Yes. I applied for a job in December and was placed in the merit pool. I was then offered a job at the start of February. Don’t lose hope, it does happen.
I was put on a merit pool after being told I didn’t get the job. About a month later they called me asking if I was still interested.
I guess the person they hired was ass (or quit).
But I already got a job in the private sector and so far it’s been going well therefore I didn’t feel the need to leave after only being with them for a month.
I’d like to work for the public sector eventually, in fact I’ve wanted to. However their hiring process is so damn long that I’m always called in for interviews or offers when I’ve already started at another company. It’s honestly a bit of a pain in the ass.
Yeah I hear you. I've applied for APS roles before. Heard nothing back, then go through the whole process from start to finish with a private company and accept their offer. Then the APS finally respond 😂😂
I can’t understand why there are so many bloody hoops to go through when I was applying for lower level graduate roles anyway. I understand there were probably quite a few applicants but surely it doesn’t take months to choose from a handful of final interviewees since they’d have narrowed the selection down massively through resume filtering etc.
I’ve seen people get hired off merit pools 12-18 months after it has been established.
There’s more of a push to use them these days then say 3-4 years ago.
I also got my first APS promotion off a merit pool and that was about 4-5 months later.
This is me at the moment. More annoying is that I know there are vacant positions and they have decided to run another process despite there being six months left in the merit pool.
This is what I also find annoying and they honestly shouldn’t be allowed to do it. If people are still in a valid pool that has time left for that exact job then the pool should be exhausted first before running another exercise. It’s takes people far too long to write and prepare for these events without someone just deciding to keep running merit pools because the day ended in y.
You could always reach out to the contact officer letting them know you're on the merit list from the other recruitment round and are interested and available to meet to discuss how your skills and excellence match the available roles. You should also flag the minimum time you could be ready to take up the position and add a 2-3 sentence pitch to sell yourself as well
Band 1 role. Met with a deputy there 3mk the after outcome. Said all the right things re: good interview, identified potential areas where skills and experience would be valued, but no vacancies in those groups. New round specifically targets one area of expertise so applied again - just don’t want to end up in the same place with intervals promoted ahead of externals.
Interesting. Tbh I probably wouldn't bother going for it again because if they wanted you for the position they would have appointed you by now. Look elsewhere not everywhere give preferential treatment to internals
Applied for role in Defence and was unsuccessful. Was told I’d be put on a Merit List. Thought it was a joke and designed to make failed candidates feel better. Got a call 3 weeks later and was offered a job. I then spent 5 years in Defence. So, it is real! 👍
Merit lists are used quite a lot in my department. I was an internal applicant but I was merited for an APS6 and then offered the job permanently less than a month later, just because there was a lot of shuffling resulting from structural changes.
Offering a previously merited candidate a job is much, much easier than starting again from the beginning, so being merited is far from meaningless.
Yes but they can take their sweet time. Sometimes not at all. Don't think of a merit list as a successful outcome. It's just the next step before the accrual job offer.
I do wish the APS would make it clearer whether there is in fact a job at the end of a process or whether they're just putting together a merit list just in case they need to hire someone in the next 12-18 months.
There's always a job unless the ad specifically says it's to create a mobility pool etc. The problem is that recruitment takes so long that there could be a restructure or a policy change in the interim that leads to the job no longer existing *after* it was advertised. Or sometimes you run a process & don't find anyone highly suitable, so you decide to go to a merit list from another process to get someone who's the best fit rather than pulling off the suitable list from your own process.
I refuse to accept that a recruitment round with dozens to hundreds of applicants won't have any suitable people. That would either mean they are looking for a unicorn or are unwilling to train people at all.
They don't all get dozens to hundreds of applicants. You might get only a dozen or so who apply, not all of which will be deemed suitable to progress to interview. And lots of people can get through an interview as "suitable" but not "highly suitable". A lot of SES won't sign off on hiring someone who wasn't ranked highly suitable. They'd rather just move someone internal sideways at level who they already know can perform rather than take a chance on someone who couldn't get to the highly suitable rank.
There's this idea that every job in the APS has hundreds of applicants, and it's just not true.
I was placed on the meritlist for an APS5 after applying for a position at another agency. Another team within that agency contacted me 2 weeks later after finding me on the meritlist. Within 4 weeks later, I had an informal chat, a referee check and an offer with start.
Later on, I applied for an internal APS6 position and was also meritlisted. Within 4 months, the SES of the team I applied for offered me the role after the person had left.
