Civil Service Fast Stream Graduate Programme Central Departments Science and Engineering Diplomatic Service Europe Parliament
02 Contents Welcome p.03 The size and scope of the Civil Service p.03 What is the Fast Stream? p.04 The options p.06 Partnership with Teach First p.09 What are we looking for? p.10 Your Fast Stream career path p.11 Working outside London p.11 Profiles p.12 Training and career development p.16 Starting salary and benefits p.17 Online application and selection process p.18
03 Welcome Improving people s employment prospects? Widening access to public services? Defending the country against natural disasters? There s no limit to where your ideas could end up when you re working in the Civil Service Fast Stream. Here, you won t just be thinking about the big issues. You ll be coming up with innovative solutions and applying them in the real world. In this brochure, you will learn more about the range, size and scope of opportunities on offer, and about the qualities you need to become a successful Fast Streamer. The size and scope of the Civil Service The Civil Service is responsible for formulating central government policy, and for implementing it by providing services direct to the public. It is made up of around 490,000 people working in more than 160 government departments and agencies. These 490,000 civil servants have a direct impact on all walks of life. They deliver support and benefits to those who need them; help jobseekers find work or retrain for new careers; support farmers and fisheries, industry and manufacturing; provide vital support for our armed forces or wherever we are trying to prevent conflict; and represent the UK in missions overseas by promoting UK industry, attracting investment in the UK and helping UK citizens in distress abroad. They oversee the police and judicial systems and control our borders; they are responsible for schools and education, for setting health service priorities, for our railways, roads and air services. They regulate some of the biggest industries that affect everyone s lives and they help build cohesive communities. They manage our taxation system, support small businesses and promote our economy and jobs. And at the highest levels, they work to respond to climate change, counter terrorism, and manage the impact of the global economy. Civil servants are administrators and policy makers, and are the people who deliver crucial services directly to the public. But they can also be economists, statisticians, researchers, scientists, engineers, HR professionals or experts in technology, to name a few.
04 What is the Fast Stream? The Civil Service Fast Stream is an accelerated training and development graduate programme for people who have the potential to become the future leaders of the Civil Service. It is ranked among the top five Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. One key reason for the programme s popularity is that it enables graduates to bring innovative solutions to some of the biggest issues facing society today. Whether in employment or education, the environment or the economy, Fast Streamers can have a real impact on life in the UK and beyond. As well as giving you the opportunity to work at the heart of current affairs and key government agendas, the programme will see you engaging directly with the public and helping to provide high-quality services for people from diverse communities and backgrounds. Throughout your career in the Civil Service, you ll be leading, building relationships, innovating and making key decisions. Most importantly, your work will have a real impact on life in the UK and, often, the wider world.
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06 The options Given the size of the Civil Service, there are an enormous number of different areas for you to work in, and you will never be short of options and challenges throughout the course of your career. The question is, where do you start? Some of the options are outlined in the following pages. No matter where you work, you will be responsible for generating new ideas, and delivering innovative solutions on the ground. Central Departments Education, health, transport, the environment, crime just some of the wide range of issues dealt with by Fast Streamers in the Central Departments option, which encompasses every major government department except the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Whichever department you are assigned to, you ll be at the heart of government, using public money effectively to meet the needs of the nation. You could be working on issues that are at the top of the national agenda, or new initiatives that will shape tomorrow s society. You can expect your work to bring you into contact with members of the public, service providers, senior civil servants, and even Ministers and Parliament.
07 Science and Engineering This option is open to people with degrees in science, engineering, mathematics, computing or other numerate disciplines. Science and Engineering Fast Streamers work in a number of government departments. Most of them work in the MOD and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The MOD is at the forefront of research and development, harnessing changing technology to meet the UK s defence needs. It has many different opportunities to offer. You could work in one of Europe s largest research agencies, developing anything from satellite communications for peace-keeping operations to unmanned reconnaissance vehicles. You could get involved in procurement for some of the world s most technologically advanced engineering projects. You could be handling policy development or conveying complex technological ideas to Ministers in layman s terms. BIS is a new department, formed in 2009 from the merger of two former government departments. It was created to build Britain s capabilities and economic strengths to compete in the global economy. To do so successfully, Britain requires a regulatory environment that encourages enterprise, skilled people, innovation, world-class science and research. Both the MOD and BIS also take non-science and Engineering Fast Streamers.
