r/TheCivilService

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And from Capita's own press release: " This win builds on Capita's capability in contact centres across a number of the company's public sector contracts."

Hey fellow CSs.

Just over a year ago, I posted about moving from a £120k private sector role into the civil service.

It's been just over a year, and although I have randomly lost access to that account, I thought I would give an update on what's gone well and not so well and whether I regret my decision in case others are thinking of a similar move.

What's happened

I left my previous role around 14 months ago. A job in which I had a lot of success but ultimately kept me up at night regularly. Income was around £120k including bonus (£12kpa), employer pension(£8kpa) contributions and salary(£100kpa).

I now work in digital again in a public sector org at grade 7, but my experience includes grade 6-level activities, hence an allowance was approved. I have a WFH contract, working compressed hours so work 4 days per week. My salary is now £66k plus £6k allowance. It's worth noting the 28% pension conts would be on top of this so the drop isn't quite as savage as it looks.

The best bits

I love the simplicity of my new role. I no longer worry about sales targets (formerly £1m+ per annum) and focus on the bit of my job I actually enjoy.

I have a great feeling of fulfilment in general as I can put 100% of my effort into my job whereas I was spinning multiple plates before.

Working compressed hours has given me a much better work-life balance. It's a weird feeling logging off at 6pm and logging on the next morning to no emails, slack messages etc. It's felt like I can really disconnect when work stops.

Lots of support, especially with considering a career move within civil service.

The pay and pension contributions are good. I sleep better and am a better person around my friends and family. My wife says I can never go back to consulting!

The worst bits

Money! Unsurprisingly, after taking such a big pay cut, we miss the money! I'm well paid for what I do and for the hours I work, but we became accustomed to not worrying about money quite as much as we do now. The drop looks a lot worse on paper given the tax bracket I was in previously. The excellent pension also makes up for quite a bit as I was putting over £1k per month into a private pension previously.

The social side of CS isn't quite as good. I live rural area, hence the WFH but used to enjoyed travelling to cities to meet people. I do that a lot less now.

There is a limit to where I can go. Before, I had the option of working up to a director, vp, c-level etc whereas in CS I feel like G6 is about the limit I will reach. Not a huge issue for me, though.

Some of the people. I'm used to working in the public sector but im now working more closely with the "lifers" that are just there to do their hours and GTFO. I used to work with quite motivated people before and I feel that helped me stayed motivated. It's not a large proportion of people though.

Systems! Most things I try to do in civil service are difficult and slow when it comes to systems ro processed. In the consulting role, you had HR business partners that would be able to assist with anything HR easily and quickly.

Summary

Overall, I'm very happy with the move. It's made my family and I much happier despite reigning in some spending. You need to look at what you want from life and where you want to make compromises. I understand some people will be all about the cash and will be happy to sacrifice sleep, time etc for that but I feel I have found a good balance in this role.

Hi all,

First of all can I say a massive THANK YOU to all of those who have commented on my previous posts or direct messaged me.

I cannot be anymore grateful!

I have been offered a role with DWP (work coach) and Home Office (case manager/line manager).

I’m in the process of exploring the pros and cons of the roles as well as personal pros and cons (travel etc.).

Obviously I have to make a decision but I am wondering if anyone has any advice?

Can I accept both offers and then turn one down before formal offers are provided?

Any advice or support will be appreciated and thank you all again!

I have never known anyone be paid higher than the bottom of their grade‘s salary range (excepting things like RRA which aren’t included in pensionable salary anyway). Presumably there are bands rather than just a number for a reason. Do people every get paid above the minimum, and if so why?

Only thing I can think of is salary matching when coming from a higher-paid department.

I’m a current civil servant and I know those that work at the palace aren’t technically civil servants, but I imagine there are a lot of them who have worked for the palace or work there now having worked in the CS beforehand.

I have an interview next week there. What can I expect? Are their interviews structured similarly to civil service interviews? How many stages are there normally? I’ve already had to complete two stages, so this is technically the third stage, and I expect there’ll probably be another stage after this.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated!

I want to apply for a Grade 6 role through an Expression of Interest. I’m currently an EO and have applied for the role, and I’ve been invited to an interview. What are my chances of being successful? Has anyone been in a similar situation and been kept on or offered the role after the interview?

I’ve been provisionally offered two permanent EO jobs in Cardiff — one with Companies House, the other with HMRC — I am hugely grateful however, I’m struggling to decide between them.

For context:
I live about 55 minutes away by train and don’t drive yet, so for the first few months I’d be relying entirely on the train to get to whichever job I choose. Once I pass my test, my plan is to move to Cardiff, so the commute would only be temporary — but reliability matters in the short term.

My long‑term career goal is to work within intelligence (cyber, threat analysis, or investigative roles). Both jobs sit within the fraud/security space but have very different day‑to‑day work:

Companies House (lower end pay: £30,064)

• Strengths: investigative work, reviewing evidence, decision‑making, structured processes, strong alignment with intelligence‑style skills.

• Weaknesses: slower-paced, more desk-based, less variety.
• Office attendance: hybrid; expected to attend Cardiff office at least once a week, with full-time office attendance for the first few weeks during training.

HMRC (lower end pay: £31,096)

• Strengths: dynamic, customer-facing, exposure to real-world threat patterns, lots of collaboration.

