Working for the civil service

fastwunz · 27 Jan 2013 at 11:37

Looks like a decent gig, good holiday, good pay and a good pension. Should be a job for life provided I follow the right route. Don't know what that is yet though lol. I've got a good degree etc...

Anyone work for the CS? Any advice on how to get it? Central London for me and office based. Cheers

craptakular · 27 Jan 2013 at 11:41

I worked for the gov once, it's soul destroying. They do nothing, spend millions doing it and have lots of meetings talking about doing nothing and then another meeting to decide that they still should do nothing.

Seriously don't work in the public sector it will destroy you.

Scam · 27 Jan 2013 at 11:42

Get a proper job

Surveyor · 27 Jan 2013 at 11:48

Good pay.

Don't count on any meaningful pay rises.

I believe they've had 0% for 2 years, 1% for last year and it'll be 1% for this year.

I don't imagine they'll be getting much in future years either.

good pension

Haven't they moved away from final salary to a career average scheme, so not so good?

Also there have been some large hikes in employee contributions which may well continue.

Compared to how it was you pay more, work longer and receive less.

1upu5 · 27 Jan 2013 at 11:53

I work for the UKBA. I quite enjoy it. Pays not great however paid sick, good holidays and flexi time system are all useful. Pro's and con's as per any job.

The worse part is finding out information through the news rather than through the business

Biohazard · 27 Jan 2013 at 12:13

^UKBA, doing two jobs for the price of one.

Work for the public sector? I really wouldn't bother.

semi-pro waster · 27 Jan 2013 at 12:59

I work for the civil service in Central London since that appears to be part of your criteria. I wouldn't immediately presume that you'll find it easy to get in, many areas have a recruitment freeze apart from certain graduate schemes and those can be quite competitive. I would suggest doing more research on it though as at the moment it doesn't sound as if you've given it much thought.

If you're interested then it's probably a choice of economics/statistics, procurement, financial or Fast Stream graduate schemes. Which is best for you might depend to some extent on your degree but for the latter three you can have a degree in any discipline as far as I'm aware. I don't know when the graduate schemes open but I'm pretty sure you've missed the chance to start in 2013 if you were applying through the normal route for one of them.

scorza · 27 Jan 2013 at 13:08

Most civil service jobs these days have been outsourced to the likes of G4S, Serco and Capita - so be prepared for a crap gig.

pingwing · 27 Jan 2013 at 14:06

Grad Scheme is open for new applicants August to October, its stupidly hard to get into (I am convinced they just don't take anyone) and doesn't seem that worth it.

semi-pro waster · 27 Jan 2013 at 14:09

pingwing said:
Grad Scheme is open for new applicants August to October, its stupidly hard to get into (I am convinced they just don't take anyone) and doesn't seem that worth it.

Which grad scheme i.e. which of the strands? I'm evidence that they do take at least some people but as I said it can be quite competitive, also some people find that although they might not get in the first time round they can succeed at a subsequent round of recruiting.

Biohazard · 27 Jan 2013 at 16:17

scorza said:
Most civil service jobs these days have been outsourced to the likes of G4S, Serco and Capita - so be prepared for a crap gig.

And those that haven't have seen their roles been reduced to painting by numbers thanks to process driven management styles.

The Civil Service is a terrible employer frankly, cherrypicking what it wants to force on the Public sector from the Private. When Civil Service reform branched out into a transformation program to be a "good modern employer"... it turned out it would need to increase pay significantly. We're back to being content as a mediocre employer. That's without touching on the hypocrisy of some Ministers with regards to clear juxtaposition between internal and external comments.

MrMoonX · 27 Jan 2013 at 16:39

I recently left the civil service, pension is now rubbish and we are basically paying a tax on our contributions i.e paying more getting less, thanks to the bankers!

be prepared to do two peoples work and then get sold off to G4S/Serco

Oh and retarded managers who are just promoted cos they fit the profile for a yes person, who make the most stupid bureaucratic systems to work within

pingwing · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:23

semi-pro waster said:
Which grad scheme i.e. which of the strands? I'm evidence that they do take at least some people but as I said it can be quite competitive, also some people find that although they might not get in the first time round they can succeed at a subsequent round of recruiting.

Humm the main one was that short window, as well as a foreign office and one other. Couple of other areas are open longer as they are less attractive I think.

shuffle · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:27

Yes I've just left on redundancy in the CS. You can become brainwashed very quickly. Feels a massive weight off my shoulders having left.
good luck

dowie · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:29

MrMoonX said:
I recently left the civil service, pension is now rubbish and we are basically paying a tax on our contributions i.e paying more getting less, thanks to the bankers!

what have the bankers got to do with paying tax on your civil service pension?

Is it still fashionable to blame them for everything from the financial crisis to the deficit and anything we can try to link to to those things?

Biohazard · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:32

Probably the way the Unions frame things. I can see the correlation, but anyway that's missing the point. Private sector pensions were going to become more affordable, and with cuts even more so. There is a fair amount of resentment given how the pensions were and have been sold to employees as apart of an overall reward package.

Ol!ver · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:33

Surveyor said:
Don't count on any meaningful pay rises.

I believe they've had 0% for 2 years, 1% for last year and it'll be 1% for this year.

I don't imagine they'll be getting much in future years either.

Haven't they moved away from final salary to a career average scheme, so not so good?

Also there have been some large hikes in employee contributions which may well continue.

Compared to how it was you pay more, work longer and receive less.

Always makes me laugh when people talk about such wage increases as if they're a kick in the teeth. I can't remember the last time I got a wage increase without moving jobs - people in the CS should be happy they get one at all, 'normal' people get sod all and no pension to boot.

Biohazard · 27 Jan 2013 at 17:40

Government had to increase pay for thousands when it introduced the minimum wage. Pay progression in some departments has had some very strange results with regards to progression, some people don't get any at all others have contractual rights.

Civil service pay was once national, and applied to all. The Government proposed to divide & conquer by having departmental and local bargaining. The Unions thought this was fantastic, x amount of extra officialness and roles to fill. Decades down the line standards were driven down we've got some hideous examples of unfair contrast and at times complicated answers to why people's progression and pay are at odds.

Pawnless Endgame · 27 Jan 2013 at 18:01

Oxy said:
I worked for the gov once, it's soul destroying. They do nothing, spend millions doing it and have lots of meetings talking about doing nothing and then another meeting to decide that they still should do nothing.

Yeah this. Did 1 year in the MOD, found it too laid back for my liking. Oh and also, they took posts on their intranet waaaaaaay too seriously. Anything that was remotely light-hearted / joke / meme = rollocking. Although I'm still in public sector now (NHS), I work in CS. The pace is about right for me, and you can have a bit of ol' banter on their intranet no probs.

fastwunz · 27 Jan 2013 at 18:35

hmmm guess my idea of the CS was somewhat warped!

I HATE my job at the moment. Love the people but its very public facing and frankly, the public can take a run and jump as far as im concerned. I am not a customer service representative so dont think you can treat me like one. (shakes fist at the world).

I need a change - i work stupid hours, the pay is all over the place being heavily performance targeted and im frankly knackered.

The wife is about as suportive as a twiglet beneath an elephants arse though as she is terrified ill need to take an overall pay cut to find something I enjoy.

I have a 2:1 in building surveying which puts me in good stead - i do not want to be a surveyor however.