Job interview advice needed

[NellietheNumpty]

Hi there. I had COVID at the start of the year and have never completely recovered. I quit my job which was physically demanding, dangerous and dull. Think prison guard type occupation.
I am finished on Friday and am having a think and need a collective thinking hive mind on this one. I have a couple of civil service interviews lined up AO and O level.
I have no idea whether to go for the lower level or higher. The interviews go in that order. Also if I would be suited to the work. I have never done a sit down job, of course logging and professional development stuff. I am not up to another full on physical role but now what? I am not daft but not academic clever.
Any advice? Thanks all.

Well I would do both interviews for a start, and if you're offered the higher level role, all other things being equal I'd take that! If you are offered the lower level role I would just ask for a few days to think things over so as to give you time to see what happens with the lower level, if necessary accept and pull out later, it's not ideal but it happens. Have faith in yourself, if they have shortlisted you to do the role they must believe you are capable, some parts of the CS are quite cerebral and academic but lots more aren't, frankly if you have more than common sense you'll be doing better than lots of people that manage to progress quite far up the CS ranks IMO - kidding of course, but high academic qualifications not usually needed and on the job experience and transferable skills are valued highly.

On your other questions, it's very hard to say without knowing you and the jobs better - the civil service is vast and diverse and different AO/EO roles can be hugely different depending on your department/team. On the whole I would expect it to be a bit of an adjustment period in either role, going from something physically active and dangerous to a more desk-based job is going to be challenging and a real change of pace (especially if you are going to be working from home) so give yourself time to adjust. All new joiners to the civil service tend to take time to settle, it can be quite a particular culture with its own joys and frustrations (although as I say some parts are very different to others), some of it will be familiar to you if you come from the prison service or similar (the emphasis on rank/seniority, the acronyms and jargon, the endless, achingly slow bureaucracy, the deep rooted suspicion of change), some may be very new (ministerial pressure, sudden reverses of policy direction, office politics). The nice thing about the CS though is that once you are in it is usually quite easy to move around between roles and departments (someone is going to pop up in a minute to say that they waited 20 years for a transfer or similar, like I say there's always exceptions), so if you find yourself bored or not loving the first job you get, you can usually move within 6 months or a year without it being too frowned upon.

Good luck!

@maxelly
That is incredibly helpful and encouraging.
Thanks so much.

Bump for evening traffic

I would definitely agree with the fact that different roles in the civil service can be so different yet pay the same. Before I went to uni, I worked for the CSA for 6 years as an AO grade. The hardest team was the clerical team, yet I got paid the same just inputting names and contact details (being a bit vague as it’s ages ago) as it was the same pay grade. In that respect, it’s exactly like the NHS Agenda for Change pay rules.

@BananaMilkshakeWithCream
Thanks. Can you clarify what the NHS Agenda for change is.
My interview is in the morning. I feel clueless but positive.

Agenda for Change is around standardised pay rates in the NHS. It means that if (for example) you’re a B5 nurse, you’ll be paid the same as a B5 physio (assuming the same number of hours and years of service) It just makes things fair. You can look up the pay scales on the NMC website although I’m not sure if it’s been updated yet to include the 3% uplift.