2020 Executive Officer Civil Service

gestappo

CP123 wrote: »

Ok so PAS has confirmed by email that I will not know where I will be placed until after they speak with my current employer for reference. Does anyone have any indication as to the length of time between clearance and actually starting the new role? So I will have to tell my employer im planning on leaving, can they give me a reference, but I dont have a clue how much notice I should be giving. Like if its going to be months between clearance and placement I dont want to give 1 month notice and then be waiting until I hear from them. On the other hand, my employer is obviously going to want some sort of timeline so they can plan on my replacement. At the moment if I went and asked for a reference and they asked when I was thinking of leaving its all very vague, dont know when, dont know if I am even definitely leaving depending on department offer...

I’d just inform your boss that you’ve applied and depending on where they offer you, you’re just keeping options open etc. You don’t have to give notice until you’ve talked with your new dept and worked that out with them. You’re under no pressure to give notice before that.

Deegene

Stiltzkin wrote: »

Hi everyone, haven't looked at this thread for a while as haven't been called for Etray - do you need to have +130 score in verbal and questionnaire to even get called for etray?

I thought my order of merit after the test was pretty decent, 70s in open, 20s in interdepartmental.

Because I scored less than 130 I'm screwed basically? Even though judging by my order of merit there really isn't many ahead of me that did better.

Hi, I contacted PAS yesterday with similar query for Kerry Open comp and got the following reply:

'To date we have called to a total score of 119 and above to Stage 2 E-Tray on the open panel in Co Kerry.
None of these candidates have yet been called to interview.
You can find your total score at the bottom of your results message.
We may be calling further candidates in the coming months and should we reach your place we will be in contact,

V1llachamp89

CP123 wrote: »

Ok so PAS has confirmed by email that I will not know where I will be placed until after they speak with my current employer for reference. Does anyone have any indication as to the length of time between clearance and actually starting the new role? So I will have to tell my employer im planning on leaving, can they give me a reference, but I dont have a clue how much notice I should be giving. Like if its going to be months between clearance and placement I dont want to give 1 month notice and then be waiting until I hear from them. On the other hand, my employer is obviously going to want some sort of timeline so they can plan on my replacement. At the moment if I went and asked for a reference and they asked when I was thinking of leaving its all very vague, dont know when, dont know if I am even definitely leaving depending on department offer...

Just another to consider which increases the pain of the process is that once you have completed clearance PAS will inform you of this and tell you what department you will be assigned to. However it took an extra week as the departments internal HR department has to decide on where to put you.

It's more of a marathon than a sprint dealing with the civil service.

CivilCybil

CP123 wrote: »

Ok so PAS has confirmed by email that I will not know where I will be placed until after they speak with my current employer for reference. Does anyone have any indication as to the length of time between clearance and actually starting the new role? So I will have to tell my employer im planning on leaving, can they give me a reference, but I dont have a clue how much notice I should be giving. Like if its going to be months between clearance and placement I dont want to give 1 month notice and then be waiting until I hear from them. On the other hand, my employer is obviously going to want some sort of timeline so they can plan on my replacement. At the moment if I went and asked for a reference and they asked when I was thinking of leaving its all very vague, dont know when, dont know if I am even definitely leaving depending on department offer...

For me last month I gave them my current employer details and applied for Garda clearance. They said in their email that they would contact me before contacting my employer.
Once the Garda clearance went through they emailed asking if it was ok to contact my employer. I said it was and let my employer know.
It only took a couple of days after they checked my references for me to be formally offered the job. From what I could gather, I could have started pretty much anytime from then. I had to give notice in my current job and the civil service were accomodating of that.

castle_lover

CivilCybil wrote: »

For me last month I gave them my current employer details and applied for Garda clearance. They said in their email that they would contact me before contacting my employer.
Once the Garda clearance went through they emailed asking if it was ok to contact my employer. I said it was and let my employer know.
It only took a couple of days after they checked my references for me to be formally offered the job. From what I could gather, I could have started pretty much anytime from then. I had to give notice in my current job and the civil service were accomodating of that.

