NEW 2020 Assistant Principal Officer Competition

derailed

Meadowlands wrote: »

Personally, I don’t think that the e-tray assessment is fair. Anyone can sit it, as no cameras are used to see if someone is being assisted and unlike all competitions, pre-pandemic, it is not supervised eg. With the open HEO competition previously, you sat the aptitude test at home unsupervised and then again in a supervised environment.

Here, many of us have fallen victim to ‘virtual’ assessment - the first real opportunity to engage in human interaction would have been the final interview.

With promotion, you gain status but you lose TIME eg. You lose your flexi timeand you lose working from home.

Best of luck to all in remainder of this competition...it is challenging starting a new role during a pandemic.

I hear you on that one. Same happened to me in 2017 and 2018 where virtual assessments/psychometric tests ended my interest in both competitions. It is most frustrating in any competition where you don't have the opportunity to present your credentials in front of a live board.

That's a good point where you say the etray can be completed by anyone as unsupervised. This shouldn't be the case at such an advanced stage of the competition but it is also a hard exercise to prepare for and most people are in the same position one way or another once the exercise starts with different approaches to management. On the same level the Stage 1 aptitude tests are unsupervised and are not now followed by a supervised version so is another area where PAS keep changing the format.

On another note while you lose flexitime as an AP (which has been case for all those newly promoted since 2013), there is nothing out there concrete in terms of announcements yet which mentions the loss of WFH at this level with remote working policies yet to be finalised across offices.

crinkley

Meadowlands wrote: »

With promotion, you gain status but you lose TIME eg. You lose your flexi timeand you lose working from home.

.

is working from home not available to AP grades?

Mbwb

crinkley wrote: »

is working from home not available to AP grades?

Hi, we are all working from home since last year. There was a pilot for AP grades pre-pandemic to work from home in some departments, my department was one of them. Obviously, since March 2020, all grades have been working remotely. I am based in Dublin but have moved West and plan to work a hybrid model of working from home a few days a week and going to Dublin for the other 2 once we are back in the office (which I believe will be towards the end of the year)

Mbwb

machalla wrote: »

How did your placement go?

Did you get allocated to something you had familiarity with?

Hi,

I opted to stay in my own Department as I was familiar with the people and the work that is done. Also its a progessive Department and I knew there would be the option to work remotely for a couple of days a week once we were back in the office, working from home part of the week is important to me. It's full on, very different to a HEO (which I was previously) - remember the e-tray? my day is a bit like that!

Cheeseplant

crinkley wrote: »

is working from home not available to AP grades?

Most if not all of our admin grades are WFH at the moment. At most they are rostered to be in the office a day or two a week. While we believe there will be a return to the office in August, it won't be feasible to have all staff back if any social distancing is to be maintained. The recent CS survey on WFH also demonstrated that a lot of people wanted a hybrid model so I'd imagine this will be facilitated insofar as possible. Roles within grades in the CS vary greatly so you won't know until you get your offer what way it is likely to pan out!

crinkley

I'm doing the exact same myself, moved down west, we are not going back until September the earliest but with a hybrid model so don't mind travelling a couple of times a month. My options are a lot closer so wouldn't mind a couple of days a week in the office

taraalex

derailed wrote: »

At the start of the etray you receive background information about the imaginary scenario to help build a clearer picture and to give you context with your role (essentially you will be taking up a position whereby the previous incumbent has suddenly left and you have tasks to complete before you start the role and will be then on a weeks leave). You will have time to read this before entering the exercise where the 90 minute clockdown starts.

Once you start the objective is to respond to emails yourself by either actioning tasks yourself or by writing an email to a colleague delegating that task to them. Each email you have in your inbox needs to be read through so you understand the context of the task or whether it is something you need to take responsibility or whether it is better delegated to a team member. The test is set out to see how effective you are in management, delegating, organising, interpersonal skills, drive and commitment and so on. There is no need to write a report or Memo like previous exercises and the focus is on responding to as much emails as possible (though this is next to impossible with the time constraints involved)

Best idea once you then enter the timing part of the etray exercise is to quickly familiarise yourself with who is on your team and then introduce yourself to them in one single mail to save you having to do that for every mail going forward. The team overview email will tell you about the personalities of your reports which should inform you in terms of who to delegate tasks to if needed throughout the etray exercise. Then read all the mails in your inbox (about 14-15) before deciding on what constitutes as being a priority or not. Then work down through them and making a decision on what you need to action yourself or delegate as appropriate.

