Interdepartmental Higher Executive Officer 2020 - (Serving Civil Servants ONLY)

Forthebuzz

insert name here 123 wrote: »

I appreciate that Ken, i was more curious as to why the instance on having a level 7 for EO rtaher than HEO, I would have thought a HEO would need certain qualifications to match the experience.

Just curious

You don't need a level 7, I got EO on open with just a LC

EricShaw

I can't find the email you refer to. Does it state it's only verbal and numerical tests? Does anyone have any official pre-test material he or she can share with us?

Kenevil

EricShaw wrote: »

I can't find the email you refer to. Does it state it's only verbal and numerical tests? Does anyone have any official pre-test material he or she can share with us?

Email is in your publicjobs messages you should have gotten a text and email telling you to check your messages.


Stage 1a is verbal and numerical

Dublintigger

Does anyone have a copy of the comp booklet?
Apologies but I changed laptops and don't have/can't find the info booklet.
Thank you.

neevobeevo

Original ad is on gov.ie
https://www.gov.ie/en/circular/b1a1d-192020-interdepartmental-competition-for-promotion-to-higher-executive-officer-heo-in-the-civil-service/

Dublintigger

neevobeevo wrote: »

Original ad is on gov.ie
https://www.gov.ie/en/circular/b1a1d-192020-interdepartmental-competition-for-promotion-to-higher-executive-officer-heo-in-the-civil-service/

Thanks a million:-)

caarp

For those of you who have gone into the Pre-Test link on Public Jobs, were you able to go back in and look at the material gain, or does it disappear after the first time you click on the link? Thanks.

eroc79

caarp wrote: »

For those of you who have gone into the Pre-Test link on Public Jobs, were you able to go back in and look at the material gain, or does it disappear after the first time you click on the link? Thanks.

The pre test link brings you to a lot more information and has another link within it that takes you to a webpage with a few sample questions. The sample questions can be tried again and again.

caarp

eroc79 wrote: »

The pre test link brings you to a lot more information and has another link within it that takes you to a webpage with a few sample questions. The sample questions can be tried again and again.

Thanks so much Eroc. I just went into the doc now. I wonder how this will all go? No situational assessments and no time limit to answer, though obvs the length of time is factored in, in the overall score.

Never done an adapted test either. Tbh, I probably won't even notice if the test questions are getting easier or harder on the day!

redmgar

This was the exam used in the EO exam last year.
Very much a step up from previous campaigns.

The_Brood

Have no idea how these adaptive tests work, but really not liking the sound of it. So if you are getting answers right, the questions get harder and harder...is that taken into account in the final scoring? If not and it is still just a question of how many you get right and how many you get wrong, essentially you are getting punished for getting the first questions correct?

And if it is taken into account...then if you make just one mistake or miss-click something, even if you get the next few answers right, they will be worth less - meaning that one initial mistake will mean not just one failed answer but a bunch of lesser points to come.

Sounds like a lose-lose situation?

Also you can't go back and review your answers? Which is like the standard metric for double-checking and being prudent.

Kenevil

The_Brood wrote: »

Have no idea how these adaptive tests work, but really not liking the sound of it. So if you are getting answers right, the questions get harder and harder...is that taken into account in the final scoring? If not and it is still just a question of how many you get right and how many you get wrong, essentially you are getting punished for getting the first questions correct?

And if it is taken into account...then if you make just one mistake or miss-click something, even if you get the next few answers right, they will be worth less - meaning that one initial mistake will mean not just one failed answer but a bunch of lesser points to come.

Sounds like a lose-lose situation?

Also you can't go back and review your answers? Which is like the standard metric for double-checking and being prudent.

Had a quick google. From what I can make out, it starts with a middle of the road question and if you get it right questions will get harder, if you get one wrong they will get easier and so on.

In terms of scoring lets say we both answer 18/20 questions, but you answer more harder ones than i do. You'll get a higher mark for your harder questions than i do for my easier questions.

