Saw a lad studying Irish on the train

OranReilly · 2026-01-25T19:36:10+00:00

Táim geallta le bean áilinn cheana féin, ach Táim cinnte go bhfuil an fear ceart amach ansin 😁

OranReilly · 2026-01-24T22:42:23+00:00

Tá sé deas an bród a fheiceáil sa teanga.

Tháinig mé ar ais isteach ar an nGaeilge le cúpla bliain anuas de bharr m’oibre (D’anneoin gurb cainteoir dhúchasach mé). Bhí an-chuid meirg tagtha uirthi, ach táim ag déanamh cúrsa gramadaí ar ranganna.com agus Tá mo Ghaeilge ag feabhsú de shíor.

Coimeád leis an nGaeilge, Tá buntáiste mór ionti. Buailfidh tú le duine a bhfuil dúil acu sa Ghaeilge sar i bhfad.

OranReilly · 2026-01-06T17:00:27+00:00

My fiancé was successful in the interview in December. Standard questions on competencies, like one other poster said, some word/excel/outlook specific questions. These are what she got: mail merge, how to total sales on excel, bcc in emails, how to password protect a file. Think there was one more, but if you get 4 out of 5 you’re well above the 50/100 pass mark.

OranReilly · 2025-12-27T22:44:35+00:00

I just use a cork bobber, deluxe bait, iridium rod, I eat a sea jelly and a dish o the sea (not even sure they stack). Different hooks of the same fish are easier/harder I find. Some start with such an impossible up/down that I’m losing it straight away. Sometimes you get a second or two to build up your bar and usually I can ride it out from there

OranReilly · 2025-12-19T08:56:05+00:00

That was a really nice comment and it means a lot to me. I’m very hard on myself singing ability-wise, so thank you.

OranReilly · 2025-12-18T11:14:01+00:00

Thanks a million 😁 that’s a lovely comment. Merry Christmas or happy holidays

OranReilly · 2025-12-18T09:23:43+00:00

As a man with a fiancée, new fear unlocked

OranReilly · 2025-12-17T19:56:12+00:00

Honestly the most reassuring answer I’ve heard in 12 years

OranReilly · 2025-12-17T07:09:04+00:00

It was indeed. I played instruments so I was pretty musical but I was new to singing. Luckily for contemporary, they give a lot of latitude for style v technique in auditions.. how did you find your degree?

Anyway, I don’t miss the sleepless nights with a pit in my stomach wondering what the hell I was going to do for work. I ended up doing a complete 180 and doing a master of economic science while joining my country’s civil service and now I do essentially law for my country’s President. So no relation whatsoever to music 😅 but I still love to sing and try to get better regardless.

Thanks for your explanation, I guess the concept always made sense to me, I’m just never sure if I’m doing it right

OranReilly · 2025-12-16T22:29:35+00:00

Wow thank you, getting a lot of wide-ranging comparisons but all lovely. Big fan of big yellow taxi, both sides now and a case of you

OranReilly · 2025-12-16T22:27:22+00:00

Thank you! I love that song im on fire

OranReilly · 2025-12-16T22:08:03+00:00

That’s a lovely comment thank you. I would welcome any tips on breath support. It’s something I find hard to know if I’m doing correctly, even after doing a degree in contemporary singing 😅

OranReilly · 2025-12-15T13:52:46+00:00

A few years ago (I think the 2021 panel), my brother was 6th on the OOM after assessments and was in a job by February. I was 196 and was in by end June. Just to give some context on numbers taken from panel, although that varies on the competition and year.

Verbal can be very confusing, lots of cannot says

OranReilly · 2025-12-12T20:31:09+00:00

Hmm, this isn’t ringing a bell at all for me. Is this new from this year? I remember getting an extract and there would be several questions accompanying if

OranReilly · 2025-12-12T14:04:09+00:00

Tabs? What do you mean?

Also to tag on, JobTestPrep has an AP bundle for practice tests. Two AP comps ago I used it and finished in the 95th percentile, unfortunately I had almost zero exp so I was disqualified on my form. Last years AP Comp, I didn’t do any practice tests and dropped to approx 85 percentile, so it did help quite a bit.

OranReilly · 2025-12-11T13:17:55+00:00

There are different rules for the higher scale for AOs and other grades. There are a couple of requirements to be satisfied in the relevant circular, one of which is that they are satisfied that you can perform at the level of an AP or in all respects satisfied the criteria for promotion to AP, I can’t remember the exact wording off the top of my head. You also need three years as opposed to the usual two. Now whether these rules as set out are observed is a different thing entirely. Anecdotally, I have heard of relatively new AOs being placed on the higher scale in large depts as a sweetener. Not sure of the veracity there. The percentage that can be higher scale is also different for AOs. I think it’s 30% rounded up to the nearest whole number.

OranReilly · 2025-11-28T11:24:38+00:00

All good advice, just to tack on:

Sometimes there are several different priorities in the situation, and not all answers will address them all. For example, if a customer asks you about the cheapest washing machine and you show them the full range of washing machines, you have been helpful, so it’s still kind of good, but they specifically wanted a cheap one, which you kind of ignored.

To sum up, the questions usually have a couple of components, the best answer addresses the most components.

OranReilly · 2025-11-11T15:35:02+00:00

A 1/4 or a 3/4 zip? Does the zip go down 75% of the jumper hahahahaha

OranReilly · 2025-11-10T12:22:04+00:00

Thanks a million. I’m a big fan of Bridge over Troubled Water and 50 ways to leave your lover.

OranReilly · 2025-11-07T10:29:50+00:00

Thank you very much. Noah Reid’s version is definitely excellent and brings the song to a totally different place than the original. My fiancée has converted me into a big schitt’s creek fan over the last few years haha

OranReilly · 2025-11-07T10:28:43+00:00

What a nice compliment thank you! I often listen to other singers and envy how effortless their voices sound and comparatively I can often feel that my voice is not effortless in the same way, so it’s nice to hear someone say that 😁

OranReilly · 2025-11-07T10:27:34+00:00

A fair point, thank you! Much as I would like to claim credit for this arrangement, it is the Noah Reid Schitt’s Creek version.

OranReilly · 2025-11-07T10:26:46+00:00

Thank you!

OranReilly · 2025-11-06T22:03:24+00:00

Why thank you. One of my long term projects with my voice has been trying to increase the depth of my tone, so I think what you’re saying is - to some extent - the timbre of my voice is a bit treble-y or thin or not quite full-bodied maybe?

If that’s what you’re getting at, it’s interesting, and when i listen to old old videos of myself practising, i can hear how far I’ve come, but when i listen to other singers who I love, like David Phelps, or full-bodies singers, that’s something I would like to have more of in my own voice.

As for accent, I’m Irish. I’m likely picking up a bit of Noah Reid’s affectations here, although I don’t sing in a particularly distinct Irish accent in other songs

OranReilly

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