PhD in Conflict Resolution and Third Secretary in Foreign Affairs.

I am in my mid 20s and have recently applied for a PhD scholarship in Conflict Resolution at an Irish university. I already hold a MA (2.1) in British- Irish relations. My career aim is to enter the Department of Foreign Affairs as a Third Secretary or alternatively the general Civil Service as an Administrative Officer.

My reasons for pursuing a PhD are straightforward. Firstly, that I could not be more highly qualified entering a fiercely competitive Third Sec./ AO recruitment process. Secondly, I believe that the possibility of becoming a lecturer would be an excellent back-up in the event that my first attempt is unsuccessful.

However, would this be a worthwhile course to follow i.e. would a PhD in a relevant area significantly enhance the prospects for success in a Third Sec./ AO competition? Has anybody followed a similar course?

Finally, I previously worked in the civil service at Clerical Officer level but not for a government department. Could this be held against me at a future interview?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.
F

Fran08 said:

Finally, I previously worked in the civil service at Clerical Officer level but not for a government department. Could this be held against me at a future interview?
F

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Why on earth would this be held against you? Lots of civil servants start out as COs.

And yes, the roles of HEO and AO are now interchangeable, with AOs in some (if not all) departments having staff managerial responsibilities and carrying out similar work to HEOs, who are not limited to supervising clerical staff, but are involed in a variety of work, depending again on the department. There is no automatic promotions for AOs - this was phased out some time ago (a very positive development, IMO). You should be aware also that there is now open recruitment for HEOs and APs, many of whom would also be graduates.

Fran you are assuming a LOT!! 3rd secretaries and AOs are recruited through open competitions.

The last one I did was over 3,000 people. You are only a number for the first two rounds, all you need is any degree to qualify - it does not have to be remotely connected to Foreign Affairs. If you pass through those rounds then any additional qualifications may impress at the preliminary interview (this is stage 3, with stage 4 being a formal interview) but there are no guarantees you'll get that far.

Fran08,

Your basic question is does having a PhD make you a stronger candidate for the Third Sec / AO competition? All things being one would hope that the more highly academically qualified one is and especially if the subject matter is relevant the better the prospects. But a word of qualification - civil service interviews focus now on core competencies for posts (communications, networking ability / influencing, analysis etc.). My view is that at the Open Competition stage there is little scope for additional academic qualifications beyond the minimum requirements (e.g. Honours BA for Third Sec?), no matter how relevant, (even a PhD in Conflict Resolution), to be taken into account. However gaining a PhD should strengthen your analytical, writing skills etc. The real difficulty as previous posters point out is reaching the interview stage at all.

From your post your primary focus seems to be to pursue a career in the International Relations field. Don’t confine your ambitions to DFA. Look at careers in international organisations; UN, EU, OSCE and Council of Europe (also consider field missions run by those organisations). These organisations will expect an advanced University degree in a relevant subject (unlike the Irish Civil Service) to be even considered for a position.

A PhD in Conflict Resolution should also put you in the running for positions as a researcher in think tanks. There are a multitude of think tanks in the IR, security studies area (not in Ireland however). Also consider the NGO / advocacy sector: Conflict Resolution would be very relevant for NGOs dealing with Human Rights (e.g. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch) or conflict prevention / resolution issues.

If pursuing the IR route work experience will also be essential. A PhD takes 3 / 4 years to complete. Subject to your Supervisors / University approval think about taking 6 months or a year of that time to do an internship in a relevant organisation (Don't forget that DFA has a recently established Conflict Resolution Unit). If you work at getting an internship in relevant body it may give you material for your thesis, should give you contacts and add to your CV.

And finally unless as a CO you burnt down your former Department or made of with the petty cash I wouldn’t worry about a premature departure being held against you.

From my experience, Dip Abroad's reasoning of your situation is spot-on in every respect.

Hey All!

Just for info both Third Secretary and AO positions advertised in the papers today!

B

bradfield said:

Hey All!

Just for info both Third Secretary and AO positions advertised in the papers today!

B

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That's very soon, it's usually every 2 years for 3rd secretary and last open competition was only last year. Wonder why this is? Last time there was definitely a 2 year gap.

shesells said:

That's very soon, it's usually every 2 years for 3rd secretary and last open competition was only last year. Wonder why this is? Last time there was definitely a 2 year gap.

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I have to say that I was quite surprised when I heard of the new recruitment campaign this morning. I didn't expect one until next Spring at the very earliest.

Yes I do think it was surprising that there was such a short space between the competitions as there is normally a two year period. The turnover of Third Secretaries is quiet high as the lifestyle is very demanding so maybe there is a lot of vacancies, who knows!

B

I saw the advert for Third Secretary in last weekends papers and was very interested as I am looking for a career change. I am in my early 40's have an MBA but no experience of dealing with Civil Servants or the Civil Service in general. Would I be wasting my time applying for the position or are they already "sewn up"?

I think you have as good a chance as anyone else. Bear in mind that round one is an aptitude test that will be sat by thousands of people. Based on your ranking from that you may get called for round two which is a group exercise. The makeup of the group can seriously affect your chances of making it further. Only if you are successful at that do you make it to a preliminary interview. At that stage there could be about 60 people left in for 12 jobs ish. The final round is a formal interview.

So you see you go a long way as just a number before you even get to mention your qualifications and experience. Bear in mind that the process takes months too.

Not trying to put a downer on this for you but the ads just make it all sound so glamorous but the selection process is a nightmare. Tried it twice. Group exercise finished me first time. Last time I made it to interview which was the toughest most gruelling interview I have ever had!

Hi shesells,

Would you (or anyone else) know if there is somewhere to get examples of the tests for the first round to start practising now?

What does the group excercise involve?

Is the recruitment process for 3rd Secretary and AO (Revenue) the same?

It is all a bit confusing!

The apitude tests are the same for AO/AO Revenue and Third Secretary. I have some references to websites with practice ones but not close to hand I will post them later.

The numerical analysis parts of the test are time consuming as opposed to difficult and the key is to do the easiest ones first. There is no negative marking so if your time is running out and you still have some to do just mark them randomly as you wont lose out by doing this. You have to pass the maths to pass the overall test but it is not considered when getting your overall mark. The verbal reasoning and job simulation are the ones you will be marked on. A tip for the job simulation is not to try and anticipate what you think they want you to answer and just answer what you think to be the best answer applying the rarest of commodities............common sense! Hope this helps!

B

See some web references for some online tests below. SOme of them are more difficult than needed but its useful just to get you into the 'zone'. Enjoy!

http://www.shl.com/shl/en-int

http://www.practicetests.co.uk/Launchtest.asp

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm

http://www.peoplemaps.com/html/report_free.php

http://europa.eu/epso/competitions/test_interactif_en.cfm
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/prep_one.html
http://www.assessmentday.co.uk/aptitudetests_numerical.htm

Thanks for the info and the links bradfield, I will get practising now!

one thing i'd advise the OP to do is don't do the PhD if the only reason you're doing it is to get the Third Sec, the difference between coming in the top 100 in the exams and in the top 1000 can be fairly small.
as they interview in batches of 20 at the end you can be lucky or unlucky depending on who else is in your batch - they tend to usually put between 8-10 onto the panel so if the rest of the batch are amazing it can make it trickier to get onto the panel.
good luck though