Communications Specialists in the civil service interviews (HEO level)

twentysomething · 22-10-2021 11:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117568405#Comment_117568405

Massive apologies, only seeing this now! I just got called for a straight interview with 2 high level comms people and an independent chair - all pre-covid, obv. The Q's were comms based within the competencies.

LD23 · 01-06-2022 2:54pm

Hi all, just wondering did anyone further down the list ever get called for interview?

lucat · 09-06-2022 12:35pm

I'm wondering if there is any effort to match your previous experience/expertise in a particular sector to the role? E.g. if you previously worked in healthcare comms, would they try to place you in the HSE Press Office? I know what the civil service recruitment is like usually and I assume it's the same, but personally I have to be interested in the sector in order to be satisfied in the job.

parisee88 · 13-06-2022 3:21pm

Hi there, mine was a good match but as far as I know it is based purely on supply and demand i.e a department needing bodies etc

lucat · 16-06-2022 3:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119196864#Comment_119196864

You're lucky. Press Officer is usually a draining job even if you have an interest the sector. It would be gruelling if you didn't have that as a baseline.

lauralaura123 · 24-06-2022 8:01pm

Hi all,

I've been called for a Zoom interview after applying for the Communications Specialist role in 2021.

Does anyone have the candidate information booklet outlining the competencies that they could share with me please? Many thanks!

parisee88 · 28-06-2022 8:28am

your best bet is to email the PAS contact who sends you on info for the interview but this booklet also applies to the role

https://www.publicjobs.ie/documents/Civil%20Service%20Competency%20Framework%20Model_Higher%20Executive%20Officer.pdf

Therese1989 · 30-06-2022 11:35am

Are most of these communication specialist roles based in Dublin?

Has it just been the one interview or are there a few stages does anyone know?

parisee88 · 03-09-2022 11:04am

Hi all, may not be of interest to this group but public jobs have a new campaign for Communication Officers at EO level.

lucat · 07-09-2022 12:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119563935#Comment_119563935

Saw that. Salary seems very low for a government PR job.

parisee88 · 07-09-2022 5:04pm

Yep and they will mainly be Dublin based.

scribbler1 · 12-10-2022 7:35pm

Hi all,

This campaign is still going!

I did an interview last week and am now on a panel. Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?

OKDublin · 20-10-2022 11:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119736020#Comment_119736020

That's interesting. Did you have to do a test as well? I haven't heard anything.

OKDublin · 21-10-2022 12:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119773259#Comment_119773259

For the EO comms competition I meant to add. I assumed that was what you were referring to.

billyhead · 21-10-2022 7:38pm

Would anyone have the HEO information booklet for this that they could send on.

nmcd94 · 04-07-2023 8:05pm

Hi,

Did anyone go for the Comms Officer, EO Level? I have had my interview etc, just wondering if anyone has had any updates?

Beethere · 27-07-2023 1:36pm

@ncmd94 How was the interview? I have mine coming up soon and don't know where to start with preparing. The job description seems so different from the competencies that it's hard to know what kind of answers to prepare.

LD23 · 02-08-2023 11:58pm

Can't believe I have an interview for this HEO position soon after applying in 2021. Is anyone in the same boat? Hard to know what kind of things they'll ask other than going down the basic competencies using comms examples. Has anybody had an interview more recently with some insights?

Beethere · 04-08-2023 10:39am

I had an EO comms interview a couple of days ago I thought it was quite tricky tbh. Asked things about agency Branding, metrics for campaigns, how you keep up to date in the comms space, how you implement budgeting decisions etc. I had prepared for more straightforward "tell me a time when" questions. Didn't feel it went well but it was definitely an experience 😅

LD23 · 08-08-2023 12:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120938195#Comment_120938195

Oh wow and that's for EO. Thanks for this, I'm mostly preparing my examples but I should remember to back them up in relation to these points you've menntioned. I always think interviews go badly even if they don't so best of luck, hopefully you'll get it!

paperpackages · 15-08-2023 9:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120932894#Comment_120932894

Do you mind me asking did you have your interview yet? I’m later this week and hoping the examples I’ve prepared will cover me, although tough to know for sure.

Also similarly was surprised to see it pop up again on my message board!

LD23 · 21-08-2023 11:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979955#Comment_120979955

So sorry, I haven't been getting notifications about this thread even though I used to. How did it go? I thought it was tough enough but I think I got nervous and was mixing up some of my examples because of the order they asked them in. Do you know when they're interviewing until? I'm not getting my hopes up but I'm hoping it went better than I thought - I'd just love to know either way so I can stop thinking about it.

parisee88 · 03-04-2024 12:00pm

new comp for heo comms specialist going live today

ca_mamc21 · 04-04-2024 3:53pm

has anyone applied to the competition for Communication Officer that closed in March and heard anything back yet?

keane10 · 31-05-2024 2:25pm

Just heard back today about the new 2024 comp. This was my first time going for a Civil Service job but I thought I met all the criteria.

Shortlisted on the reserve panel but I'm in the 100s. I assume this means I'm unlikely to get an interview depending on how many applied vs how many positions there are.

The Black Oil · 31-05-2024 3:51pm

Reserve panel too. Not as disappointed as I thought I might be, though same as keane10 above, I'm not expecting an interview. I used some of May to go to a CV/application form expert (recommended by a friend), so I feel I've learned how to write more effectively now.

keane10 · 31-05-2024 5:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122207241#Comment_122207241

Just from some limited research today, I find it hard to know at the moment. The e-mail I got said that only the first 10 from the panel were called to interview now which leaves me way down the list - I'm assuming there'd need to be a lot of jobs rejected and interview rounds to get to me. But some people on other forums who applied to more generic roles and were high-numbers (400-700!) on reserve panels got called for an interview 12-18 months after they were originally told they had made a reserve panel.

I assume Communications Specialists are a bit more niche than Executive/Clerical Officer roles (which I'm referring to above) so I doubt there's the same number of vacancies available but as these things seem to take so long, only time will tell.

LD23 · 31-05-2024 11:06pm

Just for some info if anyone is wondering. For the last competition I was shortlisted as 206 on 1st July 2021, and eventually got an interview on 8th August 2023. So even if you're way down on the list you may still get an interview, just might unfortunately be waiting a while 😅 I didn't pass the interview though but I'm 121 this time - maybe I'll get lucky and have an interview in a year instead of 2!

Dub1014 · 02-06-2024 9:05pm

Hi, I was told I'm on the reserve panel, number 47.

Should I expect an interview any time soon?

This is my first time going through the process, so I'm a bit unsure how it works. I've no idea how big the panel is.

keane10 · 14-06-2024 4:09pm

Very interesting message sent this afternoon to all applicants in the Public Jobs inbox…

Communications Specialists in the civil service interviews (HEO level)

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