Careers in the Public Sector

Jenny Keaveney

Careers and Employability Service

WHAT IS THE PUBLIC SECTOR?

• Civil Service• Government agencies• Local authorities• NHS• Armed forces• Emergency services• Educational bodies• Intelligence services• Regulatory bodies

• Lots of initials! GCHQ ECGD DFID CPS FCO DEFRA DWP ONS ngdp

WHO WANTS TO WORK IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR?

• Lots of graduates!

• In the latest Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, four of the Top 10 “employers of choice for graduates” are in the public sector.

• Why?

HOW MANY PEOPLE WORKIN THE PUBLIC SECTOR?

• 23% of the working population of the UK• Total public sector employment was 5.644 million in the

second quarter of 2012, a decrease of 39,000 compared with the previous quarter.

• Civil Service employment in Great Britain decreased by 5,000 to an estimated 459,000

• Employment in local government decreased by 56,000.

THE CUTS

Local government has suffered almosta quarter of a million job losses since 2010

The largest job losses have been in the east of England followed by the east Midlands and London

63,672 jobs have been cut across government departments since May 2010, with a loss of 34,621 jobs over the last year alone

Cuts mark ‘end of local government as we know it’ – Birmingham

PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYERS* ARE STILL RECRUITING!

THE

GOOD NEWS

* well, at least some of them

• Civil Service Fast Stream • HMRC graduate programme• ngdp (Local Government Graduate Programme)• NOMS (Prison Service)• Bank of England• Transport for London • National Audit Office • NHS

All the above are recruiting now!

PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYERS* ARE STILL RECRUITING!

THE

GOOD NEWS

* well, at least some of them

• Civil Service Fast Stream http://faststream.civilservice.gov.uk CD 30/11• HMRC graduate programme www.hmrc.gov.uk/graduate/intro.htm CD 30/11• ngdp (Local Government) http://sites.idea.gov.uk/ngdp/ CD 16/01 • NOMS (Prison Service) www.justice.gov.uk/jobs/prisons/on-offer/graduate-programme CD 23/11• Bank of England – www.bankofenglandgraduates.co.uk/ CD 12/11• Transport for London www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/graduates/• National Audit Office www.nao.org.uk/graduate/home.aspx CD 30/11• NHS www.nhsgraduates.co.uk CD 03/12

WHAT IS THE FAST STREAM?

• “A development programme for graduates who have the potential to become the future leaders of the Civil Service”

• The only centralised, all-graduate, recruitment scheme

• Recruits approximately 700 high-calibre graduates into a number of generalist and specialist functions working on Government policy in their departments

• Most vacancies based in London• Starting salary £25-27K

THE FAST STREAM

• Graduate Fast Stream (Central Government departments, the Diplomatic Service, Houses of Parliament, Science and Engineering)

• Analytical Fast Stream (economists, social researchers, operational researchers and statisticians)

• Technology in Business Fast Stream • Human Resources Fast Stream • European Fast Stream• Northern Ireland Fast Stream

Entry requirements:

-UK, EEA or Commonwealth citizen (some posts more restrictive)-2.2 minimum (most entrants have 2.1) in any subject except where marked*

WHAT DO FAST-STREAM TRAINEES ACTUALLY DO?

• The Fast Stream has been revamped this year to offer a more structured career path and early management experience

• New recruits will spend their first two years building up broad experience in four 6-month placements in contrasting roles. They will be expected to acquire experience in areas of work such as providing front-line services to the public (for example, managing a court or Jobcentre, or working on border control), project or programme management or take on a role that boosts their commercial awareness.

• These early placements give experience of managing people, projects and finance, as well as roles in the development and implementation of government policies.

• The next two years will be spent in gaining more in-depth experience through two 12-month placements

• Trainees will also spend some time outside of Whitehall, on placement with a charity, private sector employer or a "customer organisation" such as a community group

• Fast Streamers have the opportunity to study for a professional accountancy qualification or other relevant qualification

WHAT DO FAST-STREAM TRAINEES ACTUALLY DO?

• “One day I will be liaising with my District Judges on listing matters, another I’ll be dealing with a customer’s complaint or reviewing the latest performance figures and looking at where there are concerns and how we can address them”

• “I have three responsibilities: To build communications around encouraging Welsh Government officials to work more closely with their Whitehall counterparts and the other devolved administrations, to carry out an internal feasibility study into a new IT system and to create and implement a strategy for cross public sector communications”

• “I might be doing financial forecasting one day and explaining helmet safety measures to hairy bikers the next”

• “There is no such thing as a typical day for a European Fast-Streamer. I might be briefing Ministers, writing speeches, I might be in meetings in Brussels with the Council of Ministers, I might be meeting stakeholders back here in the UK, I might be answering parliamentary questions”

For more profiles see http://faststream.civilservice.gov.uk/Fast-Streamer-Profiles/

Essential competencies• Results-oriented• Flexible thinker• Decisive• Able to build productive

relationships …• .. and to communicate

with impact• Open to learning and

improving

How to Apply• Closing date for entry in

Sept 2013 is 30th November 2012 (the Analytical Fast Stream has already closed – may reopen in March)

• Self-assessment test • Online application form• E-tray exercise• One-day assessment

centre• http://

faststream.civilservice.gov.uk/How-do-I-apply/

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• There are 433 local councils in the UK – plus over 11,000 town, parish and community councils

• Local councils spend over £70 billion a year• Local government employs almost

1,500,000 people - one of the largest employers in the UK

• There are around 600 occupations and thousands of different job titles in local government

WHAT DO LOCAL AUTHORITIES DO?