08 Diplomatic Service A career in the Diplomatic Service will take you and your ideas around the world to deal with issues that matter everywhere. From tackling international terrorism to promoting a low carbon economy, from managing migration to dealing with consular crises: the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) gives you an international perspective that s second to none and offers you the opportunity to promote and protect the UK s interests across our global network of 261 embassies and diplomatic posts. European Fast Stream Join the European Fast Stream, and you could end up working for the EU as one of its own civil servants. For your first two years in the Fast Stream, you will be given EU-related postings, and will have the chance to work in the European Commission for six months. You could be working on EU policy in the FCO, on environmental issues at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) or even the office of an EU Commissioner in Brussels. All this is designed to improve your chances of success in the competitions for permanent posts in the EU institutions. You will also have language training in French or German. If you are not successful in the EU s recruitment competition, you can remain in the UK Civil Service as a Fast Streamer and undertake a full range of Fast Streamer roles with real intellectual appeal. To be eligible for the European Fast Stream, you must have French or German to at least A-level standard (A-C) or equivalent. For further information on careers in the EU institutions, visit their website http://europa.eu/epso/index_en.htm
09 Houses of Parliament Clerks are senior officials of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. While the term clerk is of medieval origin, it describes a vital role in our 21st-century Parliament. Clerks provide advice and assistance to Members of both houses in their Parliamentary functions through the legislative process, by raising matters of current concern in debate, or by scrutinising the policies and actions of Ministers through the Select Committees. It s an excellent and rewarding career choice for people who want to experience the excitement of the parliamentary process without engaging in the cut and thrust of politics. Partnership with Teach First Teach First is an independent charity founded to encourage top graduates who would not normally enter teaching to teach for at least two years in challenging secondary schools in London, the North West or the Midlands. The Civil Service Fast Stream has formal links with Teach First, and we are always happy for successful Fast Stream candidates to defer entry into the Civil Service in order to spend time teaching with this charity. For further information, visit the Fast Stream website, www.civilservice.gov.uk/faststream For further information on Teach First, visit www.teachfirst.org.uk The Civil Service Fast Stream is about graduates making a visible impact on the issues that affect the lives of millions. Teach First is proud to be working with the Civil Service Fast Stream in attracting high-calibre individuals who want to stand out and make an impact throughout their lives. James Darley, Director of Graduate Recruitment, Teach First
10 What are we looking for? There is no such thing as a typical Fast Streamer. Successful candidates come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and may have any kind of degree. There are, however, some key competencies that we look for in all our Fast Streamers. The ability to think flexibly is important. Not everything you do will be headline news. It s important that you can give as much focus to the smaller details as you do to the big-picture issues. Sitting on the fence is not an option for a Fast Streamer. You ll need to be someone who can take the lead on decision-making based on evidence, and handle all the pressure and responsibility that comes with it. This means being proactive and having the ability to think on your feet. You ll be working with some of the brightest and most talented people in the country. It s important that you all get the best out of each other. That s why the ability to build trust and develop relationships is vital, valuing and respecting each person s perspective. The ability to make an impact is also essential. We look for people who are lucid, persuasive, confident and articulate. Whether it s a high-level meeting, a large presentation or a conversation with a disgruntled customer, you must be able to express yourself and defend your position clearly and succinctly. Being able to think innovatively and outside the box is also important, particularly as you may be asked to consider doing something new, or to investigate how things can be further improved upon to be more efficient and cost-effective. We want you to get the most out of all the opportunities on offer. That s why it s essential that you have a good level of self-awareness and can acknowledge your own personal and professional development needs. You ll be expected to learn a huge amount during your time on the programme. So it s important that you recognise where additional support and development might be needed, and that you make the most of all the training we offer.
