We recently caught up with Paige about how they secured a spot on the Civil Service Fast Stream, how they built commercial awareness before the interview and their top tips for Bright Network members looking to follow in their footsteps.
What stood out to you about the Civil Service Fast Stream?
I studied Law with Business at university and always struggled to figure out what career I wanted to pursue. Towards the end of my studies, after attending countless career fairs, open days and networking events aimed at pursuing a legal career, I began to identify that these roles were not going to fulfil many of my personal values. Instead, I started to lean towards more charitable and public sector work - which is when an advert for the Civil Service Fast Stream caught my eye. The opportunity to be on a graduate scheme that involved legislation and policy, but also had a wider social purpose was something that really excited me. The generalist scheme offers you the chance to try out a variety of roles in different departments and geographical locations too - which is perfect for someone like me who just wants to try everything! Being on a scheme that saw a large cohort of graduates come in together was also a huge selling point to me as there are lots of networks and corporate opportunities to get involved in outside the day job.
How did you build your commercial awareness before the interview?
Being able to see the bigger picture is a huge part of being a Civil Servant - and this is something that is definitely tested throughout the recruitment process. The key ways in which I did this was by familiarising myself with all the different Government departments, keeping an eye on any high profile policies or legislation being debated in parliament and generally watching the news and following interesting stories. I think the main thing here is that 'commercial awareness' is less clear when it comes to applying to the Generalist Fast Stream as you don't know which department you'll be working in - the skill is actually being able to acknowledge a particular issue or development and being able to consider the impacts and interplays that that one thing may have on a number of Government departments, policies and stakeholders - whether it be a business, environmental or social issue. At the recruitment stage for a Generalist, it is unlikely you're going to be quizzed on any specific issues or be expected to know the intricacies of one area of Government - but it is important to answer questions and respond to case study exercises with a hat on that allows you to think in the widest
What would be your top tip to members going through the application process?
Make use of all materials available to you on the organisation's website and social media channels! A lot of the time I often find that organisations will tell you exactly what they are looking for on their career’s websites. What helped me the most was researching the scheme and the role and making sure I fully understood what the Civil Service was looking for. They talk a lot about strengths and behaviours as their method of recruiting and have lots of Civil Service material about this readily available online for applicants to look at before applying - make sure you read these! They also have active social media channels, including YouTube which was so helpful to me. They posted videos of Q&A sessions with current Fast Streamers and you can find out so much information about what the scheme that you're applying to will be like. Once you know the expectations of the role/scheme and the qualities that the organisation is looking for, you can then align your own personal strengths and experiences to this and promote how you are matched throughout the whole application process.
How did Bright Network help you secure this role?
I have always found the career advice on the Bright Network website incredibly helpful. The Fast Stream recruits a lot based on 'strengths' and Bright Network has useful articles explaining what this method of recruitment is and how you can demonstrate your qualities and experiences in a way that aligns with this. I also took part in Internship Experience UK - a fully virtual experience with a stream focused on the consulting profession. This gave me the opportunity to network with professionals, complete a work sample with other interns, learn more about the roles I wanted to apply for and gave excellent application and interview tips!
What’s been the toughest interview question you've faced and how did you tackle it?
The first one that actually comes to mind is when I was going through the recruitment process to work part-time at a bowling alley whilst I was studying at university. For one of the group exercises at the assessment centre day, we were asked to stand in front of the group one at a time, pick a word out of a hat, and whatever was written on the hat we had to speak about for two minutes (my word was ‘uniform’!!). To deal with the panic and absolute mind blank - I channelled my nerves into positive energy and tried to make light of the situation instead. When facing unexpected questions, I come back to my authentic self, draw on my personal strengths and interests, and try to align this to the situation as best as possible. Luckily enough, I secured the role! My main tips would be to pause before speaking, don’t lie or try to talk about things you don’t know/aren’t confident in, and just to smile and go with it! Your body language and attitude when responding to a situation can often say a lot more than the words you are speaking.
What top three tips would you give Bright Network members looking to follow in your footsteps?
- Do not take any experience for granted! Everything you learn whilst working in roles you think aren’t relevant to your career is actually so important for your development. Never doubt the significance of your soft transferable skills when you are responding to application and interview questions for graduate roles!
- Do your research. Only apply to the graduate roles you are 100% sure are suited to you and your development needs. It is better to spend a long time perfecting an application for one role you know you’ll love, rather than applying to lots of roles just for the sake of it.
- Prepare for interviews. Use the job description to predict what questions you’ll be asked – there’s always a list of skills/competencies they are looking for. Use the STAR (situation, task, action, result) technique to prepare an answer for each of these.
Let us know where you've secured your work experience, internship or graduate role. We want to celebrate your success with a gift from us and exclusive invitations to evening networking drinks throughout the year.
