The Six-Week Acting-Up Offer
You are a Clerical Officer with 18 months' service in the payments section of a government department. Your Executive Officer is going on six weeks' leave from Monday. The Higher Executive Officer asks you to act up as EO, covering a team of six. You would keep your own CO caseload, which includes 40 complex claims. The team already has a backlog of 300 claims, and a new IT system goes live in week two. One team member is on probation and needs close supervision. You have no formal supervisory experience, but you have been told you are 'promotion material'. The HEO says, 'It's either you or we bring in an agency temp.' You want to be seen as willing, but you are worried about the backlog and your own deadlines. The acting-up allowance is €70 per week before tax.
1. What questions do you need answered before accepting, and what conditions would you seek?
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I would separate the career opportunity from the operational risk. Six weeks of acting up can be valuable development evidence for a future EO competition, but only if I can do the job without letting either the team or my own caseload fail. Before answering, I would ask the HEO: What decision-making authority do I have - can I reassign work, approve leave, or escalate? Who covers my 40 complex claims, and will that be temporary reassignment or an expectation that I do both roles? What support will I get for the probationer, and who is the named mentor or escalation point? What are the top three priorities for the six weeks, and what will be deprioritised? How will the IT rollout affect the backlog?
My conditions would be practical, not a refusal: a named EO or HEO mentor; a temporary reduction or reassignment of my own caseload; a daily or weekly prioritisation conversation; and clarity that I will not be held responsible for clearing a 300-claim backlog that predates my acting role. I would also ask for the acting-up arrangement to be recorded so that it counts as development, not just extra work.
2. How would you prioritise in the first two weeks if you accept?
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In the first two weeks, the priority is stabilising the team, not clearing the backlog. I would triage the 300 claims by risk: urgent or vulnerable cases first, then statutory deadlines, then routine claims. I would make the triage visible on a simple board or spreadsheet so the team can see what is being deprioritised and why. For the IT go-live, I would identify a 'super-user' in the team and agree a fallback process for the first week, because system problems will consume supervisory time. I would meet the probationer weekly, set two or three clear objectives, and give them a named buddy for day-to-day questions. I would protect a short daily check-in with the HEO so that issues are escalated early rather than hidden. For my own caseload, I would agree in writing which claims are reassigned and which I will handle at a lower volume. The aim is to avoid the common failure mode of acting up: trying to do both jobs at full speed and letting the most vulnerable cases wait.
3. If you decline, how do you explain it without damaging your career prospects?
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Declining can be a legitimate, mature decision if it is based on capacity and risk rather than avoidance. I would ask for a short meeting with the HEO, acknowledge the confidence shown in me, and be specific: 'I want to develop into an EO role, but I am concerned that I cannot cover a team of six, a 300-claim backlog, an IT rollout and my own 40 complex claims without a risk to service. I would rather be honest now than accept and underdeliver.' I would then offer alternatives: covering a defined part of the EO role, such as the IT super-user role or the probationer's supervision, while a temporary EO covers the rest; job-shadowing the HEO; or agreeing a development plan with a future acting-up opportunity when my caseload is backfilled.
This approach shows self-awareness, service focus and honesty, which are themselves competency evidence. The risk of declining is that I may be seen as not ready. The way to manage that is to be clear that I am willing to take on responsibility with the right support, and to follow up with a development conversation. Refusing an unsafe arrangement is not the same as refusing responsibility.