11 Your Fast Stream career path When you join the Fast Stream, you will be assigned to a specific government department, where you will be based during your time in the Fast Stream. Your department is responsible for organising your training and development, and for helping you map out your career. Which department you are assigned to will depend on a range of factors. Your personal preferences are one, but though we try our best, we can t always give people exactly what they want. However you will be able to visit your department before you start work, so you know what to expect. You can expect to move to a new job in your department roughly every 12-18 months while you are in the Fast Stream. This ensures that you experience and understand a range of your department s responsibilities. It is also a crucial part of your personal development, since you will regularly adapt to new challenges. You will gain experience of at least two of the three main work areas of the Civil Service: policy, operational delivery and corporate services. Policy involves the formulation and evaluation of government strategy, initiatives and projects. It requires research, analysis and close collaboration with stakeholders. The classic example of this is work in a Bill team, which might involve you in framing legislation, then helping to steer it through Parliament. Operational delivery is about putting the citizen at the heart of the service and providing high quality and efficient public services. A typical role might be to manage the delivery unit in an NHS hospital, a job centre or border control at a busy airport. Corporate services are central to our success and include specialist functions such as HR, finance, procurement, communications and IT within government departments. Such work often has a surprisingly high profile: for example, implementing affordable homes initiatives for key public sector workers or developing IT infrastructure to improve services for vulnerable groups. Exposure to these three areas will provide you with a solid foundation for your career, and will give you the skills and experience you need to deliver effective public services at more senior levels. Working outside London A Fast Stream career does not have to mean London. Equally challenging opportunities are available in other parts of the country and offer a unique perspective which London-based Fast Streamers do not see. Even those in London are expected to be mobile and work wherever their departments need them. Remember too that in order to gain valuable experience of operational delivery, you may well have to work in more than one location. Fast Streamers are increasingly being deployed to operational and corporate services work away from large London headquarters. For further information about some of the opportunities across the regions, please visit www.gos.gov.uk
12 Profiles Sachin Suchak After studying Pharmacology at Edinburgh, and doing a PhD in Neuroscience at King s College London, Sachin Suchak felt ready for a complete change of direction. He worked in retail and spent time temping in Government, before applying for the Civil Service Fast Stream. He is now in his second post within the Department for Transport (DfT). Five years ago, when asked about electric vehicles, people thought about milk floats. Now, with greenhouse gases and air quality high on the ministerial and public agenda, and a Government committed to reducing emissions, it s my job to promote electric cars. In January, we negotiated a 250m spending package to encourage consumers to buy the increasingly practical (and fast) range of electric cars that are coming to the market soon. Now, I m working on implementing the package. My job also involves answering queries from the press and public, briefing Ministers, and convincing officials in other departments, like Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Communities and Local Government, why our policy matters to them. (Convincing senior civil servants is never easy; you have to make a very rigorous case.) A particular highlight was being the DfT s sole representative in Paris, negotiating the UK s entry into the International Energy Agency s electric vehicle group. It was really great that my senior colleagues trusted me to do this, and I may go to Norway later this year to follow it up. Life s not just endless meetings though I recently drove an electric sports car on a high speed test track. Where else can you go from 0 to 60 in under four seconds?
13 Caroline Quinn Caroline Quinn already had several years public and private sector experience before joining the Diplomatic Fast Stream. Her public sector experience came via the Teach First scheme, which she joined in 2004 after completing a Master s in Women s Studies at Oxford University (she had previously read English at Cambridge and spent a year in Japan studying Japanese). The Teach First scheme involved training as a secondary school English teacher and spending two years teaching at a London city academy school. It s probably one of the hardest things I ve ever done, but the amount I ve learnt from it has been immense. It s great for developing time management and people management skills, and when you ve had to hold the attention of a roomful of kids, other forms of public speaking seem easy. Though Caroline loved some aspects of teaching, she felt it wasn t the career for her and, after a further two years working in the marketing and communications industry, applied for the Fast Stream. She is currently in her first post in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), working as Strategic Communications Team Leader in the FCO s Afghanistan Group. I manage a small team working on the FCO aspects of the UK s Afghanistan communications strategy. The role is constantly evolving, but my team focuses on delivering public diplomacy, information and outreach activities to help explain to people (here, in Afghanistan and further afield) what the UK is doing to support the democratically elected Afghan government in bringing about stability and development in Afghanistan. I work closely with colleagues across government departments in the UK, and with our posts in Kabul, Lashkar Gah and UKDEL NATO, as well as with foreign diplomats based in London and members of the NGO, media, academic and think-tank communities. Life promises to be just as busy for Caroline in the future. I have a Second Secretary Political post set up for Beijing in 2012, which will involve monitoring human rights in China. From early 2010, I will be learning Mandarin on a full-time basis in preparation (10 months in the UK; 10 months in China). I m really looking forward to it.
14 Sarah Higgins Fast Streamers almost always find themselves thrown in at the deep end. And York Politics graduate, Sarah Higgins, is no exception. I m currently in my first post within the Department for Transport, where I m working on a project that will enable UK-wide smart-ticketing. In only my first month, I found myself in a roomful of the department s top managers discussing the issue. Before joining the Fast Stream, Sarah has had a series of interesting short-term jobs (including working for the Daily Mirror and for an NGO in South Africa), but none was able to offer her a sustained challenge. I had been prone to taking the path of least resistance. It was my professor at LSE (where I did a Master s in Politics and Communications) who persuaded me to apply to the Civil Service. She argued that the Fast Stream would provide a framework to steer and push me. She was right. The really great thing is that I ve been encouraged to get involved in many aspects of the department s work. In any given week, I might be doing financial forecasting one day and explaining helmet safety measures to hairy bikers the next. My next posting is due to be with the DVLA in Swansea, where I m going to be working on a variety of hot-topic issues that directly affect drivers. After that, I m hoping to spend six months in a Brussels press office. If you re a quick learner, like me, then the Fast Stream is ideal. It s a case of learn, absorb, reflect and then move on to something different and get even better. Transport was the area Sarah most wanted to work in when she was applying for the Fast Stream. Has it lived up to expectations? Absolutely. The reason I love working in transport is that it s a subject that absolutely everyone has a vested interest in. It can sometimes get a bit awkward, though my grandfather keeps demanding I sort out the roundabout near his house.
