Executive Officer in the Civil Service 2018 (Dublin)

snoopmadra14 · 01-10-2018 11:53pm

I'll have to do a bit of prep for the numerical and verbal reasoning. Hope I won't get thrown too much by the e-tray on the day. I presume there isn't many ways you can prep for the e-tray? Good luck everyone

Jakeren7 · 02-10-2018 7:55am

Are they doing the etray with the supervised tests this time

Dublintigger · 02-10-2018 11:09am

italodisco wrote: »

Anyone being negative, just stop.

You have a chance, this panel can run for up to 2 years if needs be. There's is a chance that YOU WILL get called.

There is no guarantee that a high number will do well on the in house timed tests, and those who do pass it have the wonderful Etray to look forward to, which has been the downfall of many.

Keep applying for anything eo/heo in the meantime, and you never know, you may get the call from PAS.

Good luck to you all, and well done for making the effort to apply!

This is just what we all needed to hear - a bit of positivity!!

Dublintigger · 02-10-2018 11:19am

Hiya Folks

Regarding the psychometric test - numerical and verbal - two books I found to be helpful are:

- Practice Psychometric Tests - Andrea Shavick - Amazon
- How to Pass Selection Tests - Mike Bryon and Sanjay Modha - Amazon

I used both of these books to prep for the Supervised test which I did well in but I flunked the e-tray by 2 points.

If anyone has any ideas on how to 'master' the e-tray test, please let us know.... the e-tray is the easiest test to fail.

Dublintigger

02-10-2018 11:29am

FenFlynn wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll just have to wait and see. Do you remember which type of tests they used? I am so bad at cut-e, if that's the one then I'll definitely fail it. Have been trying some tests online but never get too far

The last two (2014 and 2016) were identical to each other. The supervised tests were a repeat of the online tests, with different figures and scenarios etc.

The e-tray in both was the same also: You are logged in at a PC and you are given instructions by your 'boss' who is out for a few days. There is an upcoming seminar / conference where a number of speakers will be making presentations to the attendees. Your main task is to roster the speakers according to certain criteria....(e,g. Speaker A cannot be on before Speaker D because their talks are related, and Speaker C has to use up two time slots as their talk is longer, but they also have to go immediately before Speaker F etc.)

It's a little like those logic puzzles where the clues are all "The person who owns the cat lives beside the woman with the blue door......what type of car does the person who owns a sheep drive". The trick is to work out the people who must go into certain slots and work around them, using the people with no constraints to fill in the blanks.

There are other minor tasks that you must complete while this is going on such as responding to emails about why Speaker H is no longer welcome at this year's conference because of blah blah blah, but they're fairly straightforward. Just keep the letter/email professional and you'll be grand. The general rule of thumb is "less = more". No need to go into detail about what he needs to do in future to be allowed at next year's conference etc. Just keep it to "these are the rules, you failed on rule x, thank you for your interest".

The roster/rota thing had a shorter time limit, if I remember correctly. It had to be done first, so concentrate on that first.

Edit: Forgot to add, the surnames of the speakers all began with a unique letter...Adams, Byrne, Cullen, D'arcy etc., which made it much easier to do it out on pen/paper by using A, B, C and D

daithi84 · 02-10-2018 2:53pm

Always number 1 wrote: »

Placed 315 on order of merit. I will probably opt out at this point.
I'm an existing public servant and was in touch with PAS before the results came out and was told that my service - 13 years - won't carry, my current salary isn't factored in - I'd end up 13k worse off than i am now just to get a few extra increments (salary scale for EO has more points than Assistant Staff Officer in Public Service) and I'd lose 7 days holidays.

Surely they cant do this. If immediately prior to appointment they are to honour your service since the jobs are like for like.

