A summer internship at the ONS - by Lewis Goode

I’ve just finished a 6-week internship with the Government Economic Service at the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS) London office. It’s incredible how time flies; it only seems a bat of an eyelid since I was posing for my horrific government pass picture and collecting my snazzy work laptop.

I’ve had the privilege of working alongside and learning from some remarkably hard-working and beyond-intelligent people in the Economic Advice & Analysis team at the ONS – and for that, I will be eternally grateful. Their support and willingness to share their knowledge has given me invaluable insight.  

On a personal level I feel like I’ve developed great insight into the complexity and breadth of the Civil Service by attending events such as Civil Service Live and speaking to many passionate staff from different departments and teams in the ONS’ offices in London and Newport. Thanks to a recommendation from my line manager, I discovered the Diplomatic Service (Economics) scheme of the Fast Stream, which I will now ambitiously apply for upon graduation alongside other Fast Stream schemes.

One really incredible thing I learned during my internship is the power of data, data analysis and data manipulation. I would say my biggest takeaway in terms of tools for data analysis, in particular, is the use of PivotTables in Excel as well as other powerful formulae and graphs that Excel can produce. I feel more confident using Excel now and would boldly call myself an intermediate user. As I continue my studies and move forward in my career, this will be incredibly helpful. (I would recommend checking out using PivotTables and other super cool Excel formulae.)

Overall, I would encourage incoming students to seize every opportunity. Throw yourself in at the deep end, while having a clear plan of what you want to achieve from your time at the ONS, and don’t be afraid to ask questions along the way. There are so many things to get involved with and amazing people to chat to. But I would recommend taking time to think about the different events or activities you attend and how this aligns with your goals for your placement. 

To those line managing or otherwise working with students: give them the opportunity to wow you and show off their unique skill sets and experiences (not to brag – and maybe I am slightly biased – but us students are pretty amazing), but ensure you offer a listening ear and guidance when needed. I was fortunate enough to experience this with my line manager and various other staff at the ONS, which turned out to be truly amazing. 

With this, I am sure we will all be able to strive towards delivering a truly brilliant Civil Service.