New 2021 Assistant Principal in the Civil Service

crinkley

Well no because all 3 won’t have scored the candidate the exact same and there will be agreed scores so you go back and see where people were marked down if that would have made the difference. How it worked for me, I’m not saying that’s how it works in this comp but it’s not on a curve because you mark on the interview and presentation not compared to other candidates

irumudikkilli

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118572291#Comment_118572291

You are suggesting a valid point that there is no curve at the outset. I suggest the possibility of a curve within that larger set based on what you said (if valid). When there are 4 scores that are equal in total (sure one person could be superior to another in some competency and vice versa, but the total for each of them could be the same) at the end of the week, unless there is a playoff, there must a curve re-grading amongst those 4.

My point is that once you have played the game and scored, it should be set and should not be altered later in the week. You seem to suggest it is being done as a practice by referees revisiting the game when total scores at the end of the week are the same for a bunch of candidates.

crinkley

no I still can’t agree there’s a curve and I’m only talking from my experience of being on a panel and having to rank all the interviewees it is always done in isolation you simply not compare to other candidates, which curve marking is. The hr rep would never allow that to happen

You look back at the original scores before an agreed score was given so that would give someone more marks or if some competency was weighted higher which ever candidate scored highest. These were always looked at in isolation.

I think that process is better than inviting people back for another interview because you don’t think the original individual scores shouldn’t be looked at again in order to separate close candidates. Personally I’d rather I was ranked one merit position lower than do it all over again

OscarBluth

For those who have done the report:mine is due shortly and I've had a terrible week with sick children, isolation and no sleep. All my plans to work on it were out the window so it will be a rush job.

I definitely won't have the time to read around the topic as much as I wanted - I suppose what I'm wondering is, will a report that shows I can approach the issues in the 'right' way be enough? i.e. are they mostly looking for how you demonstrate how you would research it, rather than you actually giving as comprehensive an overview of the topic as you would expect to in the role?

Jaeger_Jen

I thought interviews were only running til tomorrow? (4th) 🤔

Hope you're all better now... as long as you can show how you conducted your research and outline how you ended up where you did you should be fine.

Jmc25

I interviewed this week and found it fair but challenging as others have said.

There's a lot more questions within each compentcy than for EO or HEO. The board won't let you talk in dept about one example for the entire time allotted to each compentcy so having multiple short and to the point examples covering the different aspects is a must. I had prepared for this type of interview and they still had to hurry me along a couple of times.

I think it's inevitable that most people will be asked at least one question they haven't prepared for which can can definitely throw you off. It's a challenge because obviously we all have some examples we like more than others but the board may choose to cover different aspects of that compentcy which your example doesn't cover, or throw you a question at the end inviting you to use your 5 star preprepared example but you'll find there's only a minute and a half left and they're rushing you along so it's hard to get the info out.

I guess my advice is to prepare a short and longer version of each example you've got and let the board guide toy in terms of which one is appropriate to use.

FenFlynn

I thought it was very tough! Definitely the toughest interview I've ever had. Not confident that my examples were high level enough. I was constantly asked to refer to AP position, and leadership in a department context, which really threw me and I just felt it was a really bad start. Anyway, it's done now, I can relax for the weekend finally.

Best of luck to those yet to do it.

Jaeger_Jen

Has anyone any idea as to when the current batch of interviews end? My zoom link indicated the 4th Feb, however the comment above suggests otherwise.

FenFlynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575213#Comment_118575213

Mine also said batch 1.2 till 04/02, unless there is a batch 1.3 afterward?

Conqueror

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575213#Comment_118575213

Post 785 (which I presume is the comment you're referring to) didn't give a date; the fact that the commenter's report is due "shortly" could imply today, meaning their interview would be tomorrow. I haven't seen any comments about interviews next week, though I don't recall too many comments about interviews last week either.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575235#Comment_118575235

PAS wouldn't run two batches or sub-batches at the same time. They would need to know how many passed/failed from 1.2 before they could determine the number of people to be called in 1.3 (if there is one), and batch 1 would need to be finished before they started on batch 2.

