I want to go back to the Civil Service!

London_Exile

Long story short; Stared out in the Civil Service as an AA back in '99. Worked up to EO in about 3 years. Fell into an IT post, got outsourced (bad mistake), made redundant in May.

Last job and employer has made me despise working in IT, even though I have some certs and used to love it (they are the biggest IT solutions company in the world). Anyway I've had some interviews for IT jobs, but deep down i know i'm just going through the motions - just to get the job, which I know I have no interest in anymore.

What i want to do more than anything is to go back into the CS. I have skills that are easily transferable aside from the normal admin and supervisory ones; I hold a PRINCE2 certification for starters. I'm looking at the CSRG and the papers, but the only posts coming up are for lawyers and DG level posts.

Be interested to hear any advice or thoughts. Please!

Emmzi

Starrt networking. Christmas is a great time for lunch with old colleagues, former bosses, etc, to find out what's out there... they can give you an idea of changes coming up and you can suss out if there's any hope!

What was it you likes about CS? Maybe other employers can offer something similar? I'd broaden your net.

ukdickie31

There are many Civil Service posts advertised but they tend to be short term casual posts, max 13 weeks. You will probably find only AO vacancies these days rather than go back in as an EO. Sometimes there is permanent recruitment but these are few and far between.

Salary is still not the best and the 'free pension' has gone to new entrants.

Some roles now have fixed hours to suit the business rather than flex time and some call centre roles do require later working.

It could be argued that finally, the Civil Service is joining the 'real world'

Andy_L

EDS by any chance?

What with trying to cut 100k posts now is not a good time to try & get back in. Vacancies are generally gapped, with most places having an external recruitment ban unless you can put together a very good justification & get someone just down from god to sign it off.

To be honest, with PRINCE2 you are looking at an IT/IS post anyway.

Have you tried the MoD civil service jobs website
https://www.civilianjobs.mod.uk/
they don't seem to turn up on the CSRG site.

Tigsteroonie

Not quite "civil service" but a similar environment - https://www.forestry.gov.uk has its own vacancies page on which ALL external jobs are advertised, it doesn't seem to bother with the CS jobs listings site - other quangos may be the same.

ManAtHome

Or local government, they seem to be heavy on the PRINCE stuff.

_philippa_

Have you looked at http://www.csvacs.gov.uk

London_Exile

_Philippa_, Cheers! Never seen that site before - thanks for the link.

I've pretty much decided that long term my goal is to go back to the CS in Central London (moving back to London after Christmas anyway). I just really liked the people, work, location, etc, etc. It suited me - probably more so than IT or the private sector. IN fact the last place I worked for pretty much convinced me that IT sucked and the Private Sector sucked. So I left demoralized and for a while no real idea of what i wanted job wise.

Andy L, yeah, it's tricky right now, but don't believe the hype! Yes the CS is cutting back on posts, but nor on real numbers. Certainly they have put a cap on AA\AO recruitment, but there are still vacancies. My old line manager, who has just given my a reference is reckons there are numerous HEO posts unfilled. So here's hoping!

London_Exile

Forgot to add, most departments love PRINCE2 stuff! Although i have the certs, I've never done a project where I've used it!

Tori_Bellatrix

I've just been offered a new job today joining the CS at HEO grade .... I have a couple of questions if anyone knows the answers, How often do you get increments, is it just yearly? And on which day of the month do they pay salary?

brazilianwax

Depends on the Department - every pay system is different! And most are doing away with increments in favour of PRP.

Which Dept are you going to?

(HR Manager of a Govt. Dept )