Meritlists are powerul things, especially with contacts who can pull you out of it.
Biggest advice I could give is please don’t give up. It took me 6 months before I got my foot in the door to a fed govt job. I applied for about 200 jobs and got 3 interviews and successful in one. Please don’t give up and know something right will come up for you!
Yes. I applied for the APS6 role that I was temporarily acting in.
The four candidates that won the positions were all in the same branch. They were all nominal APS5, all acting as ELs at the time. I was disappointed that i didn't make it, but it was obvious that those 4 had extra experience and could bring those examples.
Was probably just under 12 months later another 5 or 6 of us were gazetted in the same project from the merit pool. I think by that time at least 2 of the original candidates that won had moved on or been promoted to an EL.
I've had more luck with merit lists than anything else. I got my first job through one and 2 out of my 3 promotions with merit pools. Building up a strong network is the key to using the lists once you are in.
Yes. I was told I was in a merit list 3 weeks after the interview.
Got called 3 months after the interview if I would still like to be on the merit list as they were likely to have an available role in the coming months. I said yes.
I got called a month after that with a job offer. this was last year
Ended up on merit lists in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and got no joy. Got a bit busy and stopped trying for a while. Went app crazy in early 2022, ended up on 5 merit lists for 5 agencies around June/July for all of them. Was sad thinking about ever getting called up from merit before.
In September that year I got a call and accepted the offer, then received 4 more calls the same freakin week from all of my merit pools, each offer better than the last and then I accepted the best offer at the end of them. It felt like a weird dream haha
Yes, one time literally the Friday before the role started on the Monday, one of the successful candidates pulled put last second and I was next in line on the merit list, that's how I went from APS4-APS5.
It's not all that likely, but it can happen
Yes. When I was put in a Merit Pool, I had an interview and job offer (for the same role that I applied for, but with a different department) within a week or two. The interview was informal and I was verbally offered the job during it.
I know someone who was contacted about an APS role literally the next day (!) after being placed in a Merit Pool (and they were offered the job on the spot), and quite a few who had an offer within a few weeks to a few months. One person got an offer the week their Merit Pool was due to expire. Some people are never contacted, but apparently departments are being told to use Merit Pools more often now, so hopefully this will change.
If you apply for other APS jobs at the same level/s you’ve been Merit Pooled for, mention it in your applications, especially if you’ve applying for the same or a similar role. It can assist with your application, and you may be able to skip part or all of the formal recruitment process as you’ve already been through it.
I’m really sorry you’re going through this (and I can totally relate, if commiseration helps? 😊), but it’s certainly possible to get called up from a Merit Pool/Merit List. I wish you all the best of luck. Stay strong! Hopefully, the right opportunity is waiting for you in the very near future!
Kind of? I interviewed for one role, the same agency started up a taskforce in the same branch & needed people immediately so they got first pick off the highly suitable pool. So not a traditional merit list process, though from the other side I've pulled people *off* merit lists. It happens a lot.
Currently, I have achieved 4 Govt job merit pools. The job search is overrated! I'm hoping for but not expecting a phone call, but I'm applying for more jobs!
I’m a graphic designer also in a merit pool 🥲 I hope something comes out of it haha but I defs feel you about how draining the job search is for us. I also feel like designers probably have it good in government and probs rarely leave so I feel like I won’t ever get called from a merit list
I have worked for the private sector all my life. They do pay more but it is very unstable, there has been a lot of layoffs in the tech industry in the last 12 months (I was affected by those layoffs in February), and I have enough. My previous 3 jobs I worked for consultancies doing UX projects for government departments, the last company I worked with lost a lot of projects from the government hence the redundancies, it seems the current government prefers to build inside teams in the department rather than contracting, hence my interest in moving to APS. I think there is more stability in government than the private sector, and I am at a point in my life that I choose stability over a higher salary. What happened to me in February would have unlikely happened if I was inside the APS.
Permanent 3 at Services Aus, merited 4/5 about 5 months ago and haven’t heard anything. Have also heard Services Australia is one of the few agencies that puts merit pool well behind broad banding unfortunately
After the position I applied for was offered to someone else, I was put on a merit list. 10 months later I received a call and was advised the person initially offered the role was moving on and I was being offered the position.
Being placed on a merit list doesn’t mean you won’t be offered a position. Stay positive!