15 Stephen Rimmer In the 20 or so years since he joined the Civil Service as a Fast Streamer, Stephen Rimmer has done everything from being Private Secretary to John Patten then a Home Office minister to heading up one of the Government s key counterterrorism units. His roles have included Director of Policing Policy (Home Office) and Director of Strategy, Modernisation and Performance (Metropolitan Police Service), and he has been Governor of both Wandsworth and Gartree prisons. Are there any particular moments in his career that stand out? One of the biggest things for me was becoming Deputy Governor of Manchester Prison in 1993. Until then, I had been working on the policy side, so it was quite a profound change to make. Overnight, you have to swap measured, rational discussion for more in-your-face dialogue and engagement and some of your colleagues view people from the Civil Service as people from a different planet. However, people shouldn t underestimate their ability to make this kind of transition. I am naturally quite shy and wasn t sure how I was going to fit in to the prison environment. But in a funny way, the fact that I needed to learn from the people around me, made me a much more effective prison governor. The other great opportunity I ve had and it s a surprisingly rare opportunity in the Home Office was to spend time on the Metropolitan Police Management Board. It was straight after the 7/7 bombings, and so, as you can imagine, it was a very intense environment to work in. I was able to learn a huge amount from the experience: it provided me with excellent insight into what really goes on in policing, as well as what it is like being accountable to the Police Authority. I cannot stress enough how important this time spent in operational delivery has been for my career. Not only have they been stimulating and challenging experiences in themselves, but they have also made me a more effective policy-maker and strategist. After all, if you want to understand what delivery is really about, you actually have to do it.
16 Training and career development Responsibility comes quickly in the Fast Stream. So learning has to happen at a fast pace too. Most of it will happen on the job, through your different postings. These will give you experience of project management, people management, delivering services direct to the public, policy development and working for Ministers or senior officials. You ll also be encouraged, where possible, to take a secondment into business, industry, the voluntary sector or Europe. Of course, there will be opportunities to learn outside the job too. You should be aiming for at least 15 days training a year. Your time on the Fast Stream will begin with an induction event, which will introduce you both to the programme and to the Civil Service as a whole. It should help to set your career in context. And you ll most likely have a mentor or another Fast Streamer to support you through your development. Each year, you ll have a performance review, which will assess your progress and form the basis of a rolling personal development plan. This can be extremely useful when you re moving between postings on a regular basis.
17 Starting salary and benefits Starting salaries vary across departments. In London, they usually range between 25,000 and 27,000. Different salary scales may be applicable in the regions. Pay increases are based purely on performance. You ll receive around 25 days holiday per year plus 10.5 days public and privilege holidays. You will also have access to a pension scheme, costing a maximum of 3.5% of your salary. A good work-life balance is another potential benefit. Some departments offer flexible and part-time working arrangements, job share opportunities and career breaks, as well as crèches, holiday play schemes and childcare assistance. Other benefits may include season ticket loans and sports and social facilities. Again, your specific package will depend on which department you join.
18 Online application and selection process All applications should be made via our website: www.civilservice.gov.uk/faststream Making it into the Fast Stream won t be easy. You will need to go through a demanding application and assessment process that may last up to seven months. However, we do try to make things as transparent as possible. We will keep you informed and provide you with feedback at every stage of the process, and there s an online messaging service to guide you as you go along. You will need, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:2 to apply. For most options, your degree can be in any discipline, but some, such as Science and Engineering, have particular requirements. Generally, all Commonwealth and EU citizens are welcome, although some roles, including those in the Diplomatic Service, are only open to UK nationals. Please visit the Fast Stream website for further information on nationality and immigration requirements. There are several stages to the application process:
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Economist Fast Stream For further information on the scheme, visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/ges HR Fast Stream For further information on the scheme, visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/hr Statistician Fast Stream For further information on the scheme, visit www.statistics.gov.uk/gssjobs Technology in Business Fast Stream For further information on the scheme, visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/it To apply online, please visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/faststream For other Civil Service opportunities, visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/jobs Alternatively, separate brochures are available from faststream@parity.net or by telephoning 01276 400 333.