Joining the Civil Service, what to look out for?
Discussion
CraigyMc said:
Interesting email.
If you'd literally writen "is there a more up to date X?" rather than "send me X", you might have made a different impression.
YMMV.
To be fair, I think my wording was bad, whereas it wasn’t my intention to look rude. That was an email sent to another team.If you'd literally writen "is there a more up to date X?" rather than "send me X", you might have made a different impression.
YMMV.
I think I still need to learn a lot about the world of work. Maybe this is how it is for everyone lol
Edited by V 02 on Tuesday 23 January 15:08
I had another meeting, I was surprised to hear from the line manager and the hiring manager that they agreed with “my assertive but polite tone” in the above email (which I admit does appear quite badly worded and rude). I did mention that I was not trying to be assertive but that made me feel better nonetheless.
They came to get me like I was in trouble so I was thinking Oh s
t
It was then recommended to me that I no longer speak to that member of staff (the business manager) other than for pleasantries, and to stand up for myself, and to report any workplace political issues to the line manager.
And they’ve agreed to make an exception and allow me 1 WFH day after 3 months, rising to the official 2 after the completion of 6. All completely fair. I am happy with their decision.
I then had numerous people who were copied into emails come up to me and tell me not to worry, it’s almost if I was bereaved or something (I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal)
They came to get me like I was in trouble so I was thinking Oh s
tIt was then recommended to me that I no longer speak to that member of staff (the business manager) other than for pleasantries, and to stand up for myself, and to report any workplace political issues to the line manager.
And they’ve agreed to make an exception and allow me 1 WFH day after 3 months, rising to the official 2 after the completion of 6. All completely fair. I am happy with their decision.
I then had numerous people who were copied into emails come up to me and tell me not to worry, it’s almost if I was bereaved or something (I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal)
Edited by V 02 on Tuesday 23 January 16:38
Edited by V 02 on Tuesday 23 January 16:39
V 02 said:
It was then recommended to me that I no longer speak to that member of staff (the business manager) other than for pleasantries, and to stand up for myself, and to report any workplace political issues to the line manager.
That is clearly code for "we know they are a problem, we are working on it, leave it to us" if ever I saw it. snotrag said:
V 02 said:
It was then recommended to me that I no longer speak to that member of staff (the business manager) other than for pleasantries, and to stand up for myself, and to report any workplace political issues to the line manager.
That is clearly code for "we know they are a problem, we are working on it, leave it to us" if ever I saw it. V 02 said:
This is the only e-mail I sent to be accused of being cheeky:
For context, I had sent an e-mail to a general team, rather than a specific dept, as that was the e-mail on the training manual to speak to the dept.
Classic response to having their processes shown as being incorrect\lacking - criticise the manner and tone of the person who raised it.For context, I had sent an e-mail to a general team, rather than a specific dept, as that was the e-mail on the training manual to speak to the dept.
Rise above it, and in a couple of years you'll be far beyond where you are now, while that person remains exactly where they are, maybe with additional paperclip-supervision duties.
shtu said:
Classic response to having their processes shown as being incorrect\lacking - criticise the manner and tone of the person who raised it.
Rise above it, and in a couple of years you'll be far beyond where you are now, while that person remains exactly where they are, maybe with additional paperclip-supervision duties.
Thanks Rise above it, and in a couple of years you'll be far beyond where you are now, while that person remains exactly where they are, maybe with additional paperclip-supervision duties.
Also I got myself corrected by the LM - the person I am referring to is the Support Officer to the Business Manager, so not actually a “Manager” at all.
Apparently she has been here a while, well before the CS moved to hybrid, and disagrees with the idea of flexible working as she thinks it’s unproductive.
"n addition I did very little for 2 weeks because nobody trained me properly or knew what I was supposed to do".
As a former civil servant of AA grade, that surprises me. When I started in the DHSS and CRU, I was given what's known as a "job shadow". That's another member of staff of a similar grade, to train you up to standard. It usually takes a couple of weeks and you could be placed on "training hours" - temporarily meaning a shorter working day .
I also had to attend training days and seminars in other government offices. That encompasses things like fraud prevention, IT security and manual handling training.
One more thing, Have a word with your line manager or EO and make sure you have your payroll number allocated to you.
As a former civil servant of AA grade, that surprises me. When I started in the DHSS and CRU, I was given what's known as a "job shadow". That's another member of staff of a similar grade, to train you up to standard. It usually takes a couple of weeks and you could be placed on "training hours" - temporarily meaning a shorter working day .
I also had to attend training days and seminars in other government offices. That encompasses things like fraud prevention, IT security and manual handling training.
One more thing, Have a word with your line manager or EO and make sure you have your payroll number allocated to you.
Edited by Langweilig on Tuesday 23 January 20:10
I too have been recently paying close attention to CS jobs. The pension, job security, progression and work life balance is simply amazing compared to most private jobs in the UK. The only challenge is the location of the office for me. Most suitable roles are simply too far to commute.
Langweilig said:
"n addition I did very little for 2 weeks because nobody trained me properly or knew what I was supposed to do".
As a former civil servant of AA grade, that surprises me. When I started in the DHSS and CRU, I was given what's known as a "job shadow". That's another member of staff of a similar grade, to train you up to standard. It usually takes a couple of weeks and you could be placed on "training hours" - temporarily meaning a shorter working day .
I also had to attend training days and seminars in other government offices. That encompasses things like fraud prevention, IT security and manual handling training.
One more thing, Have a word with your line manager or EO and make sure you have your payroll number allocated to you.
What actually happened for me was all the people I was supposed to shadow were on AL for the first 2 weeks.As a former civil servant of AA grade, that surprises me. When I started in the DHSS and CRU, I was given what's known as a "job shadow". That's another member of staff of a similar grade, to train you up to standard. It usually takes a couple of weeks and you could be placed on "training hours" - temporarily meaning a shorter working day .
I also had to attend training days and seminars in other government offices. That encompasses things like fraud prevention, IT security and manual handling training.
One more thing, Have a word with your line manager or EO and make sure you have your payroll number allocated to you.
Edited by Langweilig on Tuesday 23 January 20:10
I work in a small team of 6, with only 2 in the office at any 1 time, the buddies were from different depts, my team were simply too busy to train me so printed off some work sheets for me to read which is the best they could do.
I only met my manager for the first time last week.
All training is online now, so I spent the whole time knocking through online e-learning.
V 02 said:
Thanks
Also I got myself corrected by the LM - the person I am referring to is the Support Officer to the Business Manager, so not actually a “Manager” at all.
Gareth, is that you!? Also I got myself corrected by the LM - the person I am referring to is the Support Officer to the Business Manager, so not actually a “Manager” at all.
https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxAimBOyMjjAkBafdLw...
Bowks said:
Unless I missed it, the two top tips.
Join the CSSC for savings and if you have an NHS email address, get yourself a Blue Light card
And the Civil Service Motoring Association, although leaving it again can be tricky. In my experience the only way to stop receiving the magazine is to move house, leaving the civil service and stopping paying the membership fee isn't sufficient.Join the CSSC for savings and if you have an NHS email address, get yourself a Blue Light card
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