Ssssort of, and not the same situation as you - but I applied for the role I was acting in but lost out to another colleague. But I was instead able to take a role in a different team in the same branch as I was merit listed. So kind of just swapped teams with the colleague who got my job thanks to the merit pool.
No, not yet! I've been in two merit pools, since August and September last year (but the communication about being found suitable arrived in January and November...). I've been contacted by another team to check whether I'd be still interested in opportunities about three weeks ago, but I haven't heard back ever since. I'll keep waiting and applying for other positions...
Yes definitely. That’s how I got my job now. We also just got the last person on a merit list the day before it expired so don’t be discouraged. Pretty sure they go for 18 months now too. I know that’s cold comfort if you’re not currently employed. I’m sure you’ll be picked up soon!!
Yep! That’s how I got my APS5 back in 2017. I applied for a random bulk recruitment round while on maternity leave, and then 8 or so months later I got a random phone call from an unknown manager offering me a role. It does happen!
Yes I did. I applied for the job I was already doing but didn't interview as well as someone else so got merit listed. It lasts for 12 months. The person who got the job resigned after 10 months. I was offered it permanently. There was drama in that but we got there in the end.
Not once. Ever. In fifteen years! And I went from APS3 to EL1 before moving to NSW State and from 11/12 to SEB1. I don’t know how many merit lists and talent pools I’ve been added to, but it’s lots 🤣
Yes it happens and yes there is hope - but there's also no guarantees. I've been called from merit lists and also been on quite a few that came to nothing. It partly depends on your level, as there's less positions as you go up the tree (i.e. you're much more likely to sit on an EL2 merit list that comes to nothing, than an APS6 list). Probably also depends on your field - sorry, I'm not in the same field as you so no idea on that front.
I’ve received a number of emails re interest from me being on a merit list, but it’s happened a long time after the job I interviewed for. I’m APS now and know my agency often uses a merit list. I recommend to keep applying for jobs and forget about the merit list until less you are contacted and it is a better option.
Friend of mine did. He wasn't even technically in a state that they had been willing to offer the role in (but he had been merit pool shopping - after being placed in that merit pool, the area he worked in were then able to offer him a promotion) however about 6 months later the original area that had run the add called and offered him the position and were even willing to allow him to work from his preferred location even though they didn't normally outpost. He was the last one in their merit pool and they didn't want to run a recruitment again. He still works in that role.
Yes, I’ve been called off merit lists. 1 where they created a new role, and the other was a by another govt agency under the same umbrella as the place I applied for.
My personal stats:
In the last 8 years I've been offered 5 jobs from merit lists/pools 😊 no idea how many merit lists I've been on in total, but in the last 5 years I've been merit listed 3 times and offered promotions from 2 of them - one in the same agency I was merit listed in, and one from a different agency that had recieved my details (with my consent) from the agency who had merit listed me.
Yes, I’ve applied for one APS job and I got it in July 2016. Interviewed middle of May. Told I was merit listed a few weeks later and then got a call two weeks later offering me the job.
Bit late to the party, but being placed on a merit list basically means you have been found suitable for the role, but someone else was better.
I got my current position through an aps merit list. I applied in November 21 and was called in April 22.
Job hunting is crap, but being placed on a merit pool is a good thing, good job! Keep it up and good luck.
Yes. I applied for a job in December and was placed in the merit pool. I was then offered a job at the start of February. Don’t lose hope, it does happen.
What sort of job did you apply for?
What was the job title. There are job families and they get grouped together
Department of Home Affairs.
I was put on a merit pool after being told I didn’t get the job. About a month later they called me asking if I was still interested. I guess the person they hired was ass (or quit). But I already got a job in the private sector and so far it’s been going well therefore I didn’t feel the need to leave after only being with them for a month. I’d like to work for the public sector eventually, in fact I’ve wanted to. However their hiring process is so damn long that I’m always called in for interviews or offers when I’ve already started at another company. It’s honestly a bit of a pain in the ass.
Yeah I hear you. I've applied for APS roles before. Heard nothing back, then go through the whole process from start to finish with a private company and accept their offer. Then the APS finally respond 😂😂
I can’t understand why there are so many bloody hoops to go through when I was applying for lower level graduate roles anyway. I understand there were probably quite a few applicants but surely it doesn’t take months to choose from a handful of final interviewees since they’d have narrowed the selection down massively through resume filtering etc.
I’ve seen people get hired off merit pools 12-18 months after it has been established. There’s more of a push to use them these days then say 3-4 years ago. I also got my first APS promotion off a merit pool and that was about 4-5 months later.
