Administrative Officer (graduate) (general) 2022 civil service

Sinradler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119992841#Comment_119992841

Ah WELL DONE! I got through in the top 30 so looking forward to being assigned after Christmas. I found the presentation & interview BRUTAL so I'm very relieved.

@odelazy Everyone from Batch 1 (Top 80 OOM from Stage 1) will have heard today, with their new OOM.

odelazy

Thanks all. I placed around 50th so presume I'll have to wait a while but hopefully I'll get called too!

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119993130#Comment_119993130

Any idea how many they interviewed last week?

apkmbarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119993634#Comment_119993634

The email we all got via the portal said they were taking top 80.

Lux23

So is everyone that passed the interview stage in Batch 1 likely to be offered a role?

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119994630#Comment_119994630

I imagine that they exhaust one batch before going to interview a second batch? Not really sure to be honest!

knockout18

Well done to everyone who passed!! You can put your feet up for the holidays now knowing you'll get placed sometime after Christmas ❄️I ended up getting assigned on a different AO panel so thought it best to remove myself from this competition's interview/presentation stage to avoid burnout 😓 Happy Christmas all ✨

apkmbarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119996788#Comment_119996788

Not necessarily, they'll usually have at least a batch ready to go, so as batch one get placed, they'll most likely have a batch 2 nearly ready to go. As batch 2 get placed, they'll start a Batch 3 etc. They won't go too far ahead, but are always ahead.

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002145#Comment_120002145

That makes sense! Thanks

ZXCVBNMNB

Hi, I've gotten through the interview stage and I'm wondering if anyone knows how departments might be eventually assigned?

Is it randomly based on the number that you placed and available space or are people matched somewhat to a dept that suits their skills? I've heard before that some with skills like accounting are often looked by for certain departments but I'm not sure about other skills/backgrounds.

odelazy

Obviously it changes somewhat year on year, but does anyone know roughly how many AOs are taken on over the course of the panel?

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120008654#Comment_120008654

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119903248#Comment_119903248

@odelazy - see comment above from @Wolfskuil

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120008456#Comment_120008456

I fear it's mainly a random numbers game on your first assignment! I reckon you take your first offer, do the mandatory two years and then apply for a transfer to somewhere that's more relevant to your interests/skills

ZXCVBNMNB

Thank you!

alicerosachiari

I am probably going to be in the second batch for the interview, so not too fare away in time.

Could any of you please let me know of examples of the kind of questions they ask, and of the kind of topics that you have to choose from for the presentation?

thank you very much 🙂

crystalani01

Are there departments that are more sought after than others? Which ones would be best to be placed in? I know it’s probably very subjective but I don’t know lots about the appointment process! 😃

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120022789#Comment_120022789

Standard competency interview, very few specific, subject-related questions, I can't say much more than that unfortunately. Theres no way you'll be able to prepare for the presentation until you receive the topics as they are highly specific. I had two weeks to prepare for the interview, and I spent one week on competencies and the second week on the interview. You'll be busy, I can promise you that!

alicerosachiari

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120023478#Comment_120023478

Thank you 🙂

Kitkat1995

Hey,

I have applied for the Graduate Industrial and Employee Relations Specialists post in the Civil Service and have been allocated a final interview in January. I was hoping to get some information if anyone can shed some light on what the interview may be like. The grade you begin on is AO so do you reckon it would be a standard AO interview? The application form asked no competency-based questions.

Any tips or guidance would be appreciated

TIA

Susan O

Does anyone know how often they run AO or HEO competitions? Just wondering when the next one will be advertised

PhoenixParker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120063996#Comment_120063996

AO is every year in September/October.

HEO is roughly every 2 years but typically only for serving civil servants.

Susan O

Many thanks

ZXCVBNMNB

Hi again,

Does anyone know whether they have already started to call people in Batch 1 for clearance?

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120072958#Comment_120072958

They haven't called me at any rate! I'm in the low enough numbers

ChV

Same in my case. Got into the first batch but haven't received any communication on clearance yet.

ChV

By the way, does anyone know if there is any timeframe we could expect them to start communicating with the first batch?

mcg_philip

Does anyone know how many candidates have been called from the OOM to date?

ZXCVBNMNB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120100709#Comment_120100709

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097677#Comment_120097677

Looking back at last year and the year before, it seems the initial communication only went out around the 21st of January. Hopefully, the first few of us will be called for clearance soon 🤞

ChV

Thanks.

