeks for second one . Does it really take 12 weeks ?

Yeah if you need the additional clearance for Departments such as D/Justice it can easily take 12 weeks or more

Ravelleman

CBCB wrote: »

Yeah if you need the additional clearance for Departments such as D/Justice it can easily take 12 weeks or more

As per the above, this is not standard Garda vetting.

TrooperJones

So people know where the panels are at the moment:

I was 46 on the open and 34 on the interdepartmental panels and I just got offered an interdepartmental post in DBEI. I turned it down as I've been promoted to AP1 in the meantime, but stayed on the open panel in case something interesting comes up there.

So they're at least at 34 for interdepartmental, but not at 46 on the open yet.

The_Conductor

Starlight321 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses. A friend of mine did the situation judgement test at verification stage( stage 3) and failed it. He said it was a different format to that at Stage 1. Did anyone else find this ?

Perhaps he/she was mixing up the situational judgement from Stage 1 with the etray from Stage 3? They are completely different kettle of fish.

AP2019

The_Conductor wrote: »

Perhaps he/she was mixing up the situational judgement from Stage 1 with the etray from Stage 3? They are completely different kettle of fish.

The situational judgement (job simulation) exercise at stage 3 is a separate test from the etray, and is indeed in a different format to the situational judgement (job simulation) exercise from stage 1.

That's not to say that situational judgement elements are not part of the etray, of course they are in that how you decide to deal with the interruptions to the main task are a reflection of your situational judgement skills.

Remind me

TrooperJones wrote: »

So people know where the panels are at the moment:

I was 46 on the open and 34 on the interdepartmental panels and I just got offered an interdepartmental post in DBEI. I turned it down as I've been promoted to AP1 in the meantime, but stayed on the open panel in case something interesting comes up there.

So they're at least at 34 for interdepartmental, but not at 46 on the open yet.

You would be happy dropping from AP1?

dan_dublin

TrooperJones wrote: »

So people know where the panels are at the moment:

I was 46 on the open and 34 on the interdepartmental panels and I just got offered an interdepartmental post in DBEI. I turned it down as I've been promoted to AP1 in the meantime, but stayed on the open panel in case something interesting comes up there.

So they're at least at 34 for interdepartmental, but not at 46 on the open yet.

Would that be an internal promotion straight to AP1 from AO? I didn't know that was available. Well done.

So this means the interdepartmental is on at least 35 (because you turned the offer down). Any raise on 35 and 46 on the panels?

Remind me

dan_dublin wrote: »

Would that be an internal promotion straight to AP1 from AO? I didn't know that was available. Well done.

So this means the interdepartmental is on at least 35 (because you turned the offer down). Any raise on 35 and 46 on the panels?

DPER currently have an AP1 internal comp ongoing

ahnoyouregrand

Does anyone who was in for interview this week want to share their experience??

I thought it was very fair but very intense, as another poster also pointed out. I needed far more than two/three examples on each competency and constantly felt under pressure for time. They didnt really ask many follow up questions just looking for more examples! On the whole, i thought it went ok but maybe not well enough.

HannahR31

ahnoyouregrand wrote: »

Does anyone who was in for interview this week want to share their experience??

I thought it was very fair but very intense, as another poster also pointed out. I needed far more than two/three examples on each competency and constantly felt under pressure for time. They didnt really ask many follow up questions just looking for more examples! On the whole, i thought it went ok but maybe not well enough.

Very similar experience! They were very strict on time - the second we hit 5 minutes (or whatever was the allocated time) on a competency they cut me off and moved to the next.

I didn't feel that they wanted loads of examples but definitely they asked a few 'have you an example of' questions which were so specific that they didn't fit the examples that I had prepared so I had to come up with other examples on the fly which I'm sure could have been stronger.

Same - I felt that it was alright, I didn't feel I'd made a fool of myself, but also didn't feel like I'd given them what they wanted so I don't have a lot of hope tbh. Ah well - it's all experience! Learned loads and will definitely benefit me for next time

JDoherty1560

ahnoyouregrand wrote: »

Does anyone who was in for interview this week want to share their experience??

I thought it was very fair but very intense, as another poster also pointed out. I needed far more than two/three examples on each competency and constantly felt under pressure for time. They didnt really ask many follow up questions just looking for more examples! On the whole, i thought it went ok but maybe not well enough.