I hope that makes sense, it's just my take on it.

The_Brood

Kenevil wrote: »

Had a quick google. From what I can make out, it starts with a middle of the road question and if you get it right questions will get harder, if you get one wrong they will get easier and so on.

In terms of scoring lets say we both answer 18/20 questions, but you answer more harder ones than i do. You'll get a higher mark for your harder questions than i do for my easier questions.

I hope that makes sense, it's just my take on it.

Yes, which means that say if there are 5 questions and you get the first 4 right and last 1 wrong, you are better off than getting the first wrong and the other 4 right, as the other questions (even if you 'catch up' at one point) will be worth less than the first person's questions.

The timing also is a mystery how it will play into it - the faster the better, but easier questions you will be able to do faster than harder ones. So is taking 3 minutes and correctly answering a tougher question still better than taking 2 minutes to answer an easier question?

All in all it seems a system with much less transparency.

cw67irl

hellr wrote: »

Not sure if it’s allowed but would anybody be interested in sharing a jobs prep sub for a month

Did this work out for you? It was raised with a colleague at work and we are thinking of the same

Addle

The_Brood wrote: »

Sounds like a lose-lose situation?
.

And it’s the same situation for everyone.

The competitions get more competitive every time.
I think the 2016 (?) competition didn’t have shortlisting based on the form, resulting in lots of poor quality interviewees who did well in online tests. Then the 2018 comp did have shortlisting, so the applicants had an extra step to deal with, but there was a higher percentage of success after the interview.

Buckfast W

cw67irl wrote:

Did this work out for you? It was raised with a colleague at work and we are thinking of the same

Yeah it worked out, I find that the numerical tests are a good refresher. At the end of the test it'll tell u how may were right and wrong and when you review your answers it'll tell you what the correct answer is and why.

caarp

Has anybody ever used these SOVA tests before. I'm wondering if the actual tests are very similar to the practice ones provided or are they much harder?

connectq

Is the link to the tests in your message working? I cannot access the link provided

caarp

connectq wrote: »

Is the link to the tests in your message working? I cannot access the link provided

Do you mean to the practice tests?

connectq

I have never used Sova before. It was Cut-e tests for previous competitions

connectq

Message with link to the actual test is not working. I have emailed them to check it out

keepkeyyellow

caarp wrote: »

Has anybody ever used these SOVA tests before. I'm wondering if the actual tests are very similar to the practice ones provided or are they much harder?

I did the EO which was Sova for practice and I’m finding the practice tests very similar.

The math was quite off the wall and a lot of jargon to get through before you realise that the question is really simple.

Verbal is pretty similar too.

caarp

connectq wrote: »

Message with link to the actual test is not working. I have emailed them to check it out

Yes, I see that. I just went Public Jobs to read the message and the link provided isn't hyperlinked. Maybe you can copy and paste it into your browser?

connectq

Tried to copy it but cant access the link in the browser

caarp

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

I did the EO which was Sova for practice and I’m finding the practice tests very similar.

The math was quite off the wall and a lot of jargon to get through before you realise that the question is really simple.

Verbal is pretty similar too.

Thanks so much Keepkeyyellow. Can you remember in the math part, were there lots of different tabs you had to open to find the information, or was it all provided on the one table/graph?

caarp

connectq wrote: »

Tried to copy it but cant access the link in the browser

Most excellent start! Just give us all a high score and be done with this nonsense!

Dublintigger

I've just tried the pretest link and it is not working - and there is no link to copy and past.
All I got was the Pre Test information - I wonder if the practice test link is closed now????

connectq

Previous tests had a link to the test and a personal log in details in the message which would have been used to access the tests.

connectq

this link will bring you to the practice tests
https://www.sovaassessment.com/candidate-preparation-hub/our-assessments/

Littlefinger

Is this the part where we have to do a sweep of the room with our camera and show our ID does anyone know?