First time on a competition for civil service roles and was getting a bit nervous waiting but I guess timelines are these.

Hopefully we'll hear from them soon.

newbie18892

Got called for interview. My OOM is in the 120s. Have this and my EO interview in the same week!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

OKDublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120114962#Comment_120114962

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120315#Comment_120120315

What does that mean? Called for clearance soon? Does that mean you have passed the interview and are now waiting for the request for Garda clearance etc? I see someone else with OOM 120 is interviewing soon. Is that a 2nd batch then?

OKDublin

I'm around 300. Hopeful now that I hear they are up to 120. But I hear there are not many AO roles so perhaps there will be a long wait after the first batch.

ZXCVBNMNB

Yes exactly, I got word I passed my interview and presentation before Christmas.

I just got an email also today to ask to send on proof of my level 8 degree “before Pre-Employment Checks process” can commence

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123574#Comment_120123574

Me too

Leyendecker

I saw that publicjobs.ie is advertising that new graduate opportunities in the civil and public service will go online from tomorrow. Is that another AO competition? And if so, is that not extremely soon after the last one?

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128942#Comment_120128942

I'm intrigued as well! I can't imagine it'll be AOs so soon, surely it has to be something else

Juggler101

Looks like they are specialist AO posts, nothing that I could go for

CMR23

Just wondering if anyone knows what number they've called for interviews at this point ?

mcg_philip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120154482#Comment_120154482

I believe they have called up to 142 on the OOM.

the5th

Probably know the answer already, but does anyone have any idea where the vacancies are for the first batch recently called for clearance?

I'm trying to decide between registering my interest with PAS and my local HR to stay in my current dept if there are vacancies (there probably are). Possibility of pretty boring work but at least the location and environment are known quantities. Or do I just take my chances and not say anything and see where I end up. Could be somewhere great, or a whole new unsuitable situation! Hard to know...

ZXCVBNMNB

I heard yesterday from someone they only called the first three from Batch 1 yesterday so I think it might be too early to tell

ZXCVBNMNB

If someone asks for an updated number can they let us know here? I am interested to see at intervals how fast they are moving as my current contract will end soon but don't want to spam them!

Juggler101

Ooh, I just got sent a "skills matching" link, to do a survey from public jobs - this is promising! "The purpose of this survey is to assist with skills matching for assignments should you be successful in reaching that stage."

corcaigh97

Hi all, I got the skills matching link as well so I decided to give PAS a call. They’ve called the first three into clearance. I am in the early 30’s in batch 1 and they said that things are moving slowly but to expect 2 to 3 months to clearance. Disappointing news but fingers crossed that they move more quickly than expected.

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120164877#Comment_120164877

Good to know. I'm happier for things to move slowly TBH, as I'm in a permanent role already and not in a rush to move. It will all depend on the department/unit they offer whether I move or not

Hopeful Outsider

Hi everyone. I got the skills matching link too. Just wondering is it something they require you to do. Has it been done in past competitions?

ChV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120164877#Comment_120164877

I also received the skills matching link.

Let's see if things get faster, it's quite hard to commit to new projects or plan ahead in my current role having the uncertainty on when they'll call for clearance/ask for references.

I'm also a bit confused with the skills matching test for the general competition as it looks like they might be looking for some specific backgrounds, which seems to contradict the competition being "general" and what was said before in this thread that the first assignment tends to be random.

Juggler101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120167808#Comment_120167808

Skills matching makes sense, although it does seem to be a new thing (not that I'm an expert, but I've never heard of it before). Hopefully it's effective

Bauble00

I’m confused by the skills matching, I understand why it would be useful but this just seems to ask whether you would be able to work as a specialist AO which none of us applied for.

I’m also quite worried to hear that it might take three months before they call the early 30s of Batch 1 just for clearance. This seems quite out of line with other years. Are they trying to say people with these skills will be placed quicker? All my prior work has been in one of these areas but I was looking forward to a fresh start in a new field through this job.

corcaigh97

Yeah I really don’t understand the process either. My friend started as AO last year, however, and did have the skills matching but was actually placed in an area that his skills didn’t fully align with I feel? Also re the 3 months comment, I was a little thrown by this as well because when I asked last month they said that it would likely be early February so there seems to be a big difference between the two?