This is exactly what I would have done, why are there so many people moaning. You applied for a job, you are getting the opportunity to fulfil that job and all I hear is what if I don’t want that department, shift work etc. There are people dying for a promotion, even a job!!! Why did you apply? Was it to up your career, have a job for life, gain more money? Don’t be so entitled and do the work set out for a year and then go on mobility, I think that’s a great opportunity to be given, not many jobs allow you to transfer.

Would people really give it up if they didn’t like were they were placed/had to work until 9pm? I guess more chance of a position for the rest of us if you pass on it!

Grey AP

"Quote:
Originally Posted by brianmurray View Post
Ive asked a few people this one but getting mixed answers...if your a CO with a Local Authority, top of scale, do you have to bounce back to the start of the EO pay because your not civil service? I spent a few month alright as EO during college just for a summer tho presumably thats irrelevant....."

"I know moving as a CO from civil service to Local Authority your service doesn’t count so you start at the bottom of the scale. I’d assume on that basis that EOs would be the same.

The above information was taken from an information booklet for a current local authority CO competition"

Here are the relevant extracts from DPER circular 8/2019. 3.1 makes it clear that the circular applies to local authority COs. If your current salary is above the minimum for EO, you start on the next higher point plus one. If you are currently less than one increment below the EO minimum, you start at point two on the EO scale.

A. Pay on promotion from competitions confined to existing civil servants
1. Starting pay rules
1.1 On promotion, an officer will be appointed at the minimum point of the new scale unless any of the conditions set out at 1.2 apply.
(i) Where the officer's current salary is above the minimum point of the new scale but below the normal maximum, the nearest point above the officer's current salary point plus one increment.
(ii) Where the officer's current salary is above the normal maximum point of the new scale but below LSI1, the nearest point above the officer's current salary point (ie LSI1).
(iii) Where the officer's current salary is above LSI1 and below LSI2 of the new scale, the nearest point above the officer's current salary point (i.e. LSI2).
(iv) Where the minimum of the new salary scale is greater than existing pay by an amount less than the first increment on the new scale, the officer may enter the new scale at the minimum plus one increment.
1.3 The date of promotion becomes the officer's incremental date.

B. Application of starting pay rules to officers securing higher posts by way of open competition
3.1 For the avoidance of doubt, it is confirmed that where the appointee to a higher post is a currently serving civil or public servant, the arrangements for officers appointed through confined competition described at Part A above shall apply.

CP123

castle_lover wrote: »

This is exactly what I would have done, why are there so many people moaning. You applied for a job, you are getting the opportunity to fulfil that job and all I hear is what if I don’t want that department, shift work etc. There are people dying for a promotion, even a job!!! Why did you apply? Was it to up your career, have a job for life, gain more money? Don’t be so entitled and do the work set out for a year and then go on mobility, I think that’s a great opportunity to be given, not many jobs allow you to transfer.

Would people really give it up if they didn’t like were they were placed/had to work until 9pm? I guess more chance of a position for the rest of us if you pass on it!

Its harder for some people, say if you had children, and you cannot possibly work till 9pm. To then tell your current employer you are looking elsewhere, even though your current job is a good job and well paying, and then be in a position to not be able to take the new job. Its not all as black and white as you are making out. Its really only the civil service that puts you in this position, most other jobs you know the specifics in the job description before you even apply

gestappo

AFAIK PAS recruit separately for any out of hours positions like customs and the portal inspector. I’ve never heard of anyone being appointed to a position with shifts from one of these competitions, that’s why some of us were approached to interview for Portal Inspector where it specifically states about shifts.