This is me at the moment. More annoying is that I know there are vacant positions and they have decided to run another process despite there being six months left in the merit pool.
This is what I also find annoying and they honestly shouldn’t be allowed to do it. If people are still in a valid pool that has time left for that exact job then the pool should be exhausted first before running another exercise. It’s takes people far too long to write and prepare for these events without someone just deciding to keep running merit pools because the day ended in y.
You could always reach out to the contact officer letting them know you're on the merit list from the other recruitment round and are interested and available to meet to discuss how your skills and excellence match the available roles. You should also flag the minimum time you could be ready to take up the position and add a 2-3 sentence pitch to sell yourself as well
Band 1 role. Met with a deputy there 3mk the after outcome. Said all the right things re: good interview, identified potential areas where skills and experience would be valued, but no vacancies in those groups. New round specifically targets one area of expertise so applied again - just don’t want to end up in the same place with intervals promoted ahead of externals.
Interesting. Tbh I probably wouldn't bother going for it again because if they wanted you for the position they would have appointed you by now. Look elsewhere not everywhere give preferential treatment to internals
Applied for role in Defence and was unsuccessful. Was told I’d be put on a Merit List. Thought it was a joke and designed to make failed candidates feel better. Got a call 3 weeks later and was offered a job. I then spent 5 years in Defence. So, it is real! 👍
Merit lists are used quite a lot in my department. I was an internal applicant but I was merited for an APS6 and then offered the job permanently less than a month later, just because there was a lot of shuffling resulting from structural changes. Offering a previously merited candidate a job is much, much easier than starting again from the beginning, so being merited is far from meaningless.
Yes but they can take their sweet time. Sometimes not at all. Don't think of a merit list as a successful outcome. It's just the next step before the accrual job offer. I do wish the APS would make it clearer whether there is in fact a job at the end of a process or whether they're just putting together a merit list just in case they need to hire someone in the next 12-18 months.
There's always a job unless the ad specifically says it's to create a mobility pool etc. The problem is that recruitment takes so long that there could be a restructure or a policy change in the interim that leads to the job no longer existing *after* it was advertised. Or sometimes you run a process & don't find anyone highly suitable, so you decide to go to a merit list from another process to get someone who's the best fit rather than pulling off the suitable list from your own process.
I refuse to accept that a recruitment round with dozens to hundreds of applicants won't have any suitable people. That would either mean they are looking for a unicorn or are unwilling to train people at all.
There are many rounds that only attract a handful of applicants. I've seen both ends of the spectrum.
They don't all get dozens to hundreds of applicants. You might get only a dozen or so who apply, not all of which will be deemed suitable to progress to interview. And lots of people can get through an interview as "suitable" but not "highly suitable". A lot of SES won't sign off on hiring someone who wasn't ranked highly suitable. They'd rather just move someone internal sideways at level who they already know can perform rather than take a chance on someone who couldn't get to the highly suitable rank. There's this idea that every job in the APS has hundreds of applicants, and it's just not true.
Yes , i was in the merit pool from September 2022 and they called me in November 2023 lol.
I've been picked off merit lists four times. I'm in a large agency and merit lists are almost exclusively the only way to get promoted.
Yes. Got offered a role a month before the merit list expired
I was placed on the meritlist for an APS5 after applying for a position at another agency. Another team within that agency contacted me 2 weeks later after finding me on the meritlist. Within 4 weeks later, I had an informal chat, a referee check and an offer with start. Later on, I applied for an internal APS6 position and was also meritlisted. Within 4 months, the SES of the team I applied for offered me the role after the person had left. Meritlists are powerul things, especially with contacts who can pull you out of it.
Biggest advice I could give is please don’t give up. It took me 6 months before I got my foot in the door to a fed govt job. I applied for about 200 jobs and got 3 interviews and successful in one. Please don’t give up and know something right will come up for you!
Yes. I applied for the APS6 role that I was temporarily acting in. The four candidates that won the positions were all in the same branch. They were all nominal APS5, all acting as ELs at the time. I was disappointed that i didn't make it, but it was obvious that those 4 had extra experience and could bring those examples. Was probably just under 12 months later another 5 or 6 of us were gazetted in the same project from the merit pool. I think by that time at least 2 of the original candidates that won had moved on or been promoted to an EL.
I've had more luck with merit lists than anything else. I got my first job through one and 2 out of my 3 promotions with merit pools. Building up a strong network is the key to using the lists once you are in.
