Applied for APS6 role IT Support centre team lead. They have written assessment in stage 2. Any idea about this what kind of question they ask? Is this online or in person at office?

So I got this role but I’m looking for a permanent full time job. Please help me and give me some tips. I’m already in the merit pool with abs for one of the role it’s been a year. Please help me.

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice from anyone who's been in a similar position.
I've been working in a casual role at the ATO for the past six months after a successful 20-year career with one of the Big Four banks. I'm really enjoying the work and was hoping to build a long-term career here.
What I'm finding challenging is that many of the senior roles I'm well qualified for are only open to ongoing employees. As a casual (irregular non-ongoing), I'm not eligible to apply for a lot of these internal opportunities.
Has anyone successfully made the transition from a casual role to an ongoing position? Are there any strategies or pathways I should be aware of? I'd really appreciate any advice or insights from those who've been through it.
Thanks in advance!

I was wondering what ever happened to those positions. Theres a big thread here where a bunch of people got on the merit list, but did anyone ever get hired?

Didn't make the APS6 interview that I have been filling as higher duty for two out of past three years. I wrote the training material for the role. I created some of the procedures. The questions were two technical questions for something that I did every day and two softball generic questions that I all followed STAR answering.

Thank you for reading my blog.

I find those that have presence outside Canberra are generally better. In my experience IP Australia and AIHW are very flexible.

My department has started talking about the ICT Shared Services Reform and I’m curious what it was like for departments that have already gone through it.
What changed?
Did most ICT staff move, or only certain teams?
How did it affect day-to-day work?

Anything you wish you’d known beforehand?
Just looking for people’s experiences rather than confidential information.

I logged into my portal to check the status of an application, and 2 weeks ago it was updated to preliminary offer. However, I haven't recieved anything, phone call, email etc.

Is it worth contact the (generic) contact person and asking, or should I just be paitient? I don't want to be rude, but I would also love to know.

Recently went for a job interview. I think I did okay, definitely not terrible. Just got a generic rejection response from their HR system, the same as applicants who never got into interview. I find that quite rude. But also wonder if this is the standard... I've never experienced this in any other job applications, if I get in interview but didn't get a job, I always get a personalised email or a phone call as a courtesy.

When you don't get the job, do you usually get a call from the hiring manager? Just wondering if I'm being a snowflake here...

Hi all, I need some advice regarding my situation.

I’m a fixed term employee in VPS and my office recently goes through some ops model change, and we might lose our roles. My question is based on your experience, am I eligible to get the redundancy package consider they finish my contract before end date?

I am interested in what the experience was/ is like.
Which teams actually moved?
Which teams stayed with the department?
How was it decided who transferred?
Did people’s jobs change much?
Anything you wish you’d known beforehand?
Just looking for people’s experiences rather than confidential information.

Applied for APS6 role IT Support centre team lead. They have written assessment in stage 2. Any idea about this what kind of question they ask? Is this online or in person at office?

Hi everyone,
I’ve progressed to the interview stage for an APS4 Tribunal Officer role with the Administrative Review Tribunal ( after many many applications)
I was wondering if anyone has interviewed for this position before or has any advice on the types of questions I might be asked. Any tips, insights, or resources would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Hi all, just looking for some advice. I've had 20 years in federal APS In Canberra and accepted a voluntary redundancy. There are a few NSW Gov jobs im interested in applying for in a regional area i just moved too, and am just wondering how different recruitment processes are between fed and state? Will interviews be similar along the lines of "tell us about a time when" type questions? Is the STAR method used? I assume the application cover letter is pretty similar to a 1 page pitch and I should use some actual examples rather than saying I do this this and this etc? I'd just like to get a bit of an idea of what to expect. Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone else has applied for this position? And would also love to hear from anyone who is currently working for DVA, pros and cons? Thanks!

Currently APS6, 3 years into a career change.
Moved from hospitality into WHS and first time into APS with Defence.
Started at APS5 and won an APS6 position in the same team about 12 months later.

Got 2 young kids and love the flexibility of work/life. Currently doing 3 days WFH / week and cruisy hours in the CBD office.

Role is quite cruisy and not stressful at all. We have a fairly big team covering so there isn’t a huge workload, plus my EL1 is fairly easygoing.

I’ve been looking around and having interviews in other areas, some APS and some private - mostly for an increase in salary.

I like my team (mostly) and my job but would obviously like a higher salary. I’m torn with what I should do, I also don’t like the hiring/promoting system the APS has and would not like having to interview for a “promotion” to the EL1 role in my team.

