The HEO online assessments for the Higher Executive Officer in the Civil Service 2026 competition (Vacancy ID 8195) run from Thursday 15 to Thursday 22 October 2026, and publicjobs says the results will be issued at the end of November. Shortlisting follows in December and interviews in January 2027. That leaves you roughly three months to prepare for an interview you may or may not be called to, and this post sets out what happens after the tests and how to use the time between now and an invitation.
I spent five years as a civil servant at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and I now coach candidates through these competitions. The dates below come from the publicjobs competition page, read on 16 October 2026. They may change, so your own publicjobs messages are the final word.
What happens after the HEO online assessments?
Three stages follow the tests: results, shortlisting and interview. publicjobs gives a month for each, and you must get through one to reach the next.
| Stage | publicjobs date |
|---|---|
| Online assessments | Thursday 15 to Thursday 22 October 2026 |
| Results | End of November 2026 |
| Shortlisting | December 2026 |
| Interview | January 2027 |
If you have not yet sat the tests, the window closes on 22 October and publicjobs has said that extension requests cannot be granted. Its test advice page covers your connection, your ID and what you need on your desk. Read it before you start.
What does the HEO Order of Merit mean?
Your Order of Merit is your ranking compared with all other applicants, set by your score in the online assessments. publicjobs says it also affects the pace at which you may progress to later stages. That is a statement about timing, and it is not a job offer.
Standardised scores are scaled against the other candidates, so they are not percentages, and comparing yours with a colleague's tells you very little. If you want to see how a ranking behaves in a similar competition, my post on the AP 2026 Order of Merit works through it, and the glossary has a short entry on Order of Merit.
Will everyone be called forward at once?
No. publicjobs says the number of candidates called forward to any stage depends on the vacancies that departments identify, and that the competition is expected to be active for two years on a demand-led basis. Most vacancies are expected in the wider Dublin area, with a limited number in some regional locations.
In competitions like this, candidates are called forward in batches from the top of the Order of Merit. The competition page gives no cut-off, and forum figures come from other competitions with different fields and different numbers of vacancies, so anyone who tells you a particular rank is safe is guessing. The practical point is that your call to interview could come in January or later, which is a good reason not to wait for it before you start preparing.
What can you do between now and the results?
The tests are done and the form is closed, so the one thing still in your hands is the interview. You have about six weeks before the results arrive, and it is the quietest stretch you will get.
Start with the four dimensions of the HEO capability framework, which is the basis for assessment at this grade, and find at least two examples from your own work for each:
- Building Future Readiness. Strategic awareness and change, and digital focus, innovation and upskilling. Look for a change you led or supported, and a time you used new technology or improved how something was done.
- Evidence Informed Delivery. Delivering excellence, and analysis, judgement and decision making. Look for a decision you made from data, and a piece of work you delivered with a result you can state.
- Leading and Empowering. Leading, motivating and developing, and leading with specialist insight. Look for a time you developed someone on your team or managed their performance, and a time you shared your expertise.
- Communicating and Collaborating. Communicating and influencing, and engaging and collaborating. Look for a difficult conversation or a negotiation, and work with stakeholders outside your own team.
If you are not sure which experiences to use, my post on building an example bank shows how to map your career against a framework. Choose the occasions where something was difficult or people disagreed, because those give you more to say than the ones that went smoothly.
What should you do when the results arrive?
Whatever your result, keep preparing. Shortlisting in December rests on the application form you submitted by 10 September, and the form cannot be changed. Reread it properly, because it is sensible to assume that questions may follow what you wrote. Treat the examples in it as the ones you may be asked about, and have more behind them. My post on how a shortlisting board reads an application form explains what a board is doing when it scores a form.
December shortlisting and a January interview put Christmas in the middle, and the notice between an invitation and the interview itself may be short. Candidates who have done the example work before the invitation arrives are in a much better position than those who start when it does.
How should you prepare for the HEO interview?
A board can only mark what you say, so the aim is to give it enough of what you did to mark. Five things make the difference.
- Build each answer around one named occasion, not your role in general. A sentence like "I regularly lead projects" gives a board very little to mark.
- Use the STAR method, and spend most of the answer on the action. Keep the situation short, because the board cannot mark it, and end on the result.
- Say what you did with I rather than we. Candidates who stay at the level of "the team did" may lose marks, because the board is assessing you and cannot credit you with what a team did.
- Cut the softeners. "I suppose", "ended up", "I was lucky" and "I had the opportunity to" all make your own part sound smaller than it was.
- Practice out loud. Reading notes silently is not practice. Pick a question at random, answer it aloud, record yourself, and listen back. It is uncomfortable for the first few goes and then it gets easier.
Expect the board to probe. A follow-up like "what was your own part in that?" or "what would you do differently?" is easy when you have thought about the example beforehand, and difficult when you have not.
What happens if you are invited to interview?
publicjobs lists interviews for January 2027, and the competition page does not set out the format, so the details will come with your invitation. The capability framework is published, which is why I would prepare against its four dimensions.
If you want to rehearse with someone who will probe the way a board does, my interview and test preparation sessions are mock competency-based interviews against the capability framework, with written feedback afterwards. You can read what a session involves before you decide. If you are invited to interview and would like support, email me at sarah@dedico.ie.
Frequently asked questions
When will the HEO 2026 online assessment results be issued?
publicjobs says Stage 1 results will be issued to candidates at the end of November 2026. The online assessments run from Thursday 15 to Thursday 22 October 2026, and extension requests to the assessment deadline cannot be granted.
What does the Order of Merit mean in the HEO 2026 competition?
Your Order of Merit is your ranking compared with all other applicants, set by your score in the online assessments. publicjobs says it affects the pace at which you may progress to later stages. It is not a job offer.
Will everyone who sits the HEO online assessments be called to interview?
Not necessarily, and not all at once. publicjobs says the number of candidates called forward to any stage depends on the vacancies that departments identify, and the competition is expected to be active for two years. A candidate lower on the Order of Merit may wait longer for the next stage.
When are the HEO 2026 shortlisting and interviews?
The publicjobs timeline gives shortlisting in December 2026 and interviews in January 2027. These dates may change, so check your publicjobs messages.
Can I change my HEO application form after the online assessments?
No. Applications closed on 10 September 2026, so the form cannot be changed now. Shortlisting in December 2026 rests on the form you submitted, so it is worth rereading it before then.
How should I prepare for the HEO interview?
Start before you know your result. Choose two or three examples from your own work for each of the four dimensions of the HEO capability framework (Building Future Readiness, Evidence Informed Delivery, Leading and Empowering, and Communicating and Collaborating), build each one around what you personally did and how it ended, and practice saying them aloud. The results and the form cannot be changed, but the interview can be prepared for.
What will the HEO interview be like?
publicjobs has not published the HEO interview format on the competition page, and the details will come with your invitation. The capability framework for the grade is published, so preparing against its four dimensions is the sensible basis.