My Journey entering the Civil Service

My journey entering the Civil Service began when I was undertaking my university studies in Economics between 2013-2016.

During my first and second years of University, I was looking for some part-time jobs to build up my CV portfolio. I searched for jobs on Indeed, Monster, Reed, Total Jobs and applied to everything and anything. At this point, I needed a part-time job which will boost my career prospects for when I graduate from university.

It wasn't until my Uncle came over to my house every now and then and asked me how life's been going for me. When I told him I was struggling to get a part-time job, he told me he runs a business with other people he knows and wouldn't mind me helping out with general administrative duties such as scanning, filing and answering calls.

Whilst being at his office on the days I was free and did not have University, he advised me to look on Civil Service Jobs and create an account. He showed me how to set up job alerts so that I get the latest job roles right at my fingertips.

You've got to bear in mind that I never knew about Civil Service at the time. Not even, I didn't know it was possible to work for government departments and ministerial bodies.

Considering I was now introduced to the world of Civil Service, I prepared some examples and applied to a couple jobs on Civil Service Jobs. Unfortunately, I wasn't completing the job applications properly, as I was using a lot of jargon and wrote more 'We's than 'I's and did not reference my examples to the Civil Service Competency Framework.

To avoid this problem to continue, I gave up on applying on Civil Service Jobs and waited till I graduated in Economics before restarting my job application forms.

After completing my university exams, I signed up to a benefits scheme called 'Universal Credit', as I came to a realization that I needed professional Career Advice and Support from a Work Coach.

I did the usual stuff - being compliant by attending my appointments with different Work Coaches and applying to 500 jobs a week and recording it on a portal to prove to them I'm serious about getting a job.

I found myself temporary Christmas jobs to earn a bit of extra cash and get some valuable experience. I didn't end up enjoying the retail work but at least it was something to go by. I managed to work in various retail stores, bagging a total of 6 months experience.

I gave applying to Civil Service Jobs another try and thought I'd recuperate from the unsuccessful attempts. Luckily enough, my Work Coach guided me through applying to a few jobs and helped me come up with examples to use on the job applications. Of course, I had to draft the examples for all the 9 competency behaviours - Collaborating & Partnering, Managing a Quality Service, Making Effective Decisions, etc. Once all examples had been drafted, I got them checked over by my Work Coach for spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes and if it needed work on writing more professionally than informally.

My Work Coach helped me fix up my examples and told me if I was satisfied with them that I could use them in my job application forms.

I checked my job alerts for Civil Service Jobs which caught my interest and applied to them everyday. My application portal on Civil Service Jobs looked like a long shopping list, as I was consistent in applying and switching up my examples.

I saw myself getting invited to job interviews for entry level and junior management level roles. These interviews allowed me to adjust to various interview formats and master interview techniques more professionally.

There was one particular interview which I got invited to in March 2018. It was for an entry level role as a Case Administrator at the National Probation Service under MoJ (Ministry of Justice). I remember clearly that I did a little last-minute prep outside the interview location, trying to cram in the examples an hour before the interview. I went in and did my interview with sulking nerves. I probably was ranting on, not sure if I was following the S.T.A.R format. I'm pretty sure I did. In my answers to the interview questions, I used relevant examples from my work in retail, as I found it adamant to talk about how I encountered difficult situations at work. This is a key skill to have in the Civil Service.

When I finished my interview, they asked for a copy of my bank statement in case I was successful in the interview. I had to go to NatWest Bank down the road and get a bank statement within last 6 months printed out to hand to the interview panel member.

4 weeks had passed and I was notified by email that I was successful in the interview and they wanted to give me an offer provisionally, subject to successful vetting checks.

The checks took about 3-4 months to be successful. I got the formal offer and contacted the Hiring Manager for an official start date.

Before I conclude this newsletter, I have a message for those who wish to join the Civil Service and that is:

You do not need to have prior Civil Service Background to get in. All you need is varied skill calibre, transferable work experiences or voluntary work and a driving passion for the industry you want to go into.