• Education

• Environmental health

• Emergency services

• Highways

• Housing

• Leisure and tourism

• Social services

GETTING INTO LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• National graduate recruitment scheme (ngdp)

• Local graduate recruitment schemes (e.g. KCC, Hertfordshire, Shropshire)

• Direct application

National Graduate Recruitment Programme

• A two-year “Fast-Stream” style programme designed to develop future managers and leaders in local government

• General management training through a range of placements across a local authority, plus mentoring and study for a PG diploma

• Between 40-50 local authorities in England & Wales participate – you only need to make one application

• Requires 2.1 minimum • Closing date 16th January 2012• Starting salary £22958 (plus London weighting)

www.ngdp.co.uk

LOCAL GOVERNMENTGRADUATE SCHEMES IN KENT

• Ashford, Canterbury and Medway councils have all recruited through ngdp in the past

• Kent County Council runs its own Graduate Programme– Three streams: Management, Finance and Highways

LOCAL GOVERNMENTKCC GRADUATE SCHEMES

– Management, Finance, Highways– Recruits in spring each year for an October start– Receives approx. 500 applications a year

– Four six-month placements in different departments. Project work giving experience of operational work, policy writing, project management, budget management and line management

– Starting salary £23285 in 2012– http://www.kent.gov.uk/jobs_and_careers/

starting_your_career/kent_graduate_programme.aspx

LOCAL GOVERNMENTOTHER ROUTES IN

• Other local authorities recruiting outside the ngdp – check websites

• Finance – see www.cipfa.org/Recruitment/CIPFA-Trainee-Vacancies

• Direct application for advertised jobs – local authorities may use recruitment agencies

LOCAL GOVERNMENTUSEFUL WEBSITES

• www.LGjobs.com• www.Opportunities.co.uk• www.jobsgopublic.com• http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/jobs/

government-and-politics @lgcareers @localgovtjobs

NHS GRADUATE SCHEMES• Four schemes:

– General Management– Finance Management– Human Resources Management– Health Informatics Management

• 2.2 in any subject• Closing date 10am on 3rd December 2012• Starting salary approx. £22200• www.nhsgraduates.co.uk

National Offender Management Services

Prison Leaders programmeOver this programme, you'll progress from Prison Officer into a middle management governor-grade role as an Operational Manager. Here you'll head up an entire area of a prison, such as Residence, where you'll take on responsibilities that include preventing suicide and self-

harm and managing all the prisoners' living facilities. When you have completed your programme, usually after two to three years, you can apply for a managerial post.

Closing date – 23 November 2012

www.justice.gov.uk/jobs/prisons/on-offer/graduate-programme

Financial Services Authority

• Graduate Development Programme (placements in areas such as conduct, risk, policy, enforcement and financial crime)

• Management Accountancy programme

• Economics Development Programme

• Risk Specialist 2.1 in any subject Closing date 9 December 2011

Starting salary £29000 + “golden hello”

www.fsagraduates.com

Transport for London

• General Management• Project Management• Commercial• Engineering• Finance• Transport Planning• Information Management

2.1 in any subject

Closing dates vary http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/graduates/

National Audit Office

• An independent body – not part of the Civil Service• Audits over 475 accounts across government departments and

a wide range of other public sector bodies• Publishes around 60 reports a year for Parliament. Recent

reports include: – Managing the impact of housing benefit reform

– Funding for local transport

– Helping over-indebted consumers

– Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions

– The BBC’s efficiency programme

– Mobile technology in policing

National Audit Office

• Offers a Graduate Training Scheme leading to qualification as a chartered accountant

• Open to graduates in any subject with 2.1 and 300 UCAS points (or equivalent)

• Must be a UK, Commonwealth, EEA or Swiss national

• Closing date 30 November 2012

• www.nao.org.uk/graduate/home.aspx

OTHER EMPLOYERS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

• Emergency services

• Prison and probation services

• Housing associations

• Educational institutions

You might also want to look at

• Charities

• Trades unionswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm

FINDING OUT MORE

• I Want to Work In … the Public Sector www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sitesgov.htm

• TARGET Jobs Public Service http://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/public-service-charity-and-social-work

• Prospects Public Administration links www.prospects.ac.uk/government_public_administration_sector.htm

Where to find the Careers & Employability Service

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