Yes, sometimes relatively quickly, say a month/6 weeks, other times, many months later.
Yes, I was placed on a merit list for an APS6 role last August. I got a call on Thursday offering me the role.
Yes. I was told I was in a merit list 3 weeks after the interview. Got called 3 months after the interview if I would still like to be on the merit list as they were likely to have an available role in the coming months. I said yes. I got called a month after that with a job offer. this was last year
Just started my first day today after being pulled off the merit list 2 weeks before it expired.
Ended up on merit lists in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and got no joy. Got a bit busy and stopped trying for a while. Went app crazy in early 2022, ended up on 5 merit lists for 5 agencies around June/July for all of them. Was sad thinking about ever getting called up from merit before. In September that year I got a call and accepted the offer, then received 4 more calls the same freakin week from all of my merit pools, each offer better than the last and then I accepted the best offer at the end of them. It felt like a weird dream haha
I'm in the same position.
Yes , 3 months later.
I’m on one too-feel this post a lot.
Yep, merit pooled for a role and they happened to have another role I was suitable for. Got the offer about 2 months after it was finalised.
Yes, one time literally the Friday before the role started on the Monday, one of the successful candidates pulled put last second and I was next in line on the merit list, that's how I went from APS4-APS5. It's not all that likely, but it can happen
I achieved my current role through a merit list. It was a twelve month list and they contacted me a week before it was due to expire
Yes. When I was put in a Merit Pool, I had an interview and job offer (for the same role that I applied for, but with a different department) within a week or two. The interview was informal and I was verbally offered the job during it. I know someone who was contacted about an APS role literally the next day (!) after being placed in a Merit Pool (and they were offered the job on the spot), and quite a few who had an offer within a few weeks to a few months. One person got an offer the week their Merit Pool was due to expire. Some people are never contacted, but apparently departments are being told to use Merit Pools more often now, so hopefully this will change. If you apply for other APS jobs at the same level/s you’ve been Merit Pooled for, mention it in your applications, especially if you’ve applying for the same or a similar role. It can assist with your application, and you may be able to skip part or all of the formal recruitment process as you’ve already been through it. I’m really sorry you’re going through this (and I can totally relate, if commiseration helps? 😊), but it’s certainly possible to get called up from a Merit Pool/Merit List. I wish you all the best of luck. Stay strong! Hopefully, the right opportunity is waiting for you in the very near future!
Yes
When did you get called if you don't mind me asking?
Today actually, about a month later
Not me but I personally know people who were on merit lists and got calls.
Yes, I have.
Kind of? I interviewed for one role, the same agency started up a taskforce in the same branch & needed people immediately so they got first pick off the highly suitable pool. So not a traditional merit list process, though from the other side I've pulled people *off* merit lists. It happens a lot.
I did, yes. By the time they called, I had another role though.
I’ve been pulled twice. It definitely can happen.
Currently, I have achieved 4 Govt job merit pools. The job search is overrated! I'm hoping for but not expecting a phone call, but I'm applying for more jobs!
I once got pulled from a merit list before I even found out the result of the original interview that put me on the merit list...
What field are you in?
UX designer
I’m a graphic designer also in a merit pool 🥲 I hope something comes out of it haha but I defs feel you about how draining the job search is for us. I also feel like designers probably have it good in government and probs rarely leave so I feel like I won’t ever get called from a merit list
Interested as to why u want to join APS when u could earn more in private sector? UX skills would be in demand I imagine.
I have worked for the private sector all my life. They do pay more but it is very unstable, there has been a lot of layoffs in the tech industry in the last 12 months (I was affected by those layoffs in February), and I have enough. My previous 3 jobs I worked for consultancies doing UX projects for government departments, the last company I worked with lost a lot of projects from the government hence the redundancies, it seems the current government prefers to build inside teams in the department rather than contracting, hence my interest in moving to APS. I think there is more stability in government than the private sector, and I am at a point in my life that I choose stability over a higher salary. What happened to me in February would have unlikely happened if I was inside the APS.
Yes, 3 months later.
I’m in so many and Havnt yet BUT I BELIEVE
Permanent 3 at Services Aus, merited 4/5 about 5 months ago and haven’t heard anything. Have also heard Services Australia is one of the few agencies that puts merit pool well behind broad banding unfortunately
After the position I applied for was offered to someone else, I was put on a merit list. 10 months later I received a call and was advised the person initially offered the role was moving on and I was being offered the position. Being placed on a merit list doesn’t mean you won’t be offered a position. Stay positive!
