r/TheCivilService

I got taken off a reserve list, had a call on the 27/04 by 31 job was added to my check account, started pec same day. Pec finish on the 15/05 got my start date today. Hope this helps I know the feeling of looking for answers and not finding it or people asking you to go check on other post. Good luck to anyone still waiting.

"It comes amid a widening backlash against the HR industry, which employs more than 500,000 people in Britain. Critics say the ballooning industry – which has grown by 83pc since 2011 – is slowing down businesses and creating meaningless busywork. HR departments have also been criticised for becoming increasingly political."

A 'widening backlash' we are deliberately orchestrating.

Oh, and of course, we get a kick on the way out too:

"Last year, Whitehall documents released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that 200 HR events and meetings were held across seven government departments during working hours in May 2025 alone."

Hi all I am currently 19 years old and hoping to find a role within the civil service. Due to my age would i be disadvantaged to in my applications to HEO roles?

I have a face to face interview tomorrow morning and had requested some reasonable adjustments for my interview which includes an assessment, but have not heard anything about this despite the interview invite stating that I would be contacted separately to discuss them. I sent a reminder email yesterday but got no response and this is truly putting me off attending the interview because it has made me wonder if the directorate is a potentially disorganised one and I wouldn't want to jump from frying pan to fire. This would be the first time I haven't had someone reach out to discuss my adjustments.

I have had to arrange a new baby sitter alongside other things I have had to move about to attend this interview and I don't know if it is just the fatigue of everything that is putting me off it.

It would be a level transfer but at a higher pay but I truly don't want to make a mistake at this stage by joining a chaotic organisation. Also haven't read the best things about the department.

Would something like this put you off attending the interview?

Hi All,

I’m starting the Tax Specialist Program in Leeds this September and am in for a long commute. Is there a standard place that people tend to park when working from Wellington Place (if that is where TSPs will be)? What are my best options?

Any advice is appreciated!

Hi guys,

I am due to start my assessment but they said they would send the assessment 30 mins before but still haven’t. I already emailed the recruitment team but god knows when I’ll get a response from them.

Has this happened to anyone? I’m kind of panicking since it’s getting closer to my allocated slot and I still haven’t received anything

Good morning, was wondering if anyone had any advice on the parking situation for the location in the title. What’s the cost? Is there anywhere significantly cheaper than other places to park?

Hi everyone, I recently received an offer at minister of Justice and wanted to understand how the annual appraisal/performance review system works there in practice.

Does Justice Digital or MoJ offer any annual bonus, performance-based pay rise, or one-off reward schemes, and how is salary progression generally handled for software engineers within the Civil Service digital teams?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone with direct experience. Thanks!

I recently submitted a job application for the civil service. They asked if I would consider my self as having a disability and I selected yes and requested questions provided before the interview if I got to that stage.

My question is this, was I right to select ‘yes’ when asked if I consider my self to have a disability? I have been to the doctors and established that I likely have ADHD (I’m a female in my early 30’s and apparently this is actually a common time to be diagnosed for women). However, the assessment wait time is years long so I don’t have a formal diagnosis and I don’t know if I’m even going to go down the route of getting one.

The reason I asked for questions in advance of the interview is because I have a really difficult time taking in information as someone is speaking to me. Even if I try my hardest I just can’t seem to focus and actually understand what is being said, my brain just seems to zone out?!. I hate listening to presentations because of this and at uni my lecturers always sent the slide pack around ahead of the lecture which I found so useful.

I know I’ve rambled a lot here but I suppose I’m just worried that they will ask for proof of disability and I won’t be able to provide it. Any advice?

People on this subreddit work in a wide range of departments and have often worked in more than one department, and often, I hear civil servants discuss ministerial and non-ministerial departments and talk about how being in one or the other can influence working culture. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; do ministerial departments differ from non-ministerial departments, and if so, what are the main differences?

I should probably caveat that I’m referring to if you did broadly the same job in a ministerial department versus a non-ministerial department (e.g. a statistician in DfE compared to Ofsted, or DfT compared to DVSA, or Cabinet Office compared to ONS). I’m aware that, say, policy in the Cabinet Office versus a call centre job in HMRC will be very different for reasons other than whether the department is ministerial or not.

I myself have only currently worked in one non-ministerial department (and not as a permanent civil servant at that), so can’t really provide any insight myself.

I’ve applied for a HMRC Compliance Caseworker role and was reading the part about visiting taxpayers’ or business premises for investigations/compliance checks.

For anyone who’s done the role, are these ever dangerous situations, or are they generally routine/safe? Are you usually on your own when visiting businesses, or supported by colleagues and risk assessments where needed?

The role sounds interesting overall, but that part of the job description made me a bit unsure, so I’d appreciate honest experiences.

I received a provisional offer around 3 months ago for a compliance Caseworker role, completed my pre-employment checks, and have just been waiting on the official offer and start date. Today, I received another provisional offer as an ADHOC Compliance Caseworker, and had my original one withdrawn because of this offer.

Has anyone else had this happen, and what happened after? Adhoc indicates that it is a short term thing to help during peak times, but the advert states it is permanent.

looking for some thoughts, been working in CS for about 10 years in a few different departments. I never went to university or got a degree but I applied a few months back to a few university for a degree that I have always been interested in which I can’t really seeing have any direct impact on my area of work although their would be the general benefit of a better educated staff member. funding would come from Student Loans & such rather than the requesting anything from the department.

I applied originally just to see if I would actually be accepted as a test for myself but I’ve now to my complete surprises had 4 unconditional/conditional offers that Ive met or can easily meet & starting to seriously think that it might be time to go to uni. courses are “full time“ but in practice would only be 10 hrs contact (lectures & tutorials) a week. what questions should I be thinking about or asking the department in terms of compressed Hrs/study leave or other things that might let me keep some sort of income & remain in the Civil Service while also studying.

Has anyone received a job offer for the fraud officer role in Ty Taf?

Finally had an update today after an interview in March and it says placed on the reserve list. I’m aware of other mass recruitments at Ty Taf wheee they have chucked everyone on the reserve list and sent out offers within days, but not sure if that is the case here. So just looking to see if anyone has received an actual offer.

Thanks!

recently did an O band interview and it was THIRTEEN minutes long (was meant to be 45 mins) , i mean they asked me some follow up questions after my response and it still was thirteen minutes… have i fucked up?…

I’m 26F and recently became a line manager. I’ve always been told I look really young and have a soft voice and honestly I feel like it affects how people treat me at work

I don’t feel listened to sometimes and I feel like people don’t take me as seriously as they would someone older or more “authoritative.” Its frustrating because I know I’m capable at my job but I feel like being young-looking makes people subconsciously treat me younger too

I also don’t have a naturally loud or intimidating personality so sometimes I feel like people mistake calmness or softness for weakness or lack of confidence when that’s not the case at all

Has anyone else dealt with this as a younger manager? How did you gain respect and confidence without feeling like you had to completely change your personality?

Or is that for more graduates? It would be much appreciated if anyone could offer any advice please.

(Before you say I can't disclose that I'm an intelligence officer in the army, not MI6...)

Thanks,

I'm a police officer of nearly 20 years looking to leave and find something new.

I've seen a job at the DfT which on paper looks like I could maybe go for - no idea whether I'd actually get anywhere with my application - but is it somewhere that people would recommend to work?

(I realise that the grass isn't always greener, but I've been ravaged by shifts and trauma and need to get out whilst there's still enough of me left to do something else.)