Make sure to try and schedule meetings going forward without taking up too much time or have a conflict in your calendar. You will be able to see your emails, calendar and details of team members in different tabs throughout along with the overall scenario (which is the briefing material you read at the start).

Thank you very much on such a thorough answer. This is very helpful.

taraalex

I did my video assessment last week. Because my original form was from 2020, and since then, so many things has changes at work. I gained much more valuable experiences, so in my video assessment, i used part from original ap application from last year, just as an intro to my overall experiences, and I used new experiences as a situation( not included in my ap form from last year). Would that affect my results, or would it affect final interview if i talk about new situations that i consider as a better fit for AP job. Thanks in advance.

TaurenDruid

taraalex wrote: »

I did my video assessment last week. Because my original form was from 2020, and since then, so many things has changes at work. I gained much more valuable experiences, so in my video assessment, i used part from original ap application from last year, just as an intro to my overall experiences, and I used new experiences as a situation( not included in my ap form from last year). Would that affect my results, or would it affect final interview if i talk about new situations that i consider as a better fit for AP job. Thanks in advance.

Not at all, it will only be to your advantage. Just be ready in final interview, if they ask you something like "Covering the X competency, I see from your application form that you did Y - can you tell us more about how that project blah blah blah..." that you have a prepared response along the lines of "Well, yes, I did gain from X form doing Y, but a better and more recent example would be..."

derailed

taraalex wrote: »

I did my video assessment last week. Because my original form was from 2020, and since then, so many things has changes at work. I gained much more valuable experiences, so in my video assessment, i used part from original ap application from last year, just as an intro to my overall experiences, and I used new experiences as a situation( not included in my ap form from last year). Would that affect my results, or would it affect final interview if i talk about new situations that i consider as a better fit for AP job. Thanks in advance.

There are no concerns there as in my case I used multiple examples (some of my stronger ones) for the Stage 2 Video Shortlisting that had occurred since the submission of my form in April 2020 with updates on work projects, remote working etc. I passed in all areas comfortably with these examples over the past 12 months.

At interview stage the board give you any opportunity to talk about examples for each competency area which may not be on your form. It was only on the leadership competency that I was directly asked about a work situation set out on my application form. The board are well aware that all applications are at least 12 months old and a lot would have changed in a work context in the intervening period.

TaurenDruid

crinkley wrote: »

is working from home not available to AP grades?

It absolutely is. And will almost certainly remain the case after Covid.

batman007

Hello all - does anyone know how long is the average time between the video and getting called for the e-tray?

Cheeseplant

batman007 wrote: »

Hello all - does anyone know how long is the average time between the video and getting called for the e-tray?

the last two batches it has been 4-5 days.

JulsSF2021

Could anyone please explain the difference between the higher and standard pay scales for the AP role? I am on the latest Dublin panel and am an external candidate although I have worked for the civil service at AO level in the past.

Many thanks and best of luck to those still going through the process!

Cheeseplant

Waiting on my interview invite. When does anyone think they are likely to stop interviews etc for the summer?

derailed

batman007 wrote: »

Hello all - does anyone know how long is the average time between the video and getting called for the e-tray?

There is usually only about 3-4 days from the time you get your video result to getting familiarisation material on etray (got video results on April 16th with etray material on April 20th. The testing window opened on April 26th for me (less than a week later) which closed on April 29th. By way of additional further information then got etray results on May 11th which was only 9 days before my Stage 4 Interview (received notification on that just a day after etray results mail).

So generally there is a very short turnaround between the video shortlisting and etray with the only further delays being the results themselves.

Cheeseplant

JulsSF2021 wrote: »

Could anyone please explain the difference between the higher and standard pay scales for the AP role? I am on the latest Dublin panel and am an external candidate although I have worked for the civil service at AO level in the past.

Many thanks and best of luck to those still going through the process!

As far as I am aware, AP higher jobs are mostly in v particular depts e.g. DPER, Finance and Taoiseach's. AP higher in other depts is based on seniority and might be by way of an application process.

derailed

Cheeseplant wrote: »

Waiting on my interview invite. When does anyone think they are likely to stop interviews etc for the summer?

