Civil Service - career help needed

Hi all,

I'm a student in Waterford IT and i'm studying Criminal Justice Studies. I recently went for Clerical Officer in the Civil Service because i'm afraid there won't be much jobs around when i finish college..

I did the exam and came 54th and I just passed an interview for the position of clerical officer in cork.. and i'm halfways through my degree in criminal justice in Waterford IT..

i'm wondering what is the procedure now in regaurds to be offered a job?

what are my options in terms of finishing the course?

what are the promtional prospects inside the civil service, is it a really good job to take?

I hope i will able to get some help on the matter, because our career guidance adviser is awful and not really good, and publicjobs.ie don't offer that much information.. i'm hoping there someone there who really does know what to do..

hope for a quick reply,
Moss.

When you say you are halfway through your course, does this mean that if offered a position in the next 6 months you would leave college to take up the job??

My advice would be:
1) finish your degree
2) if interested in CS then try for EO or AO although not sure when they'll be running exams for them again

I second the advice from rovers1901.

Things may have changed a lot since I was in the Civil Service but I would not recommend a clerical officer job. It's a low grade and you are very unlikely to be doing fulfilling and interesting work. You can get promoted of course, but not quickly.

You should finish your degree in any event.

Well I think i the college can leave me do the course as well as work, as i would have only 2 semesters left..if i was to get it in 6 months time.

But I have been told that by the lectures, that i should take it because even though the work is a bit boring, promotion would come quickly if I
work hard enough..

do you know anyone who works in the CS as a clerical officer?

Let's get one thing straight...you will not get promoted "if you work hard enough". Promotion is by competition, internally and externally, and Clerical Officer (CO) is the lowest entry clerical grade. I take it that yopu mean the college will let you continue your current course part-time? If so, take the job. If you don't need the job and wouldbe happier to finish your degree on the chance (no guarentees!) of getting a better-paid, more fulfilling job from it, then don't take it.

The real question, IMHO, is how high is the bar you want to set yourself in your career path?

Yeah, they said i could finish it by part-time alright. but as you said there are no guarentees i would get a better-paid, more fulfilling job and also i heard that there are really good opportuinties in the CS and i know CO is the lowest but it's a start.... isn't it?

and in terms of setting the bar high i was thinking i could you the study leave option whilst in the CS and thus if a better opportunity came up i mite take it.. so if i wasn't at a good job in the CS and a great job came up because of my degree i would have the best of both worlds!

Seems you're starting to getb it straight in your mind now! Having the part-time option would sway it for me (but that's only me). You're right too, you could take a career break (after 2 years in) to study. Another option is the IPA (Institute of Public Administration) and the CS pay your fees.

A relative of mine did a four-year degree course, messed about in call-centre jobs, before joined the CS as a CO at 26 years of age. He never used his degree. But he is happy now in the CS so......

what does it do?

..

Institute of Public Administration, (as in brackets in the post). Google it.

Thanks.

Finish your degree. When they contact you in x months offering you tht job ask the commission to postpone it until you are finished. If not let it pass.
As previously stated, you have to understand that you will not be promoted because of hard work in a clerical officer position. It is about the length of time spent in the job, and some interviews. You can be the laziest thing in the world and still get on fine in the civil service - and will probably get frustrated if you work harder than others.
From experience, I had to get out before I went insane with the boredom. And that was doing college at night too.
Go for EO position after your degree. Having said that, if you have the patience of a saint, and a degree, and are willing to wait, its much easier to get EO from the internal exams.

I was in almost exactly the same situation a few years ago!

I was also in WIT and applied for a CO job in Cork because the college wasn't 100% sure if we'd be allowed to transfer into a particular stream for the final year. I forgot all about it until i was offered a job half way through third year. (Our panel actually didn't have to do interviews strangely...it was all based on the exam. There must have been some disasters coz i've never heard of that happening since;-)).

I was interested in working in the Civil Service but, mainly from reading stuff on publicjobs, i felt that my promotion prospects would be severely limited in the short term without a degree. (You also have no back up if you don't like the civil service).

I eventually decided to email them and ask for a postponement until i had completed my degree. They agreed to this, with the standard warning that there might not be any jobs available in my area at that time. When i finished my degree, i emailed them again and started as a CO a week later.

I got an external EO job a year later, and i've since been offered an AO job. I wouldn't have been eligible for the AO job without a degree. I feel it was also a big help in getting the EO job.

I would definitely advise continuing to do your degree if possible. It's easier to finish now that you're in the study zone. You can do your MA afterwards with the IPA instead! I would also keep an eye out for any EO exams. There should be another one soon, and no harm in starting higher up the ranks. Try to get a 2.1 or better if you're interested in the AO option.

I actually liked my work as a CO as well BTW, though that can be a lot to do with where your based etc.