Special Report
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Public sector offers rewarding and challenging careers

The very mention of public-sector careers tends to conjure up images of desk-bound days dealing with paperwork and bureaucracy, but the reality is very different

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist is one of many rewarding careers in the public sector. Photograph: iStock
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist is one of many rewarding careers in the public sector. Photograph: iStock

Here are five very different jobs which were recently advertised on publicjobs.ie.

Psychologist with the Public Appointments Service

Salary range: €46,720-€91,853

A psychologist with the Public Appointments Service procures, designs and develops appropriate assessment tools and materials to support a diverse range of recruitment campaigns. They give advice and support to recruitment units and share professional expertise regarding the assessment process.

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They are involved at all stages of the recruitment and selection process, from designing role profiles to evaluating the outcome of recruitment and selection campaigns. They benchmark and identify innovative assessment solutions to meet ongoing recruitment challenges. Psychologists are also required to deliver training courses on assessment and selection-related matters. They have responsibility for reviewing and updating selection systems and making necessary adjustments and amendments from time to time. The role also involves raising awareness, within public service organisations, of best-practice procedures in recruitment and selection.

Arts officer, Roscommon County Council

Salary range: €49,835-€64,786

An arts officer is responsible for the preparation and implementation of arts plans for the county. They represent the arts agenda both internally and externally within the council as well as to other key agencies in the county, and nationally, and where appropriate internationally.

The arts officer leads and develops the staff of the arts service through the programme of projects, events and policy development. They also make funding applications and seek to secure resources to enable the implementation of the arts plan and the development of the arts office.

Other duties include integrating arts and cultural policies and programmes with other policies and work of the council; establishing an information and advice service on the arts; developing proposals on the housing of the arts; ensuring a balanced arts and cultural provision throughout the county, both through the encouragement of local activity and through touring arts and the provision of support and resources; liaising with the Arts Council and other art bodies; and organising and promoting arts events, exhibitions, performances in the county.

Urban Traffic Engineer – Galway

Salary range: €49,543-€68,868

An urban traffic engineer contributes to the maintenance and development of the urban traffic management and control (UTMC) system, including all hardware, databases, software, firmware and licences as well as the maintenance and extension of signalling equipment, including all installed roadside equipment necessary for the control of traffic.

Duties include participating in the planning and development of all modes of transportation in the city; using modern information technology systems and resources in the development of transportation in the city and its environs; contributing to the maintenance of up-to-date databases for traffic and travel patterns as well as population and settlement data for use in transport planning and traffic management; and assisting in the evaluation and reporting on major planning applications with regard to traffic management and transportation issues and their impact on the road network.

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist – HSE Dublin North East

Dublin North City Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Salary range: €141,026-€195,653

The Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist leads a multidisciplinary team comprising senior clinical psychologists, senior social workers, clinical nurse specialists, senior speech and language therapists, senior occupational therapists, registrars and senior registrars. The consultant is responsible for assessment and treatment of patients with moderate to severe mental illness and for providing clinical supervision of the multi-disciplinary team context. The consultant also undertakes supervision of clinical work and professional development of senior registrars and registrars on placement with the team.

Other duties and responsibilities include the assessment of emergency, urgent and routine referrals from primary community services; prioritisation of children referred for attendance; outreach to identify severe or complex mental health need, especially where families are reluctant to engage with mental health services; and ongoing assessment and treatment of children and adolescents once accepted to the service.

Estate manager, Longford County Council

Salary range: €42,777-€51,374

The Estate Manager is responsible for the management of local-authority housing estates in the county and for the prevention and management of anti-social behaviour. Duties include liaising with residents directly and through their associations; liaising with other statutory service providers and voluntary agencies; obtaining and communicating the views of residents in relation to proposed projects and developments in estates; preparing and disseminating of relevant literature and information; ensuring compliance with the conditions of tenancy agreements; dealing with illegal parking of caravans; implementation of laws in relation to control of horses and dogs and other animals on local authority estates; investigating and dealing with anti-social behaviour; mediating on resident conflict and other related issues arising; house inspections to ascertain compliance with tenancy agreements; investigations into illegal occupations of local authority houses; and attendance at court proceedings as witness on behalf of Longford County Council.

Barry McCall

Barry McCall is a contributor to The Irish Times