Cheers. Were there any questions about the civil service in general/role of an AP or was it purely competency based???

HannahR31

JDoherty1560 wrote: »

Cheers. Were there any questions about the civil service in general/role of an AP or was it purely competency based???

I had them prepared but got no questions like that - but I know someone who was asked about challenges facing APs in the CS generally.

Brody78

HannahR31 wrote: »

ahnoyouregrand wrote: »

Does anyone who was in for interview this week want to share their experience??

I thought it was very fair but very intense, as another poster also pointed out. I needed far more than two/three examples on each competency and constantly felt under pressure for time. They didnt really ask many follow up questions just looking for more examples! On the whole, i thought it went ok but maybe not well enough.

Very similar experience! They were very strict on time - the second we hit 5 minutes (or whatever was the allocated time) on a competency they cut me off and moved to the next.

I didn't feel that they wanted loads of examples but definitely they asked a few 'have you an example of' questions which were so specific that they didn't fit the examples that I had prepared so I had to come up with other examples on the fly which I'm sure could have been stronger.

Same - I felt that it was alright, I didn't feel I'd made a fool of myself, but also didn't feel like I'd given them what they wanted so I don't have a lot of hope tbh. Ah well - it's all experience! Learned loads and will definitely benefit me for next time

Yeah same here ! Was intense and lots of questions. Wouldn’t be confident But the board were very nice . Definitely a good learning experience.

Handy11

HannahR31 wrote: »

I had them prepared but got no questions like that - but I know someone who was asked about challenges facing APs in the CS generally.

My advice here is don’t wait to be asked questions. If you have something relevant to a competency, bring it in. YOU lead the interview, not them. They ask questions. If you aren’t scoring (or have scored on what they asked) they’ll ask another. But it’s completely up to you to set the agenda. That’s what’s expected of an AP.

I have failed 5 interviews previously, so here’s my take on things.

In my interview I ended up bringing up the analysis competency while discussing leadership. So when it came to analysis, I said something along the lines of “I’ve probably covered a lot of this already so if you don’t mind, I’ll give you another example”. Probably not quite so confident as that but there you go.

You can spin a question on its head. Remember they are asking you questions so you can score points. They are not genuinely interested in whatever story you are telling. If they are then they are killing your interview and depriving you of the points you need. So you drive it. When they ask a question, consider the best way you can answer it. If it’s the example in question or something else you just did, then that’s you’re answer. Don’t stick to the sheet.

Also a few general things:
Practice your answers aloud - no good having stuff written If it doesn’t trip off the tongue.
Prepare some general questions. Always worthwhile.
Know what the AP role is.
Think in bullets. 3-4 points for each answer MAX. Deliver and then stop. You are not earning points if you keep taking. None.
You’re an AP, so keep at a high level, unless they ask for detail. If they do, dip down and then back out to high level. Don’t stick with detail. You are not earning points.
They may sound interested in your story. DO NOT LET THAT LEAD YOU ASTRAY. It may well be up to you to lead the conversation away from the area they are focusing on. Maybe that’s how you get your points.

They are fair and brief. Don’t waste time. Be polite. Be confident. Lead the conversation. Switch a topic if you have to. Be the person they want to employ. Be the AP they want working for them, rather than the HEO they think could take a step up.

Done

ahnoyouregrand

JDoherty1560 wrote: »

Cheers. Were there any questions about the civil service in general/role of an AP or was it purely competency based???

Not really. My questions were more on what challenges i would face if i was appointed. They were quite vague to be honest so i wasnt fully sure that I was interpreting them correctly at times!

Jesus now I am starting to really worry!!

TrooperJones

Remind me wrote: »

You would be happy dropping from AP1?

It would have to be one hell of a post, Taoiseach's most likely.

The gent from PAS I spoke to agreed that would be unlikely to get an AP1 offer from this panel, but stranger things have happened and in the very likely event that I'm not offered something better than my current post, I can turn it down, but I would never know if I took my name off the open panel.

LORDLEPRECHAUN

I found it the same, questions seemed vague, very conversational like, and some were a little strange or at least phased a little strangely. Got more general questions than I thought I would have, they didn't focus too much on the form. I also didn't really get any opening competency questions such as "can you tell us a time when...".

I wasn't expecting the interview to start as it did with questions on my education and job history, I had presumed it would be straight into the leadership competency.

