Interview guides
Written from the booklets, frameworks and marking schemes the bodies publish, and from what candidates report about 2025 and 2026 boards. Each guide names its sources at the end. Two to four new guides a month; nothing generated in bulk.
Interview technique
- Competency-based interview questions and answers: the Irish public sector guide
What a competency-based interview is in Ireland, how Civil Service, HSE and council boards mark it, 40 real-style questions by competency, and how to answer.
14 min read
- The STAR method for Irish public sector interviews: what boards actually mark
STAR explained the way Civil Service, HSE and council boards use it: the shape, the ratios, the reflection they probe for, a worked example and the mistakes that cost marks.
12 min read
- Tell me about yourself: how to answer the opening question in an Irish public sector interview
How to answer "tell me about yourself" and "why this role" in Civil Service, HSE, council and Garda interviews, what the board is marking, a structure, and example answers.
9 min read
- Order of merit, panels, feedback and review: how a publicjobs competition works after the interview
What order of merit means on publicjobs, how panels and batches work, how to ask for interview feedback, and the Section 7 review and Section 8 complaint deadlines.
10 min read
HSE
- HSE interview questions: Grade III to V, Staff Nurse and CNM, with the marking explained
How HSE competency-based interviews work in 2026: the stages, the 1 to 100 marking with 40 to pass, the headings boards mark, and sample questions for each grade.
13 min read
Civil Service
- Executive Officer in the Civil Service: the role, 2026 salary scale, competition stages and interview
What an EO does, the 2026 pay scale from Circular 22/2026, how the publicjobs EO competition runs, the written exercise, and what the Capability Framework interview asks.
12 min read
- Civil Service pay scales 2026: Clerical Officer to Principal Officer, from Circular 22/2026
Every point of the 2026 Irish Civil Service pay scales for CO, EO, AO, HEO, AP and PO, from Circular 22/2026 effective 1 June 2026, with PPC and LSI explained.
8 min read
- Clerical Officer in the Civil Service: the role, 2026 pay, the competition and the interview
What a Clerical Officer does, the weekly pay scale from 1 June 2026, how the CO and Temporary CO competitions run, the Stage 1 questionnaire, and the interview.
12 min read
- Higher Executive Officer: the HEO role, 2026 salary scale, competition stages and interview
What a HEO does, the 2026 HEO pay scale from Circular 22/2026, the stages of the publicjobs HEO 2026 competition, and how the Capability Framework interview is marked.
12 min read
- Administrative Officer (AO): the graduate grade, 2026 salary, the competition and the interview
What an Administrative Officer does, the 2026 AO pay scale, the Graduate AO 2026 competition (closing 13 October), the practical exercise, and how the interview is marked out of 400.
12 min read
- Assistant Principal Officer interview: the AP competition, 2026 salary and what the board expects
How the Assistant Principal interdepartmental and open competitions run, the 2026 AP pay scale, the application form, the presentation, and the level the board marks at.
11 min read
- The Civil Service Capability Framework explained: dimensions, sub-dimensions and how interviews use it
What the Capability Framework is, how it differs from the old Competency Model, the four dimensions and eight sub-dimensions, the three question types, and the Potential band.
11 min read
Garda and Prison Service
- Recruit Prison Officer 2026: salary, eligibility, the stages and the interview and role play
The 2026 Recruit Prison Officer competition (closing 8 October): the 2026 salary and allowances, eligibility, training, the Stage 1 tests, and the Zoom interview and role play.
11 min read
- Garda Trainee interview and role play: the five competencies and how Stage 2 works
How the Garda Trainee Stage 2 interview and role play run on Zoom, the five competencies the board marks, the interview form, and what comes after with An Garda Síochána.
12 min read
Councils
- County council interview questions: Grade III to VII, the competencies and the local government knowledge round
How local authority interviews work in Ireland: the competencies by grade, the 50 per cent pass rule, the panel quotas, and the local government knowledge questions to prepare.
11 min read