CivilCybil

gestappo wrote: »

AFAIK PAS recruit separately for any out of hours positions like customs and the portal inspector. I’ve never heard of anyone being appointed to a position with shifts from one of these competitions, that’s why some of us were approached to interview for Portal Inspector where it specifically states about shifts.

Same with the positions in GISC. As it's shift work people aren't given jobs off the panel but are asked for an expression of interest if they are on the panel.

From my own experience if you're placed off the panel it'll be standard hours. Some departments offer flexi time, term time etc too but that depends on the department.

delricyo

gestappo wrote: »

AFAIK PAS recruit separately for any out of hours positions like customs and the portal inspector. I’ve never heard of anyone being appointed to a position with shifts from one of these competitions, that’s why some of us were approached to interview for Portal Inspector where it specifically states about shifts.

Just to confirm that Revenue always run their own competitions for Customs

gestappo

delricyo wrote: »

Just to confirm that Revenue always run their own competitions for Customs

For the likes of Customs etc that are shiftwork based, they get the help of PAS to email out ‘expression of interest’. I seen all the emails that our TCOs got last summer for Customs and they came from PAS.

CP123

That is reassuring. I heard that someone on the internal panel for this was offered a job in the oireachtas when it got to his number OOM, but it was weekends and evenings. So he declined and then was taken off the panel. So is this not possible? Is weekends considered out of normal working hours?

gestappo

CP123 wrote: »

That is reassuring. I heard that someone on the internal panel for this was offered a job in the oireachtas when it got to his number OOM, but it was weekends and evenings. So he declined and then was taken off the panel. So is this not possible? Is weekends considered out of normal working hours?

I’ve never heard of that happening before with weekends.

Evenings up to 7pm is part of flexi time but I’ve never heard of it being a prerequisite as such.

MonikaB

gestappo wrote: »

I’ve never heard of that happening before with weekends.

Evenings up to 7pm is part of flexi time but I’ve never heard of it being a prerequisite as such.

Same, usually anything out of ordinary hours comes on a shift allowance post. It would be interesting to find out how the pay might be affected if you are offered such post.

tomjmsn

Had the email for clearance on Monday. I was mid-teens in batch 1.3. Have been provisionally placed in Policing Authority.

Kirbi

CP123 wrote: »

That is reassuring. I heard that someone on the internal panel for this was offered a job in the oireachtas when it got to his number OOM, but it was weekends and evenings. So he declined and then was taken off the panel. So is this not possible? Is weekends considered out of normal working hours?

Staff in the Oireachtas do have some weird hours. It sounds like occasional required overtime may come up, and be without notice. The below is taken from the Job Descriptions for CS Mobility, and might help clarify this one.

"Houses of the Oireachtas Service: The hours of attendance for staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service are from 9.15am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and from 9.15am to 5.30pm on Friday. Flexible working is available for certain grades across the Oireachtas Service. Staff on flexi must work core hours which are 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 4.30pm on Friday.

As a Parliament, late and unusual hours are part of the parliamentary working environment. On sitting days, depending on the section in which staff are working, staff may be required to work longer hours to ensure that the needs of the section are met. This requirement to work additional hours is obligatory and can be without notice. Staff of the Service must be available where required to meet the exigencies of the House."

JDWW

tomjmsn wrote: »

Had the email for clearance on Monday. I was mid-teens in batch 1.3. Have been provisionally placed in Policing Authority.

Thanks for the info. Just to confirm they told you your placement before clearance?

kwestfan08

For the interview do they roll together Specialist Knowledge, Expertise and Self Develpment and Drive and Commitment to Public Service Values? And what would show these competincies? Sorry for all the questions, its I'm just having a hard time coming up with concrete answers for these sections and getting nervous its going to effect the interview.

CP123

JDWW wrote: »

Thanks for the info. Just to confirm they told you your placement before clearance?