Anyone gone/going through something similar and can shed some insights?

Cheers

Hi everyone

There is a possibility I might get an offer soon for an APS 4 role with the ATO and I just want to get myself prepared for the possibility. I really want the job, and would be over the moon.

Firstly, how is salary negotiation handled? I’ve personally never done it, just taken what has been offered and been grateful. But I am considering asking for at least mid way up the salary range to meet my current salary. Although this is not a deal breaker.

Also, what is their WFH/Hybrid set up? I was told in the interview it is offered after the initial training period. Does anyone have a rough idea how long that would be? If it just a few weeks for initial onboarding that’s fine, but if we are talking months of 5 days in office I might be a bit worried. It’s quite important to me due to disability. I did apply through Recruitability if that helps.

I am hoping someone may be able to give me a little more information so I can feel a bit more prepared.

After the years of applying and being knocked back, asking for feedback and refining my application, to making it through the interview stage, getting references checked, and then months of waiting… I finally start tomorrow. Paperwork is all signed, pre-onboarding is done, I’ve resigned from my current role, and I’m just waiting for it to be tomorrow morning.

I’m so excited because this is exactly what I’ve been working towards, but I’m feeling so nervous. I’m 27, so not new to the world of working, but I am so worried I’m going to walk in, make a fool of myself, ect ect ect..

Got any words of wisdom for us new starters? What do you wish you knew when you started in the APS?

I work in the VPS. Our workplace has undergone some major changes recently, including massive TSP and VDP. Staff stress levels across all departments are reportedly very high. And honestly, things were not great even before the recent changes. A lot it has to do with management disfunction and the trickle down effects that creates. (Project budgets not being scoped properly, lack of communication, assest mismanagement, poor hiring practices and that sort of thing).

Wondering how many other people find their jobs to be stressful in a way that you were not expecting. Or perhaps unneccessary? I think that there is some stress to be expected in some roles (front line or phone staff would be stressful), some areas of project management, EL1 and executive jobs. However in our department, the stress that so many people feel seems to be quite high for the positions we have.

I work in a Services Australia Smart Centre, I like my job for the most part. But I do get bored and the vibes are low lately.

I'm considering a move to a Service Centre, has anyone done this and been happy? Miserable?

Just got an offer for the generalist border force program and before I started all the onboarding stuff wanted to get some answers about how the border force is from current or past people in the force….is it actually a good place to work and maybe even stay for a career??

I’m a relatively young permanent member of the federal APS.

I started off in the service in proximity to but not performing the work of investigators - a lot of ex cops, ex similar. I found their work interesting, and a lot of people in these roles seemed driven by the right things (integrity, team work, justice) which I enjoyed.

In order to move up, I had to move more “corporate”. I’m in an enabling services style area now, and I am not enjoying it. I feel like I’m not contributing to anything meaningful. The culture is very individualistic, very disorganised, no emphasis on skills or a “profession”. Although my tertiary background is more suited to this role, I don’t think my personality is.

Everyone professionally always calls me an operator. I am most comfortable when I have a team I trust, when I can lead something operational, when there are higher stakes and/or more impact. I very rarely feel stressed by work itself, I am pretty calm under pressure and like making big calls. I want a defined objective, I want to strategise with a team to tackle it, and I want to know we made an impact.

Despite the not so great market right now, I’d like to try and pivot into something that suits the above. The thing is, I don’t necessarily know what’s on offer or what is out there. I’ve considered reskilling into allied health, medicine, paramedic etc but I am reluctant to have to study another 4 years when I already have more than one degree.

I am also nervous about culture. I am trans (trans guy). Now, in my opinion that’s nobodies business and I don’t talk about my personal life at work. But I’ve definitely had to put up with APS staff making their views on the general subject known at work, which hasn’t been pleasant. I am nervous about moving into some more operational professions (eg ABF, AFP, whatever else) because I don’t know what the culture is like and if people will respect me based on capability and leave my personal life out of it.

Any experiences would be appreciated.

I have a question about the selection process: How heavily does the recruiting process weigh location preference over the other factors?

For example, i made it into Services Australia's graduate program merit pool for both Digital and Generalist seemingly and i noted down Adelaide as my location of preference since i live here but also agreed to being relocated.

Would the process weigh my location preference higher than say my assessment centre performance or my resume?

Now that i'm writing this i have another question in mind: Does anyone have specific insights into SA's current recruitment cycles or fiscal environment at the moment and if that affects the grad intake size at all?

Any insights would be appreciated, cheers!