Local Authority Graduate Planner Recruitment

We are recruiting graduates from 10 skill areas We are recruiting suitable candidates to become Graduate Planners with 26 of the 31 City & County Councils in Ireland. The Local Government Ireland Graduate Planner Programme offers graduate planners a rewarding and impactful career in one of 26 of Ireland’s city or county councils. As a graduate planner in a city or county council, you’ll be part of a dynamic, supportive and forward-thinking team that’s dedicated to shaping our towns, cities and rural areas. You’ll get the opportunity to work on innovative projects that positively influence the built environment, support local economies, and enhance the quality of life of local communities

Why Local Government? As a Graduate Planner in a Local Authority, you have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the future development of our communities. While furthering your career as a professional planner.

What does a City or County Council Planning Department do? The planning department within Local Authorities regulate and manage development within their county boundaries. Planning departments are responsible for building sustainable communities, creating detailed plans that act as a framework to guide future development, as well as providing expert planning advice, processing planning applications, and enforcing regulations to ensure sustainable growth in our cities and towns.

Which City & County Councils will be hiring Graduate Planners 26 of the 31 City & County Councils will be hiring Graduate Planners as part of this recruitment campaign. For the purposes of the recruitment campaign the country and the 26 Councils are divided up into 5 regions. You can apply for a Graduate Planner position in only two regions. Within each region you will be able to apply for up to a maximum of 5 local authorities within each region).

Who can apply?? You can apply if you are: • a recent graduate with an honour in a level 8 Honours degree or higher in Planning, or • due to graduate this year and expect to achieve an honour in a level 8 Honours degree or higher and • entitled to work in the Republic of Ireland. Existing local authority staff members can also apply if you hold the necessary qualifications detailed above.

Applicants should also possess the following attributes, • Passion for shaping communities and tackling town planning challenges and a collaborative mindset • Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills It is highly desirable that applicants should at the time of commencing employment hold a current valid unendorsed driving licence in respect of Category B vehicles and have access to your own vehicle. It should be noted by applicants that if you are assigned to a rural County Council your employer will require that you are able to undertake work related trips using your own vehicle as soon as possible after commencing employment.

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is co-ordinating the Local Authority Graduate Programme recruitment campaign on behalf of the 26 individual City & County Councils in the Republic participating in this national recruitment competition. If successful, you will be offered an employment contract with an individual City or County Council

Eligibility qualifications and competence to compete To be eligible for these vacancies, applicants must be able to show the following. 1. Graduate status On or before the date on which a local authority makes you a formal job offer you must provide formal documentation confirming that you have recently achieved an honour in an honours degree (Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications). 2. Undergraduates and post-graduate students At the time of application, if you are still a final-year undergraduate or postgraduate student, you can still apply and complete all stages of the application and recruitment process. If you are a final year student and yet to be assigned a grade, you will be asked on the application form to detail the award your course of study will lead to and what grade you expect to obtain when you do graduate. However, you must have proof of having achieved the required award level required (i.e.) an honour in a level 8 honours degree or masters. You must show this to the potential employer as part of the normal pre-employment checks process before they can make any job offer to you. If you can’t prove at the job offer stage that you have achieved at least an honour in an honours degree or masters, a job offer will not be made.

Applicants will not receive any job offers if they have been: • asked to repeat exams or • asked to resubmit elements of their final year course work so that their final results can be issued by the university or educational institute where they did the course of study Applicants must ensure that they are in a position to commence employment when required by the employing Council. As part of your employment you must ensure that you will be able to physically attend the Council offices, on a full-time basis, to begin with.

3. Competency You must also be able to show at interview that you have the competencies for the role of a Graduate Planner. These competencies are defined in Appendix 1 of this document. Certain citizenship requirements that will determine whether you can apply or not. Applicants must, by the date of any job offer, fit into one of the categories below Citizen of the European Union

You are a citizen of one of the 27 member countries of the European Union Citizen of EEA You are a citizen of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA consists of the Member States of: • the European Union • Iceland • Liechtenstein • Norway

Citizen of the UK You are a citizen of the United Kingdom (UK) Switzerland You are a citizen of Switzerland as defined in the agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of persons Spouse or child You are a non-EEA citizen who is a spouse or child of an EEA or UK or Swiss citizen and have a stamp 4 visa International protection You are: • a person awarded international protection under the International Protection Act 2015, or • a family member entitled to remain in the State as a result of family reunification, and • someone with a stamp 4 visa

Parent or dependent You are a non-EEA citizen who is a parent of a dependent child who is a citizen of, and resident in: • an EEA member state or the UK or Switzerland, and • have a stamp 4 visa Valid Department of Justice visa stamp You must hold a valid visa stamp issued by the Department of Justice which clearly allows you to reside in the country and seek employment, for example, stamp 1g. Existing local authority staff If you are a current employee of a City or County Council and possess an honour in a level 8 honours degree in Planning or higher, then you can apply for the position of a Graduate Planner, as long as your current post has a salary scale that starts below the starting salary for a Graduate Planner (i.e.) €38,956. Ex-public servants who previously availed of incentivised early retirement or a Voluntary Redundancy Scheme