Sinus pain · 02-10-2018 3:08pm

I was a public service for a small time before starting in the civil service and they allowed me to carry that time - that said I was still only on the starting rate and I didn’t know whether I would be allowed to or not until I had started - my other job was only temporary so it didn’t matter to me either way

italodisco · 02-10-2018 6:51pm

daithi84 wrote: »

Surely they cant do this. If immediately prior to appointment they are to honour your service since the jobs are like for like.

Unfortunately they can.

If its a transfer / redeployment then it's different, they could put you into a lower grade ie AP to HEO BUT you'd be entitled to carry over your payscale and pension entitlement from the AP role.

There are a few circulars out there that might clarify some of this for you, I might be able to point you in the right direction if you could tell me what year you started in your current role. Circulars etc change but the one relevant to your terms would be the one in place when you started in the current role

Shanotheslayer · 02-10-2018 7:06pm

Good thing I read this thread. I placed 3356 on order of merit but thought because my score was decent 3356 was decent! I guess not :pac:

coffeesiphon · 03-10-2018 10:26am

What is etray? ......The interview part?

SomeSayKos · 03-10-2018 10:39am

coffeesiphon wrote: »

What is etray? ......The interview part?

It's seperate to the interview. It's essentially a job simulation where you have to prioritise e-mails, roster meeting sessions etc. in a short amount of time

coffeesiphon · 03-10-2018 10:43am

SomeSayKos wrote: »

It's seperate to the interview. It's essentially a job simulation where you have to prioritise e-mails, roster meeting sessions etc. in a short amount of time

Sounds like a tripwire alright...would they let you know what system there using, I assume that this would be done using Outlook?

SomeSayKos · 03-10-2018 10:50am

coffeesiphon wrote: »

Sounds like a tripwire alright...would they let you know what system there using, I assume that this would be done using Outlook?

It's similar to Outlook in how it looks/works, but it's a specific simulation piece of software. In the ones I've done in the past you don't have to write e-mails but select the appropriate response out of 4 options. There's a few of these but the crux of the simulation is that you're usually being asked to set up a calendar for a meeting/event. And you'll have a few people you need to assign time slots to. In your e-mails you'll have information that will make certain people available for certain time slots. So it's up to you to gleam all of that information and give everyone an appropriate time.

The excercise can be quite tricky the first time, but if you practice it then it shouldn't be too much hassle

daithi84 · 03-10-2018 10:57am

italodisco wrote: »

Unfortunately they can.

If its a transfer / redeployment then it's different, they could put you into a lower grade ie AP to HEO BUT you'd be entitled to carry over your payscale and pension entitlement from the AP role.

There are a few circulars out there that might clarify some of this for you, I might be able to point you in the right direction if you could tell me what year you started in your current role. Circulars etc change but the one relevant to your terms would be the one in place when you started in the current role

I started in the local authority in 2008, im already a grade 4 so not sure if worth my while to take EO position as id lose a weeks holidays. Plus if i was thrown down to the bottom of the scale then id definitely not take it.

Dublintigger · 03-10-2018 1:13pm

SomeSayKos wrote: »

It's similar to Outlook in how it looks/works, but it's a specific simulation piece of software. In the ones I've done in the past you don't have to write e-mails but select the appropriate response out of 4 options. There's a few of these but the crux of the simulation is that you're usually being asked to set up a calendar for a meeting/event. And you'll have a few people you need to assign time slots to. In your e-mails you'll have information that will make certain people available for certain time slots. So it's up to you to gleam all of that information and give everyone an appropriate time.

The exercise can be quite tricky the first time, but if you practice it then it shouldn't be too much hassle

Is there anywhere where we could practice for the e-tray - or are there books that we can get to practice with......

Skip13 · 03-10-2018 1:51pm

Dublintigger wrote: »

Is there anywhere where we could practice for the e-tray - or are there books that we can get to practice with......

Assesment day has a free etray otherwise you can buy a package from one of the companies

Dublintigger · 03-10-2018 1:59pm

Skip13 wrote: »

Assesment day has a free etray otherwise you can buy a package from one of the companies

Cool thank you....

