Civil Service Secondment Abroad?

BellaCiao

I am currently applying for one of the ongoing competitions to join the civil service and would love if anyone here could give me some further information into how secondments abroad work in the civil service- particularly secondments to work as an SNE within the European Commission or to work in the Irish Perm Rep in Brussels.

I've come across a word document from 2017 outlining the process, but would be interested to hear from anyone that might have first hand experience of the process or has any ideas about how common it is to go on secondment abroad (has it become more of less common in recent years?) How competitive is it (ie are you battling for a position against members of civil service from 26 other member states?) Does it largely depend on which department you’re in? (I have noticed Dept of Finance seems to sponsor a lot of people).

Any insight into this would be really appreciated!

Awkwardstroke

BellaCiao wrote: »

I am currently applying for one of the ongoing competitions to join the civil service and would love if anyone here could give me some further information into how secondments abroad work in the civil service- particularly secondments to work as an SNE within the European Commission or to work in the Irish Perm Rep in Brussels.

I've come across a word document from 2017 outlining the process, but would be interested to hear from anyone that might have first hand experience of the process or has any ideas about how common it is to go on secondment abroad (has it become more of less common in recent years?) How competitive is it (ie are you battling for a position against members of civil service from 26 other member states?) Does it largely depend on which department you’re in? (I have noticed Dept of Finance seems to sponsor a lot of people).

Any insight into this would be really appreciated!

Hi,

I’m in the civil service and have had colleagues posted abroad (Brussels). The government is actively trying to use secondments to the EU commission to increase Irish networking there...as quite a few senior Irish permanent officials with the CION are retiring these years (leaving a big gap).

It’s conpetitive to get seconded posts, as you first need dept approval in Ireland (can sometimes be difficult depending on staffing situations) and then need to be accepted by the CION.

For secondments to the Perm Rep in Brussels that is also in demand and depends on your grade within the civil service and a competitive interview process.

I hope this helps

BellaCiao

Awkwardstroke wrote: »

Hi,

I’m in the civil service and have had colleagues posted abroad (Brussels). The government is actively trying to use secondments to the EU commission to increase Irish networking there...as quite a few senior Irish permanent officials with the CION are retiring these years (leaving a big gap).

It’s conpetitive to get seconded posts, as you first need dept approval in Ireland (can sometimes be difficult depending on staffing situations) and then need to be accepted by the CION.

For secondments to the Perm Rep in Brussels that is also in demand and depends on your grade within the civil service and a competitive interview process.

I hope this helps

Thank you so much for the insight! It's great to know that the government is interested in increasing networking within the EU Commission, seems prudent in light of Brexit. My background is in International Relations and I have some knowledge of French and German so the idea of going abroad for a while through CS is something I would be interested in if the opportunity arose.

Would you have any idea what kind of grade you have to be at to be considered for these positions abroad- are opportunities geared towards those at AP level upwards? Also would you have any idea from your friends' experience whether these secondment positions are generally for a short-term period (ie 1-2 years), a longer-term period (ie 3-4 years?) or whether it would depend completely on the position?