For many midlife professionals, Returners, and career changers, the Irish civil and public service can feel both appealing and mysterious. To help demystify the process, we recently hosted a webinar focused on careers, recruitment, and real-life transitions into public sector roles — and the level of interest told its own story.
Here are the key takeaways from a lively and practical session that covered everything from how recruitment works to what it’s really like to make the move.
Civil Service vs Public Service: What’s the Difference?
A useful starting point was clarifying terminology:
The Civil Service consists of 18 government departments, focused on policy development, administration, and supporting government decision-making.
The Public Service is broader and includes public-facing services such as healthcare, education, local authorities, and regulatory bodies.
Recruitment for many of these roles is managed centrally, with hundreds of competitions run every year and tens of thousands of applications received. The scale is significant — but so is the variety of roles on offer.
A Changing Public Sector — and a Strong Case for Diversity
One of the most encouraging messages from the session was how much the public sector is evolving. There has been a deliberate shift in how public sector careers are presented, moving away from outdated stereotypes and towards showcasing:
- specialist and professional roles,
- flexible and hybrid working,
- inclusive approaches to recruitment,
- and long-term career development.
Diversity and inclusion aren’t “nice-to-haves” — they are seen as essential to better decision-making, innovation, and retention. Importantly for returners, this includes recognition that people come with non-linear career paths, caring responsibilities, health considerations, and valuable experience gained outside traditional trajectories.
How Recruitment Works: What Applicants Need to Know
A significant portion of the webinar focused on how to apply successfully.
Key points included:
- Always read the information booklet carefully — it really matters.
- Deadlines are strict, so planning ahead is essential.
Applicants can set up job alerts and request reasonable accommodations at any stage of the process.
One important change highlighted was the introduction of a new capability framework, which replaces the older competency model.
This framework is designed to:
- better reflect real-world skills,
- allow candidates to draw on a wider range of experiences,
- and reduce some of the barriers that traditional competency-based applications created for career changers.
In short: your experience counts — even if it didn’t come from a conventional background.
A Real Returner Story: From Retail to the Civil Service
One of the most powerful moments of the session came from a personal career transition story.
Rebecca shared her journey from retail management into the civil service, navigating, a major career change, personal challenges, neurodivergence, and the realities of returning to work later in life.
Her experience highlighted what many attendees found reassuring, her experience around flexibility around working hours, hybrid and part-time options, supportive managers, and a culture that values people as whole humans, not just CVs.
Today, she balances part-time work with further study and family life — a reminder that public sector careers can be both stable and adaptable.
Addressing Common Concerns: Gaps, Age, and “Am I Too Late?”
Unsurprisingly, many questions focused on issues returners worry about most:
- gaps in employment,
- age limits,
- references,
- and whether previous experience will be recognised.
The consistent message was case-by-case consideration. There is flexibility in how experience is assessed, and alternative forms of verification — such as character references or statements of employment — can be used where needed.
Thinking About Applying? This Is Your Sign
If there was one clear takeaway from the webinar, it was this:
If you meet the criteria — apply.
The public sector is actively trying to reach a broader, more diverse talent pool, and midlife professionals bring depth, judgement, and resilience that organisations need.
If you’ve been curious about public sector roles but unsure whether you “fit the mould”, this session made one thing clear: the mould is changing.
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