Pandoras Twist · 03-10-2018 9:51pm

Do we get practice material for the verbal and numeric tests?

Purpletoes · 03-10-2018 9:54pm

rockmongrel wrote: »

How did people's scores relate to their place? I got 590 in the assessment and placed around 1400, fairly baffled especially since the qualifying score was less than 400. Though I suppose the must have been a lot of applicants.

I got 579 and placed 1026.

Purpletoes · 03-10-2018 10:00pm

Always number 1 wrote: »

Placed 315 on order of merit. I will probably opt out at this point.
I'm an existing public servant and was in touch with PAS before the results came out and was told that my service - 13 years - won't carry, my current salary isn't factored in - I'd end up 13k worse off than i am now just to get a few extra increments (salary scale for EO has more points than Assistant Staff Officer in Public Service) and I'd lose 7 days holidays.

You have been misinformed. Your service carries over whether it was last February or last week. If you leave and restart you drop three points on the scale so you service will definitely be carried over. There are circulars available on this, I will find out which For you.

For increment purposes, I am friends with two people who were near top of co scale and placed slightly higher on eo scale when they started for the reason that you have to have your salary adjusted to make promotion beneficial.

audrey2014 · 03-10-2018 10:13pm

Purpletoes wrote: »

I got 579 and placed 1026.

I got placed 561 and scored 611, got placed 209 interdepartmental

Dublintigger · 03-10-2018 10:16pm

Pandoras Twist wrote: »

Do we get practice material for the verbal and numeric tests?

Yes we do... just one set but it is a good example of what we can expect. You can do it more than once.

Purpletoes · 03-10-2018 10:20pm

audrey2014 wrote: »

I got placed 561 and scored 611, got placed 209 interdepartmental

That's fantastic.. good job ðŸ˜Š

Paddy93 · 03-10-2018 10:25pm

Purpletoes wrote: »

You have been misinformed. Your service carries over whether it was last February or last week. If you leave and restart you drop three points on the scale so you service will definitely be carried over. There are circulars available on this, I will find out which For you.

For increment purposes, I am friends with two people who were near top of co scale and placed slightly higher on eo scale when they started for the reason that you have to have your salary adjusted to make promotion beneficial.

Would this include a Service officer being promoted to a Clerical Officer or Executive Officer ? I was told that I would have to start at point 1 on the scale.

Purpletoes · 03-10-2018 10:30pm

Paddy93 wrote: »

Would this include a Service officer being promoted to a Clerical Officer or Executive Officer ? I was told that I would have to start at point 1 on the scale.

I dont know to be honest. I dont see why it wouldnt.

Pandoras Twist · 03-10-2018 10:46pm

Dublintigger wrote: »

Yes we do... just one set but it is a good example of what we can expect. You can do it more than once.

Any idea when they send it out? I'm doing the assessment on the 19th.

linpoo · 04-10-2018 8:59am

Pandoras Twist wrote: »

Any idea when they send it out? I'm doing the assessment on the 19th.

You got a date already?

pew · 04-10-2018 11:32am

linpoo wrote: »

You got a date already?

This time you had to book your date and time yourself rather than being assigned it.

Will I Is · 04-10-2018 1:37pm

Was on to PAS this morning - they confirmed 4,500 - 5,000 Applicants in total between Interdepartmental & Open E.O. competition.

This seems very low, as placings were allocated up to at least 4,500??

EarlyStorms · 04-10-2018 2:07pm

Will I Is wrote: »

Was on to PAS this morning - they confirmed 4,500 - 5,000 Applicants in total between Interdepartmental & Open E.O. competition.

This seems very low, as placings were allocated up to at least 4,500??

That does sounds a bit on the low side, if that's the case nearly everyone made the qualifying standard.

Executive Officer in the Civil Service 2018 (Dublin)

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