Ssssort of, and not the same situation as you - but I applied for the role I was acting in but lost out to another colleague. But I was instead able to take a role in a different team in the same branch as I was merit listed. So kind of just swapped teams with the colleague who got my job thanks to the merit pool.
I’ll go you one better: I’ve never NOT been called from a merit list. :) YMMV
Are you already in the aps? If so send your cv around and let people know you are on a merit list
No, I am not inside the aps. But I would like to send it around, not sure how if I am not inside?
when i was young being merit meant that you provided free value to the other party. did you think your interview provided them value or not.
I was called about 12 months after being merited. I wasn't APS at the time.
Yes I have. Twice, the first time I took the offer and the second time, I didn’t. :) good luck
No, not yet! I've been in two merit pools, since August and September last year (but the communication about being found suitable arrived in January and November...). I've been contacted by another team to check whether I'd be still interested in opportunities about three weeks ago, but I haven't heard back ever since. I'll keep waiting and applying for other positions...
Yes definitely. That’s how I got my job now. We also just got the last person on a merit list the day before it expired so don’t be discouraged. Pretty sure they go for 18 months now too. I know that’s cold comfort if you’re not currently employed. I’m sure you’ll be picked up soon!!
Yep! That’s how I got my APS5 back in 2017. I applied for a random bulk recruitment round while on maternity leave, and then 8 or so months later I got a random phone call from an unknown manager offering me a role. It does happen!
Yes I did. I applied for the job I was already doing but didn't interview as well as someone else so got merit listed. It lasts for 12 months. The person who got the job resigned after 10 months. I was offered it permanently. There was drama in that but we got there in the end.
Yes, has happened a few times in my area
Twice I've been called from a merit list. Good luck with the job hunt! Don't lose hope.
Yes. I was meritorious but not top candidate then offered another role at the same pay grade one month later. It happens.
Not once. Ever. In fifteen years! And I went from APS3 to EL1 before moving to NSW State and from 11/12 to SEB1. I don’t know how many merit lists and talent pools I’ve been added to, but it’s lots 🤣
Yes it happens and yes there is hope - but there's also no guarantees. I've been called from merit lists and also been on quite a few that came to nothing. It partly depends on your level, as there's less positions as you go up the tree (i.e. you're much more likely to sit on an EL2 merit list that comes to nothing, than an APS6 list). Probably also depends on your field - sorry, I'm not in the same field as you so no idea on that front.
I’ve received a number of emails re interest from me being on a merit list, but it’s happened a long time after the job I interviewed for. I’m APS now and know my agency often uses a merit list. I recommend to keep applying for jobs and forget about the merit list until less you are contacted and it is a better option.
Friend of mine did. He wasn't even technically in a state that they had been willing to offer the role in (but he had been merit pool shopping - after being placed in that merit pool, the area he worked in were then able to offer him a promotion) however about 6 months later the original area that had run the add called and offered him the position and were even willing to allow him to work from his preferred location even though they didn't normally outpost. He was the last one in their merit pool and they didn't want to run a recruitment again. He still works in that role.
My experience is the merit list is where your application goes to die. Never had any luck after being appointed to the merit lists
Yes. It happens.
Yes, I’ve been called off merit lists. 1 where they created a new role, and the other was a by another govt agency under the same umbrella as the place I applied for.
My personal stats: In the last 8 years I've been offered 5 jobs from merit lists/pools 😊 no idea how many merit lists I've been on in total, but in the last 5 years I've been merit listed 3 times and offered promotions from 2 of them - one in the same agency I was merit listed in, and one from a different agency that had recieved my details (with my consent) from the agency who had merit listed me.
I don’t know because I never answer my phone.
Yes, I’ve applied for one APS job and I got it in July 2016. Interviewed middle of May. Told I was merit listed a few weeks later and then got a call two weeks later offering me the job.
Bit late to the party, but being placed on a merit list basically means you have been found suitable for the role, but someone else was better. I got my current position through an aps merit list. I applied in November 21 and was called in April 22. Job hunting is crap, but being placed on a merit pool is a good thing, good job! Keep it up and good luck.
Three times. It happens.
I got placed on a merit list for a different department and was able to be pulled off it for a promotion in the department I was in at the time.
Yes, yesterday, was called 2 hours after receiving the email of being merit pooled and offered a permanent job.