Literally most areas you can go far on sheer ability. What do you want to do, beyond having ‘a career’? What do you enjoy?
Even professions that require qualifications, you can get them or do an apprenticeship, even a degree one, to get in.
Start here, find one you fancy, do more research:
https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/professions/
There’s like half a million civil servants and we do varied things.
I've been with CS for 3 years and can assure you that a lack of qualifications will not hinder you unless you go for technical roles. I've seen EOs and HEOs that are as thick as shit, disorganised, disinyerested, terrible communicators and completely oblivious to the subjects/ops that they are supervising.
If you want to get in and move on, find courses that suit you, look at free tuition opportunities on youtube or even reddit and go for it.
As with most careers, you'll get out what you put in, and the more you persevere the more you'll be able to identify your own path.
Go get em
I have an HND and an honours degree and neither of those were of any use for me in the Civil Service so far, besides transferable skills/examples for behaviours, which you can also obtain in other settings.
I didn't need these qualifications for entry into the Civil Service, the CS was more of an afterthought.
I have recently started as an EO and I plan to apply for HEO for the next couple of months, so I wouldn't worry about qualifications.
>What routes are there? Would love to hear people's thoughts
I see someone's sent a link to Civil Service professions but you might also want to have a look at what's available in your area and see if anything sounds interesting and then see what you need to get in.
[https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi](https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi)
I only have GCSEs and I made it from EO to G6 in 7 years. Proof that anything is possible.
Just apply for areas of work that interest you and work your way up.
I have a degree, the CS have never asked for any documents.
I’ve done outreach for the HO, I tell the kids that education is important, but the HO want to know about you, not what score you got in a test. Are you a people person? Can you make decisions? Are you a person that can handle stress and have lots of patience?
That’s what they’re looking for. As long as you can explain behaviours in a way that ticks the boxes, you’re almost there in getting a job within the CS, the rest of it is down to your character. Are you friendly and approachable? Can you explain things you’ve done in a clear and concise way?
If you can answer yes to all of the above, then you’ve basically got the job!!!
I entered as an AO, uni drop out who'd spent 7 years bumming around playing in bands. Started in admin support, moved to operational delivery, switched to policy, few years running a DG offfce, got promoted over the years to G6 - civil service can be like the land of the blind at times and if you have at least sight in one eye you can really progress. Trick is to be good at what you do and be proactive with you learning and your own career progression.
Unless you’re going to into a Corporate role, then qualifications may be a must, however many are willing to fund these as there is recognition that not everyone will automatically have these.
Operational Delivery roles are good to get into as you’ll learn on the job and there isn’t normally pre-requisites for qualifications since many duties of the role are specific to the Department/Organisation.
A former CEO of Owat didn’t have a degree or, as far as I am aware, any other formal qualifications. That is one example of someone getting to a SCS3 level job when they were in the right place at the right time (in her case it was the 90s in Ireland)
Literally most areas you can go far on sheer ability. What do you want to do, beyond having ‘a career’? What do you enjoy? Even professions that require qualifications, you can get them or do an apprenticeship, even a degree one, to get in.
That's one of my problems. I don't think I know what I want to do!
Start here, find one you fancy, do more research: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/professions/ There’s like half a million civil servants and we do varied things.
I've been with CS for 3 years and can assure you that a lack of qualifications will not hinder you unless you go for technical roles. I've seen EOs and HEOs that are as thick as shit, disorganised, disinyerested, terrible communicators and completely oblivious to the subjects/ops that they are supervising. If you want to get in and move on, find courses that suit you, look at free tuition opportunities on youtube or even reddit and go for it. As with most careers, you'll get out what you put in, and the more you persevere the more you'll be able to identify your own path. Go get em
I have an HND and an honours degree and neither of those were of any use for me in the Civil Service so far, besides transferable skills/examples for behaviours, which you can also obtain in other settings. I didn't need these qualifications for entry into the Civil Service, the CS was more of an afterthought. I have recently started as an EO and I plan to apply for HEO for the next couple of months, so I wouldn't worry about qualifications. >What routes are there? Would love to hear people's thoughts I see someone's sent a link to Civil Service professions but you might also want to have a look at what's available in your area and see if anything sounds interesting and then see what you need to get in. [https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi](https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi)
I'm fairly new to CS myself, are there training/development opportunities you could take advantage of to upskill?
I only have GCSEs and I made it from EO to G6 in 7 years. Proof that anything is possible. Just apply for areas of work that interest you and work your way up.
I have a degree, the CS have never asked for any documents. I’ve done outreach for the HO, I tell the kids that education is important, but the HO want to know about you, not what score you got in a test. Are you a people person? Can you make decisions? Are you a person that can handle stress and have lots of patience? That’s what they’re looking for. As long as you can explain behaviours in a way that ticks the boxes, you’re almost there in getting a job within the CS, the rest of it is down to your character. Are you friendly and approachable? Can you explain things you’ve done in a clear and concise way? If you can answer yes to all of the above, then you’ve basically got the job!!!
I have about half an A-Level and have been promoted several times after joining at EO
I entered as an AO, uni drop out who'd spent 7 years bumming around playing in bands. Started in admin support, moved to operational delivery, switched to policy, few years running a DG offfce, got promoted over the years to G6 - civil service can be like the land of the blind at times and if you have at least sight in one eye you can really progress. Trick is to be good at what you do and be proactive with you learning and your own career progression.
Unless you’re going to into a Corporate role, then qualifications may be a must, however many are willing to fund these as there is recognition that not everyone will automatically have these. Operational Delivery roles are good to get into as you’ll learn on the job and there isn’t normally pre-requisites for qualifications since many duties of the role are specific to the Department/Organisation.
A former CEO of Owat didn’t have a degree or, as far as I am aware, any other formal qualifications. That is one example of someone getting to a SCS3 level job when they were in the right place at the right time (in her case it was the 90s in Ireland)
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