Jaeger_Jen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575235#Comment_118575235

I wonder will they announce results of our interviews next week so 🤔 I was interviewed last week...

FenFlynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575286#Comment_118575286

I do know someone doing it next week, so I think there could be two different boards doing it.

Hope it goes well for everyone. The stress is finally lifted for me.

Jaeger_Jen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575286#Comment_118575286

Yes thats the one I was referring to indeed... just odd to me they were submitting their report just 1 day prior.... circumstances probably allowed in their case though. I was interviewed last week though so was just wondering about the wait for results I suppose 😊

FenFlynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575295#Comment_118575295

It will be nice to hear next week, but could be too optimistic to expect it that soon. You never know though.

crinkley

I wonder if the ones next week would be for those who had their video interviews reviewed, so technically wouldn't be in our batch

BigElmo

What type of people are on the interview boards for this comp? Is it POs or HR people?

OscarBluth

I definitely have an interview next week, and didn't have my video interview reviewed. When I click on my zoom link I get 'batch 1.2 8th to 11th Feb' - so its possible there are different panels, or just different zoom links being used?

crinkley

Thanks Oscar, end of the month so for results I imagine

AuroraP

Perhaps there'll be another round of batch 1.2 after 11th February?

Jaeger_Jen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576384#Comment_118576384

I'm wondering what the reason was for the indication of a batch running for 2 weeks ending 4th Feb. But here we see that's not the case. I wonder will results be provided to those who underwent interview this week and last? (Wishful thinking probably) but I'm so intrigued by the process

FenFlynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576600#Comment_118576600

Highly unlikely. Especially since all categorised as batch 1.2, it would be unfair for the later ones to be placed in a later batch unless they were interviewing due to the ranking of the recorded interview results. They'll have to indicate that separately though.

I'm hoping the week starting 14th to hear something.

AuroraP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576600#Comment_118576600

I think the competition has been well run, bar the quality review debacle, but it would be positive to have greater transparency about numbers called in batches, interview windows, issue of results and so on.

Karlos77

I am wondering APs dont have flexi but what hours do they work?

Conqueror

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118579606#Comment_118579606

New APs haven't had flexi since 2013. Hours are 09:00 to 17:45 Monday to Thursday and 09:00 to 17:15 on Fridays, with 75 minutes for lunch - https://circulars.gov.ie/pdf/circular/per/2013/11.pdf.

taato

These are the standard expected hours, however depending on business needs and local agreement, you may need to be available at other times. Some may be able to work shorter lunch times some days, or start earlier and finish earlier. There are days I’ve worked 10 hours, and others 6 hours. It really depends, but in many organisations you will find that you put in more hours over the week/month than the required number.

Betty123.

does anybody know what number they are currently on? I am waiting to be called for video presentation and heard nothing yet.

TaurenDruid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118580014#Comment_118580014

@Karlos77 while they're the current "standard hours" (but really, who takes 1:15 for lunch??) it's almost certain that hours will go back to pre Haddington Road Agreement hours, i.e. 35 hours/week, sometime in the next few months.

FenFlynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576146#Comment_118576146

Yes, essentially. My board had 2 POs and one HR consultant.

agnena

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576146#Comment_118576146

Mine was 2 HR consultants and one higher grade than PO.

I am disappointed to find out there is a 3rd week of interviews, indicating that we will have to wait longer for the results... Hopefully we will know by the end of the month. The wait is killing me. I just want to know...

Regarding the next batch of candidates going to the video recording stage, it could be soon as the whole first batch will be finished with their interviews next week.

Diddlydoe90

I had my video interview upgraded in score in the QA exercise. It looks like they are getting through a large batch this time as I had my interview last week.

Is anyone here from batch 1.2 who has an interview after 11/2?