I'm in the clearance process and the girl in PAS that I'm dealing with has said she doesn't have a notion where I'll be going. So maybe it just depends who you get?

gestappo

tomjmsn wrote: »

Had the email for clearance on Monday. I was mid-teens in batch 1.3. Have been provisionally placed in Policing Authority.

It seems to be moving that bit quicker now!

HungrySeagull

kwestfan08 wrote: »

For the interview do they roll together Specialist Knowledge, Expertise and Self Develpment and Drive and Commitment to Public Service Values? And what would show these competincies? Sorry for all the questions, its I'm just having a hard time coming up with concrete answers for these sections and getting nervous its going to effect the interview.

Kind of. Was asked about recent training courses I did and future plans I had. They must have pulled points from the other comps for the PS values comp because I was only asked one question on that at the end and it was quite a general what are the PS values and how you showed them. It overlaps with all the other answers you have given throughout the interview.

gestappo

Kirbi wrote: »

Staff in the Oireachtas do have some weird hours. It sounds like occasional required overtime may come up, and be without notice. The below is taken from the Job Descriptions for CS Mobility, and might help clarify this one.

"Houses of the Oireachtas Service: The hours of attendance for staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service are from 9.15am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and from 9.15am to 5.30pm on Friday. Flexible working is available for certain grades across the Oireachtas Service. Staff on flexi must work core hours which are 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 4.30pm on Friday.

As a Parliament, late and unusual hours are part of the parliamentary working environment. On sitting days, depending on the section in which staff are working, staff may be required to work longer hours to ensure that the needs of the section are met. This requirement to work additional hours is obligatory and can be without notice. Staff of the Service must be available where required to meet the exigencies of the House."

I don't think it is fair to be removed from the panel when it comes to turning down departments with this attendance request. People with young kids who want to develop their career are being penalised.

gestappo

kwestfan08 wrote: »

For the interview do they roll together Specialist Knowledge, Expertise and Self Develpment and Drive and Commitment to Public Service Values? And what would show these competincies? Sorry for all the questions, its I'm just having a hard time coming up with concrete answers for these sections and getting nervous its going to effect the interview.

When is your interview?

Best of luck!

tomjmsn

JDWW wrote: »

Thanks for the info. Just to confirm they told you your placement before clearance?

First you get the email requesting proof of identity etc. Then I got an email saying where I had been provisionally posted - maybe I got this earlier than some because I think policing requires a higher level of clearance.

JDWW

tomjmsn wrote: »

First you get the email requesting proof of identity etc. Then I got an email saying where I had been provisionally posted - maybe I got this earlier than some because I think policing requires a higher level of clearance.

Thanks for that, I just received the email with the provisional posting to the Garda service as well. I’m batch 1.4 so things definitely moving quick now.

Won’t be taking the job however, don’t think that department would be for me.

Samuel T. Cogley

JDWW wrote: »

Thanks for that, I just received the email with the provisional posting to the Garda service as well. I’m batch 1.4 so things definitely moving quick now.

Won’t be taking the job however, don’t think that department would be for me.

That's a shame as AGS is a great department to work in IMHO.

kwestfan08

HungrySeagull wrote: »

Kind of. Was asked about recent training courses I did and future plans I had. They must have pulled points from the other comps for the PS values comp because I was only asked one question on that at the end and it was quite a general what are the PS values and how you showed them. It overlaps with all the other answers you have given throughout the interview.

Thank you very much.

gestappo wrote: »

When is your interview?

Best of luck!

It's next Tuesday. Its for the 2019 competion though. This thread seemed the busier for replies so just asked in here. Thanks.

HungrySeagull

I'm in 1.4 too and got my clearance e-mail. No mention of a posting to the Gardai for me.

Seesee

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

That's a shame as AGS is a great department to work in IMHO.

Can you tell me more please?

Skweefie

Can I ask how long were any of you waiting on the results from the etray exercise? I know many are at offer stage but I did my etray 4 weeks ago and still no result. Should I mail them or is that the normal turnaround time? Thanks