Career change from childcare to the civil service?

Milliegirl

Early 30’s working in childcare the past 13 years but due to been burnt out working with children and the low wages (only paid 42 weeks of the year) for financial reasons I have to leave the sector. I have a degree and Masters in leadership in early years education.
Id love to get into the civil service, but i’m just wondering is it very difficult to get into and is it a long process?
Also what other administration/office type jobs could I search for? I don’t really know what I could get into with my qualifications I just know I want to get out of the childcare sector!
Thank you :)

mariaalice

The lower levels of the civil service or other entry-level clerical work will not pay much better than you get now, would you not look for a job as an SNA? do a master's to become a primary school teacher?, or try to get a job in policy or management with an NGO in the community or childcare sector, apply to the civil service or a local authority, and see how you get on.

Purple Mountain

Agree. Entry level to CS is very low pay so with your qualifications you'd be robbed.

caviardreams

A few years in AO pays well - better than childcare and better hours / conditions imo and public sector pay rises built in + pension. Go for it OP imo

Milliegirl

Thanks for all the replies everyone

FunkyChicken24

Unfortunately, you are a little late for the nationwide panel campaigns for CO, EO and HEO, a lot of which just had the first round in the last month or two, and are the easiest way to get in to the CS. It can be hard to get the jobs where the role is very specific and there are only one or two positions to be filled not least as they often go to people already in the CS.

If you have a Masters in Leadership then you should definitely be looking at getting in at the higher levels but it also depends on what you have been doing in childcare since finishing your masters. AO might be the better route for you however the money is not so great and you end up doing grunt work as it is aimed at college leavers.

Have a look at the AP positions, you might already qualify for that, depending again on what your roles have entailed for the last few years.

Go onto Public Jobs.ie and sign up for alerts for the different grades and keep your eye out for any panel campaigns.

Check out the boards threads for the different grades and see when the last ones were for the different grades. You can get the information booklets and lots of insights into what is involved in the selection process and so prepare yourself for them when they come around again.