I don't think PAS will stop interviews during most of the summer months though maybe there might be a pause in August. There are still numerous batches to go through and multiple positions to be filled over the lifetime of this competition which runs to March 31st next year.

Cheeseplant

derailed wrote: »

I don't think PAS will stop interviews during most of the summer months though maybe there might be a pause in August. There are still numerous batches to go through and multiple positions to be filled over the lifetime of this competition which runs to March 31st next year.

Invitations issued!

Mbwb

JulsSF2021 wrote: »

Could anyone please explain the difference between the higher and standard pay scales for the AP role? I am on the latest Dublin panel and am an external candidate although I have worked for the civil service at AO level in the past.

Many thanks and best of luck to those still going through the process!

AP Higher (or AP1) is a promotion. In this comp you will be on the AP standard scale.

Orchid1

Hi all. Just got called for interview next week. I put down Dublin and Cork but is there any way of knowing where I’m interviewing for? I just relocated from Dublin to Kerry 🀦*♀️ Didn’t expect to hear back on the comp as it’s been dragging on for so long. I’m delighted but it’s thrown me too. Remote working would be the dream but not sure how likely that is?

Cheeseplant

Orchid1 wrote: »

Hi all. Just got called for interview next week. I put down Dublin and Cork but is there any way of knowing where I’m interviewing for? I just relocated from Dublin to Kerry ��*♀️ Didn’t expect to hear back on the comp as it’s been dragging on for so long. I’m delighted but it’s thrown me too. Remote working would be the dream but not sure how likely that is?

I'm also in this batch of interviews for Dublin and commuter County so I guess it is for Dublin? Perhaps email them to confirm

derailed

Orchid1 wrote: »

Hi all. Just got called for interview next week. I put down Dublin and Cork but is there any way of knowing where I’m interviewing for? I just relocated from Dublin to Kerry ��*♀️ Didn’t expect to hear back on the comp as it’s been dragging on for so long. I’m delighted but it’s thrown me too. Remote working would be the dream but not sure how likely that is?

Firstly congrats on being called for interview and hope all goes well on the day. Just to let you know from my experience I put down Dublin No. 1 and Carlow No. 2 and interview results stated they were for the Dublin, Kildare and Meath locations only so would imagine you are interviewing for Dublin first with Kerry offered later down line if you are reached on order of merit but indications seem to be that only minority of posts will be for regional locations.

I think a large majority want remote working to be a part of our weeks going forward but too early to speculate what outcomes will be by office but the momentum is definitely growing for hybrid working models in some form (office/remote work).

Cheeseplant

has anyone been placed off most recent batch i.e. those interviewed in May?

Butterfly06

nothing yet from PAS and I'm single digits on panel, be interested to know if anyone further up has been placed.
would have thought with the pace of interviews etc., that i would have heard as over 2 weeks since results issued!

derailed

Butterfly06 wrote: »

nothing yet from PAS and I'm single digits on panel, be interested to know if anyone further up has been placed.
would have thought with the pace of interviews etc., that i would have heard as over 2 weeks since results issued!

No word on my side either and placed in the mid teens on the panel. Will keep you posted if I hear anything back from PAS. Someone I know who was at the top of the panel for the previous batch only started her position 8 weeks after results came out (following clearance procedures) but received initial notification of assignment 2-3 weeks after results issued.

machalla

As of last Friday PAS hadn't started working on this batch when I enquired.

Hexen

machalla wrote: »

As of last Friday PAS hadn't started working on this batch when I enquired.

They started clearance yesterday.

Cheeseplant

Hexen wrote: »

They started clearance yesterday.

that's great news! Any idea of how many went into clearance?

For current CS, if you are staying in own dept, do you still go through clearing?? Or is it more like internal promotion; PMDS/sick leave only?

RTH123098

Hi All! I have been called to interview and only saw on the confirmation email this afternoon that photo ID had to be issued by 1pm today... a real face palm moment... In the familiarisation document it does not give a specific time so I missed it.
Does anybody know if this will result in disqualification? or is it something that can be explained.
Would love to know so i can sleep tonight and not be worrying after a year long application!!

Thanks for all the other great info on this thread, only recently found it and its got some great tips!