CANDIDATE INFORMATION BOOKLET – GENERAL OPERATIVE

Longford County Council is one of Local Authorities in the Republic of Ireland. The Council
has responsibility for the delivery of a wide range of services which are necessary to the
physical, economic, social and cultural life of County Longford, with a focus on making
Longford an attractive place to live, work and invest.
The following comprises the areas of service delivery in Longford County Council:
• Economic & Community Development • Fire & Emergency Services
• Local Enterprise • Environment
• Planning • Finance
• Cultural & Recreational Services • Information Services
• Infrastructure • Corporate Services

• Water Services • Human Resources

• Housing

This is an opportunity to gain employment in the role of General Operative with Longford
County Council.
Longford County Council is committed to a policy of open and fair
recruitment, in line with good practice, recruitment & selection standards,
employment legislation and relevant circulars from the Department of
Housing, Local Government & Heritage.
This Candidate Information Booklet is intended to provide information on
the post of General Operative and the selection process and candidates
are advised to familiarise themselves with the detailed information in
advance of submitting their application.
Candidates should satisfy themselves that they are eligible under the
Qualifications to apply for the post of General Operative.
Where a candidate provides false or misleading information or has
deliberately omitted relevant information on their application form this
may result in their disqualification from the competition.

THE POSITION

Longford County Council is seeking to form panels from which permanent, temporary and temporary
seasonal posts may be filled at General Operative grade. The General Operative grade is an entry-level
outdoor grade in Longford County Council and is a critical post in terms of ensuring quality service
delivery to the public.
Typical services include roads and transportation, maintenance of social housing units and estates,
environmental, upkeep of recreation and amenity facilities etc. The role is likely to be outdoors,
operational and manual and the duties will vary according to the functional area to which the person is
assigned. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, adaptable, flexible, and capable of acting on their
own initiative and someone with a strong sense of commitment to delivering quality public services.

. EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE ETC.

• Candidates shall have obtained a good general level of education to enable him/her to
  successfully undergo the appropriate training and to perform his/her duties
  satisfactorily.

and

• Candidates shall hold a current unendorsed full Irish driving licence (Class B).

CANDIDATE INFORMATION BOOKLET – GENERAL OPERATIVE

Candidates who are successful in the interview process will be qualified for appointment in order of
merit and placed on a panel. This panel may be used to fill both permanent and temporary General
Operative vacancies that may arise during the life of the panel.
It should be noted that placement on a panel may not necessarily lead to a job offer. The selection
process is not concluded until sought references are received and all other clearance checks, e.g. Garda
Vetting, occupational health, verification of education qualifications, etc, have been carried out to the
satisfaction of the Council.
Candidates on the General Operative panel who satisfy all the requirements for the post may be
offered employment subject to:
. Their place, in order of merit, on the panel. The requirements of Longford County Council.
Should a candidate decline an offer of employment or having accepted an offer of employment
relinquish it prior to commencing in the post, they will be deemed to have withdrawn their application
from the competition.. Feedback
Candidates shall be notified of the outcome of each stage of the selection process as soon as possible.
If, following the interview, a candidate is placed on a panel they shall be informed of their position on
the panel. Details of marks attained in the interview process will be provided upon receipt of written
request.. Deeming of candidature to be withdrawn
Candidates who do not attend for interview when and where required by the Longford County Council
or who do not, when requested, furnish such evidence as required by Longford County Council within
the specified timeframe, regarding any matter relevant to their candidature, will be deemed to have
withdrawn their application from the competition.. References
Applicants are required to advise the names of two responsible persons to whom they are well known
but not related.
In advance of any offer of employment, Longford County Council reserves the right to seek both written
and verbal references from current and previous employers, educational institutions or any other
organisations with which the candidate has been associated. Longford County Council reserves the right
to determine the merit, appropriateness and relevance of such references and referees. Information
sought from referees shall be structured around the requirements of the job and the job description,
person specification and/or competency profile provided.

. VERIFICATION OF EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

Prior to appointment, the candidate will be required to present the original parchment of their
certificate, diploma and/or degree and any other supporting documentation required by the Council*,

to the Human Resources department in order to verify their qualifications.

• Non-Irish Qualifications must be accompanied by a determination from Quality and

Qualifications Ireland (QQI) to establish their comparability against the Irish National
Framework of Qualifications, overseas qualifications must also be accompanied by a translation
document.

A GENERAL OPERATIVE’S DUTIES MAY INCLUDE BUT WILL NOT BE LIMITED TO;

• be responsible for the safe keeping of all stores and equipment that has been allocated to him/her

for the purpose of carrying out his/her duties;

• undertake street cleaning duties;
• clean out vacant social housing units;
• lift, carry, stack concrete blocks, bricks, kerbs and cement;
• drive - van, tractor, pickup;
• patch - macadam, tar and chippings;
• open water cuts;
• mix mortar in concrete mixer & laying concrete;
• use a wheelbarrow, yard brush, shovel, etc.;
• surface dress, sweep chips and be involved in traffic control measures;
• be involved in works relating drainage, road sewers, cleaning of gullies;
• treat roads for oil spillage;
• cut grass using lawn mower, strimmer, tractor & mower
• lay pipes, ducting, watermains etc.;
• assist in fencing, concrete post and rail and concrete post and chain link;
• build walls, clean, paint signs;
• erect traffic signs/poles and traffic lights and other traffic management equipment;
• load and unload traffic management equipment;
• operate equipment such as jackhammer, consaw, sledge etc
• be required to undertake the duties of a higher grade where necessary
• work with the Water Services Repair crew when required;
• be available to work out of hours when required
• participate and take part in the duties as required as part of the organizational response to Climate

Action to promote and ensure capacity building, empowering change and delivering action.

• Employees must participate and take part in all aspects of the Safety Management System as

required.

• any other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

This is a non-exhaustive list and is only a representation of the works the successful candidate may be
involved in as part of a team.