• Weaknesses: emotionally heavier (supporting victims), more reactive, less directly aligned with intelligence analysis.
• Office attendance: hybrid; attendance varies by team but generally flexible, with multiple office locations including Cardiff.

Both roles are permanent EO level and offer similar benefits.

If anyone has experience with Cardiff commuting, hybrid government roles, or progression in fraud/security departments, I’d really appreciate your insight. I’m trying to choose the role that best supports my long-term goal in intelligence while still being realistic about the commute and day-to-day work.

Hi all, I'm a 30 year old male in Brighton with 6 years social work experience looking to change careers. Is the fast stream an appropriate option in this situation or is it more set up for recent graduates? I have a 2:2.

I know strengths are 1-4, but are behaviours (and experience) always 1-7?

Thanks in advance

For context, I am nearing completion of my pre-employment checks for an EO Fraud Officer role with DWP and at the same time, I have received a provisional offer for an HMRC Compliance Caseworker role.
Both roles are at a similar salary level, however the DWP office is quite far while the HMRC office is relatively close to my home.

My main questions are:

1. Can I accept the HMRC provisional offer and continue its pre-employment checks while the DWP checks are still ongoing, or would this create any conflict or risk of either offer being withdrawn?

2. What are the chances of getting moved to a DWP office closer to my home?

3. If I start with DWP, would moving to HMRC later whilst still being under probation be treated as an internal Civil Service transfer, or would it require resignation and re-joining?

4. From a career development perspective, which role is generally considered stronger for progression or will give me best skills and experience to progress to HEO/SEO level or private sector opportunities

I understand the HMRC role has a structured 18-month training programme and may restrict internal applications during that period, whereas DWP may offer more flexibility for early progression. I’m not trying to hold two jobs indefinitely. I simply do not want to reject one provisional offer before the other becomes a confirmed formal offer, particularly given how long PECs can take.

Any first-hand experience for any or all questions would be really helpful. Thank you.

We had an ex colleague saying she wanted to meet up for lunch, coffee etc. on that day all our team agreed to meet up and I felt kinda pressured to join. She is really nice and was a good person to work with.

But whenever someone leaves the team, I kind of take it as a goodbye and good luck. I personally wouldn’t want to meet up with my old team as a whole to talk about work as life moves on. There are people I have worked with who I am still friends with, but I never would have asked the team to join us when catching up.

In these situations is it OK to say you will not be joining but you wish them all the best?

​Hi everyone,

​I have an AO interview coming up and I'm currently drafting my behaviour examples using the Success Profiles.

​I’m debating my strategy and would love some input from people who have interviewed or been on a panel: Is it a good idea to tailor my examples to meet the criteria for the grade above the one I'm applying for?

​For example, if I'm going for an AO role, should I look at the Level 2 (EO) behaviour indicators so my examples sound stronger and show I'm highly capable?

​My big concern is that this might be a trap. Because the Civil Service scoring is so rigid, and the indicators for Level 1 (AA/AO) are different to Level 2 (EO), am I going to shoot myself in the foot? I’m worried that by trying to demonstrate EO-level work, I might miss the specific AO "box-ticking" criteria they actually have in front of them and end up dropping points.

​Do panels reward you for showing you are already operating at a higher grade, or is it strictly "you must hit the exact AO criteria on our sheet or you score poorly"?

​Any advice would be massively appreciated!

Why is lying so prevalent in the civil service?

I'm fed up of the number of conversations I've had that go:

X: "Right, that's agreed. We'll do A and B and you'll do C and D."

Y: "Yes, we'll do C and D"

And then two weeks later:

Y: "Who's doing C?"

X: "You said you were."

Y: "I never said that. We don't have the resources to do C. I would never have agreed to it."

I've got a Teams video of you saying it. It's not a difference in interpretation, I've learnt to be absolutely bombproof explicit in these conversations.

I'm fine if someone comes back and says "I've had a talk with my manager and we can't do it, sorry". But they never do, they always flat out deny having said it.

In my career I've been lied to twice in the private sector. In the civil service it happens about once a month.

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the horrible attempt at a punny title but I need to try laugh at the situation.

As the title suggests, I am pooping on company time - I'm having some sort of IBS situation where I am going to the bathroom upwards of 5 times a day, and feeling not great the rest of the time.

I was hoping for CS poopers with more CS experience than me would be able to give any tips for not feeling horribly guilty for the time taken or how/if/when to address it with my manager. Especially grateful for any advice from people with IBD/IBS/celiac.

I already work from home mainly due to another health issue which is a godsend as commuting to the office is currently up there with my biggest fears.

Any light hearted encouragement appreciated, or if you can come up with a better headline for the lurking journos.

We still feeling sorry for him?

Hello people,

The obligatory long-time lurker, first-time poster.

So I applied for an EO role in the HO in May of 2025. I'm finally at the stage where I'll soon be getting my formal offer. (It's been a long and bumpy ride, but FINALLY!!!)

My question pertains to the pay - The role is/was advertised at min. £30k max. £31.5k. However, as a family member works for the Civil Service, they wondered (out loud) if that number would have changed, as 1 and a half Augusts (pay increases) have happened since. The family member did also say that it is not allowed to take someone on lower pay than their grade.

The actual question:

Would the pay be affected by the (soul-crushingly long) wait time, given the above bits of info?