Private job and civil service offer

Manxman_in_exile

My experience is from the NHS, not CS, but I suspect applicable across the public sector.


1. On entry to the CS you may have some opportunity to negotiate starting on a higher increment than usual if you have relevant qualifications and/or experience. But at HEO level don't expect to be able to do so.


2. Apart from the above you won't really be able to "negotiate" what you get paid. You don't get paid for your personal skills and abilities, you get paid for the job (ie pay band) you are doing.


3. In my view there is no such thing as "promotion" in the public sector unless you are able to get the job you are currently doing re-graded to a higher pay level. This is difficult and very tightly controlled in the NHS and in my experience would take a relatively long time as you would need to understand re-grading criteria and you would need to be operating "outside" your current job description for some time. I would suspect that recognition of job "creep" will be restricted as it means more expenditure, and budgets are severely limited. Having said that, I do know of people who had their jobs unintentionally re-graded by management simply by saying they were applying elsewhere. But these were very exceptional circumstances and I would not recommend it as a negotiating tactic. No-one, especially in the CS at HEO level, is indispensable.


4. Remember, you are paid for the job you do, not for your personal qualities, skills and experience. The only likely way you'll get paid more is by competitively applying for, and getting, a job at a higher pay-band. This will depend on vacancies. You may well develop skills and competencies deserving of a higher pay-band, but if you can't get appointed to a job demanding those skills, you're unlikely to get paid accordingly.


5. No personal experience of this but if I wanted to negotiate around child-care, compressed hours and part-time working etc., I think I would have explored this with your recruiters before this stage. I may be completely wrong here so apologies if I am.

Darksparkle

I wouldn't say promotion isn't possible in the CS. I've been in 10 years and had 2 promotions so far (AO to HO)

My job has never been regraded, these have been different jobs/roles.

My OH has been in 12 years I think and has went from O to G7. He did manage to skip SO but only because of a 4 year training programme.

mimshack01

What does faststream mean and what level is that?

Darksparkle

mimshack01 wrote: »

What does faststream mean and what level is that?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-service-fast-stream-graduate-schemes#pay-and-benefits

mimshack01

I've just called the recruiter to ask about childcare and work flexibility. I was told it can be arranged to some extent but I should mention it in my acceptance response

mimshack01

Thanks Darksparkle

TELLIT01

mimshack01 wrote: »

I've just called the recruiter to ask about childcare and work flexibility. I was told it can be arranged to some extent but I should mention it in my acceptance response

Didn't you raise these concerns at the original interview? I don't know about other areas, but DWP are looking at extending the hours requiring cover, initially covering 8 am to 6 pm and eventually 8 am to 8 pm and Saturdays. Current for many areas is 8 to 5. Flexi working is part of the 'package' in some areas, but that doesn't mean always being able to work the hours you want to work.

mimshack01

No I didn't as I was looking at the higher grade and thought I could manage with full time childcare costs.

TELLIT01

mimshack01 wrote: »

No I didn't as I was looking at the higher grade and thought I could manage with full time childcare costs.

In that case I would suggest you need to get agreement to your childcare needs and working hours before you accept the job. Once you're working there, the chances of getting what will be considered "changes to you contract" will be very much reduced.

In the latter stages of my time with DWP, staff who had always finished at 2:30 ish to pick up children were told that they were now expected to work until 5pm if required. They were told that they would get 2 weeks notice of that requirement and beyond that it was up to them to make arrangements for children to be picked up!

becominganobsessivesaver

If you're based outside of London then I'm assuming you must have had a job on circa £80k previously. In the private sector I expect you would have been working above your contracted hours and had incredibly high expectations placed on you in return for that salary (unless you were incredibly lucky). It would be unlikely that you will have the same Work life balance pressures placed on you in the CS and there are many people who join and take a pay cut to achieve this. It will depend on which area and department you join. There are some people who have been in public sector for a number of years who don't appreciate that there is still a work life balance, or how difficult it is to achieve in some private sector careers.