You must tell us if you have previously availed of: • a public service scheme of incentivised early retirement, and, or • the collective voluntary redundancy scheme. This collective scheme is detailed in Circular Letter LG(P) 06/2013. You must tell us if you are entitled to a Public Service pension benefit (in payment or preserved) from any other Public Service employment. You must also tell us where you have received a payment-in-lieu for service in any Public Service employment. Why should I apply? Local government is a great place to start and grow your career. The main benefits to working as a Graduate Planner in a City or County Council include: • Starting salary of €38,956 with annual increments • 24 days annual leave per year • Flexible work arrangements • Comprehensive mentoring and structured development programme for career growth as a Planner in Local Government • A structured career pathway that allows you to progress in your chosen career as a professional Planner • Supportive work environment with a focus on well-being Making an application To apply for the Local Authority Graduate Programme, go to www.localgovernmentjobs. ie/graduates and click on and fill out the online application form. The application form asks for details about you, your education and your previous periods of employment. It also asks you to choose the local authorities you are interested in applying for. You can apply for a Graduate Planner position in more than one local authority. Number of Councils that you can apply for Number of regions in which you can apply for a Graduate Planner position 2 regions (max) Maximum number of Councils within a region to which you can apply for a Graduate Planner position 5 local authorities in each region (max) You must select an order of priority (1 to 5 with 1 being your highest priority) for the City or County Council chosen in each of your two regions. You can choose to only apply for one region, but it does reduce your chances of securing employment as a Graduate Planner. However, you should not select a City or County Council as one of your 5 choices if you have no intention of taking up employment with that Council. The LGMA will endeavour to ensure that following your interviews the Council you will be assigned to will match your choice of employers. However, unless you score the highest marks at the interview and are placed high up on the panel, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned to either your no 1 or 2 choices Graduate Planner Development Programme As a Graduate Planner recruit you will take part in a structured development Programme which will be delivered over the duration of your contract. This programme has been designed to meet the demands of Graduate Planner entrants to local government. The aim of the development programme is to make sure that at the end of the three years you will have developed the necessary skills needed to advance your career on to the next level of Planner with your employer (i.e.) Assistant Planner. Each Council will invest in the training and development of the Graduates Planners they recruit. Your employer will provide supports and experience that the Graduates will need to fulfil your potential. Main features of the Graduate Planner development programme The main features and components of the three-year Graduate development programme include: • Block start for all Graduates • Group induction and orientation (centrally delivered) once all Graduate Planners commence employment • Enrolment in the suite of the Planning training courses developed to meet the specific needs of Local Government Planners by the sectors Planning Services Training Group (PSTG) • Dedicated mentoring supports from senior planners • Competency based interview preparation prior to applying for an Assistant Planner vacancy Competency skills and knowledge needed by Graduate Planners are as follows, Purpose and Change • You can demonstrate an understanding of the role played by a local authority on behalf of its citizens and the type of work related to their chosen skills area that local authorities engage in. • You can provide an example of how your qualification and experience to date can be applied to the role of a Graduate Planner?

Delivering Results • You can provide an example of where they had to problem solve and contribute to successful solutions of problems encountered. • You can provide an example of where they have had to apply their academic qualification to delivering results as part of a team or as an individual. • You can provide an example of where they have delivered quality work and/or academic project to prescribed deadlines.

Personal Performance • You can demonstrate the ability engage in two-way dialogue with interviewers and communicate effectively. • Display an understanding of how your skills and knowledge can contribute positively to the efficient delivery of services to the citizen. • You can provide an example of where you have worked effectively with a variety of colleagues in a team.

Personal Effectiveness • You can provide an example of when you have been given responsibility where others were relying upon them doing what they were asked. • You can provide an example of where you have worked to deadlines and demonstrated resilience when setbacks were encountered. • You can provide an example of when you have had to show high levels of initiative, ownership of an assigned tasks and demonstrated self-motivation and self-sufficiency.

Local Authority Graduate Programme 17 In addition, interviewers will be tasked with exploring you the interviewee’s knowledge and understanding of planning and how planning relates to the functions of a local Council. Knowledge & Understanding of Skills Area being interviewed for • Clarify with you the applicant which of your qualifications is most relevant to the skills area they have applied for? Can they explain why they believe it is relevant? • You can display an understanding of what role the Planning section of a Council plays and what types of services does it provide to the public? • You can identify what in your opinion is the most important part/aspect of the role of a Council’s Planning Officer? • You can provide an example of when you applied your academic learning or skills in an actual real life/work/academic situation?