How to join the civil service fast stream (UK System)

[kingfalcon]

Dear All, As we have a strong British legacy and follow their systems to a great extent, I would like to share a very interesting and important article about how the UK inducts their civil service officers. It will give a good comparison with our system and how we can improve it.


How to join the civil service fast stream

The civil service fast stream consistently holds its own with the likes of PwC, Deloitte and Aldi in the top UK graduate schemes. For 2014-15 it came sixth in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers – though it slipped to 18th place in the Guardian UK 300 most popular graduate employers for 2015, from ninth in 2014.

Some 20,072 people applied to the fast stream in 2014 and the civil service offered places to 915 applicants, 159 of whom declined.

What makes it so popular? “The fast stream gives newcomers a lot of responsibility from day one,” says Laura Dix, who started working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2013. “You arrive in the job and you’re expected to be an expert in whatever you’re working on. You decide what government policy is going to be.”

Dix, 25, is fascinated by foreign policy but was also pulled to the civil service by the range of career options available.

The 2013 cohort were the first to trial the new-look fast stream – a four year programme with the first two years divided into four six-month assignments in at least two government departments. This is followed by two year-long placements.

The redesigned scheme is more structured and intends to give fast streamers more opportunities to progress; previously a graduate’s development was more closely linked to their personal choices or the needs of the department for which they were working.

The fast stream has an average starting salary of £25,000–£27,000 which, while competitive for the public sector, is lower than many other top graduate schemes (Aldi offers £42,000).

Does this reflect in the types of people who choose to apply for the civil service? A lot of people who join have a strong social conscience, says Dix. Like many of her colleagues, she is keen that her work has a positive impact on people’s lives, not shareholders’ pockets.

That said, Dix’s peers included a former GP of 10 years’ experience, people from the private sector, journalists and teachers. Most fast streamers are not recent graduates – the average age is 25.

“We are looking for the broadest possible range of the best possible graduates,” says Gillian Smith, head of civil service resourcing. “We don’t have any preconceptions about particular types of universities or courses.”

The fast stream is often criticised as elitist – in 2012 12.5% of successful applicants were from ethnic minority groups while 26.2% of successful candidates were Oxbridge graduates.

Civil service recruiters themselves are working to boost diversity: Smith says they have expanded the number of universities they work with and now involve fast streamers in outreach schemes and insight days. Their summer diversity internship gives students from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic minority groups experience working in government, with a view to applying for the fast stream.

How to join the civil service fast stream

Applications open in September. Applicants must first register and select one of several fast stream options, including generalist (for main government departments, which takes the bulk of fast streamers), analytical, human resources, digital and technology, European and Northern Ireland. Most streams are open to graduates with a 2:2 in any degree discipline.

The next step is to do self-assessed online numerical and verbal reasoning tests, first introduced to discourage unrealistic applications. Recruiters will not see the results of these or any practice tests. Smith stresses that it’s particularly important to practise under timed conditions.

Timed reasoning tests form a part of the first assessed stage of the application process, alongside a questionnaire designed to assess candidates against the civil service’s 10 core competencies, which revolve around setting direction, engaging people and delivering results.

Make sure you complete this as yourself – Smith warns applicants against trying to answer questions in some kind of persona. “You shouldn’t come to the application process with any preconceptions about what we are looking for.”

There is then an e-tray exercise which tests prospective fast streamers’ ability to handle a typical workload. Practice versions of this are also available.

Those that make it this far are invited to a one-day assessment centre, which consists of written and group exercises and interviews. Smith advises candidates to be well prepared and well rested. Don’t worry too much about the other candidates and remember that you’re not in direct competition with them, she adds.

Do the broadest possible research – Smith says applicants should not only read all the information on the fast stream website but also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. And don’t just read, interact; current fast streamers answer questions from prospective applicants about what to expect from the programme via Facebook.

Smith also suggests looking across at the GOV.UK website and wider civil service, at the range of career prospects available. “We are expecting people to demonstrate their potential to lead in the civil service,” she says.

Fast stream recruiters prize leadership qualities, but the civil service is supposed to be impartial and objective – so you might want to keep some of the more outlandish opinions to yourself in interviews.

Once applicants have been accepted they put the government departments they would like to work for in order of preference. Applicants who want to work in Parliament or in the Foreign Office, the two most popular departments by far, should put their preference as their first or stand no chance of getting in. These departments, along with the technology and European streams, require an extra layer of entry tests.

“This final level is very much about people skills,” says Dix, adding that you probably can’t do a job at the Foreign Office without being able to engage with people.

For Dix the final selection involved role play scenarios, for example telling a colleague their work isn’t good enough or informing a supplier that they have messed up on a contract. To prepare, she suggests prospective FCO fast streamers imagine they are on the receiving end of a difficult message.

If you just miss the cut

When candidates narrowly miss out on being offered a place on the fast stream their details are kept on file for up to a year and they may be offered a direct appointment to the civil service as an executive officer.

“There are always more people hitting the type of standard we expect than we have got places to offer,” says Smith. In 2013 the civil service took about 100 executives officers from the fast stream waiting list. It saves taxpayers’ money because they don’t have to be assessed again, says Smith.

The executive officer level is one grade below the fast stream entry point – higher executive officer (development) – but the salaries are not too dissimilar. Nick Adams, 25, was rejected from the fast stream in May 2012 but joined as an executive officer a few months later. He was quickly promoted to assistant private secretary for Brandon Lewis, at the same grade as the fast streamers, and soon surpassed his colleagues, securing a further promotion with management responsibilities very few fast streamers have.

“If I could do the assessment centre again I would almost certainly not treat the written exercise like a university exam,” he says. Candidates have a lot of information to digest and summarise, and Adams recommends bullet points over carefully crafted prose.

But Adams doesn’t feel like he’s missed out. Fast streamers benefit from a development plan and scheduled away days – but personal development is encouraged throughout the civil service and direct appointments are more flexible because you can go for promotions whenever you want, he says. Fast streamers can do this, but it means leaving the stream.

Plus, there’s “a bit of animosity between the fast streamers and the rest of the civil service” because they form a clique. Adams likes being better integrated into Whitehall, and says he’s proud to be a “reject fast streamer”.

Source: The Guardian
Published: 1-Sep-2015
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/public-le...aduate-careers