I also didn't get a "lead in" into the competency, I did an internal AP previously and they read out the description of each competency they moved onto. This time the interviewers took two competencies in a row each, found it hard to switch from framing my answers to the correct competency.

Seemed a little muddled, although that might have just been me! Not optimistic.

AP2019

LORDLEPRECHAUN wrote: »

I found it the same, questions seemed vague, very conversational like, and some were a little strange or at least phased a little strangely. Got more general questions than I thought I would have, they didn't focus too much on the form. I also didn't really get any opening competency questions such as "can you tell us a time when...".

I wasn't expecting the interview to start as it did with questions on my education and job history, I had presumed it would be straight into the leadership competency.

I also didn't get a "lead in" into the competency, I did an internal AP previously and they read out the description of each competency they moved onto. This time the interviewers took two competencies in a row each, found it hard to switch from framing my answers to the correct competency.

Seemed a little muddled, although that might have just been me! Not optimistic.

Well done, and best of luck! Was it this morning that you sat your interview?

Riskymove

TrooperJones wrote: »

It would have to be one hell of a post, Taoiseach's most likely.

Bit confused here, you say you were promoted to AP1 - was this off the recent PAS Panel?

If you are AP1 then why would you be offered another AP1 post?


I was on the AP1 panel but was promoted before my place was reached. When they did reach me I was simply told that as I had been promoted I would be no longer eligible to be an AP1 - I had no option to leave my current job and take AP1 instead.

IOM2015

LORDLEPRECHAUN wrote: »

I found it the same, questions seemed vague, very conversational like, and some were a little strange or at least phased a little strangely. Got more general questions than I thought I would have, they didn't focus too much on the form. I also didn't really get any opening competency questions such as "can you tell us a time when...".

I wasn't expecting the interview to start as it did with questions on my education and job history, I had presumed it would be straight into the leadership competency.

I also didn't get a "lead in" into the competency, I did an internal AP previously and they read out the description of each competency they moved onto. This time the interviewers took two competencies in a row each, found it hard to switch from framing my answers to the correct competency.

Seemed a little muddled, although that might have just been me! Not optimistic.

Found it exactly the same. I don't feel any better about how it went but at least I am not the only one who was a bit thrown by it.

Does anyone know when we might hear about it?

AP2019

IOM2015 wrote: »

Found it exactly the same. I don't feel any better about how it went but at least I am not the only one who was a bit thrown by it.

Does anyone know when we might hear about it?

I was told they couldn't say that it will be before end of Feb. So expecting early March.

I'm hoping it will be sooner though because the suspense is building now.

HannahR31

AP2019 wrote: »

I was told they couldn't say that it will be before end of Feb. So expecting early March.

I'm hoping it will be sooner though because the suspense is building now.

Really hope it's not that long! For good or for bad, I just want to close this off now and move on to the next thing. I feel for Schrödinger's Cat!

AP2019

HannahR31 wrote: »

Really hope it's not that long! For good or for bad, I just want to close this off now and move on to the next thing. I feel for Schrödinger's Cat!

100% agree. It's just hanging over us at this stage.

SFC1895

Had supervised tests and etray today, Batch 2. Very fair. Made a big slip in the e-tray though. Gutted.

Brody78

SFC1895 wrote: »

Had supervised tests and etray today, Batch 2. Very fair. Made a big slip in the e-tray though. Gutted.

So did I and I got through so all is not lost !

SFC1895

Brody78 wrote: »

So did I and I got through so all is not lost !

No, I definitely failed unfortunately

JDoherty1560

SFC1895 wrote: »

Had supervised tests and etray today, Batch 2. Very fair. Made a big slip in the e-tray though. Gutted.

What did you do wrong if you dont mind me asking?

SFC1895

JDoherty1560 wrote: »

What did you do wrong if you dont mind me asking?

I submitted the briefing too early as I misread the phone message

ahnoyouregrand

AP2019 wrote: »

I was told they couldn't say that it will be before end of Feb. So expecting early March.

I'm hoping it will be sooner though because the suspense is building now.

Looking at the 2016 comp, results were usually issued about 4 days post the final day of interviews.

@AP2019, did you ask the board or the PAS employee?

AP2019

ahnoyouregrand wrote: »

Looking at the 2016 comp, results were usually issued about 4 days post the final day of interviews.

@AP2019, did you ask the board or the PAS employee?

I sent an email to PAS after my interview to ask them, didn’t want to ask the board.