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Dd can't get promoted. Govt job.

79 replies

Sadwork · Yesterday 08:08

Not for Facebook use.

Dd is late 20s. She's been working in a govt department for a few years. Has moved up slightly.

She's applied for lots of promotions and had a few interviews. No joy. It's really getting her down. She wants to move from the area she's in but can't afford it. She doesn't live with her dp.
Had anyone experienced this in gov jobs? Does your face have to fit?
She won't want to move back home and tbh commute would be difficult.

OP posts:
Didimum · Today 09:49

It’s really difficult to move up in civil service. There can be 300-700 applicants for any one post. My DH was in civil service for 15 years and promotion was always slow, painful and confidence-destroying. It’s ultimately what made him leave.

mardyseagull · Today 10:25

So you haven’t said what area she works in or her grade. Saying she’s in management tells us nothing as that could still mean many things. For example I am a G7 in digital and manage 3 people. An HEO in ops might manage many more.

If you could provide some details you might get more specific advice. Is she trying to move up within the same area, for example becoming a team leader in operations? Is she trying to switch profession, for example moving from operations to policy? What grade is she now and what grades is she applying for? This information would help people give better, more tailored advice.

In the absence of that information, here is some general advice.

Firstly, the civil service is generally supportive of helping people progress and she should be discussing her ambitions with her manager. There is a lot of support potentially available, for example arranging mock interviews.

She should have received scores for all her applications and interviews, and should be asking interview chairs for feedback. Has she been doing that? The feedback will tell her how far off the mark she is. Again, it’s hard to give specific advice without this context. For example we don’t know if she’s just missing the mark, or falling far short, or scoring enough to meet the standard but being beaten by other stronger candidates.

Lastly the absolute best thing any civil servant can do to improve their interview technique is to be on a panel themselves - you learn so much being on the other side. I have arranged this for people I know need to improve their interview techniques. In my department you must have one panel from outside your business area so I look out for people in other business areas who are hiring and ask if my staff can do this.

Also a pp mentioned that jobs have to be advertised externally. I’ll just clarify that only applies to permanent roles not EOIs.

OP, I have known some civil servants who do not interview well, decide the system is against them and choose to complain to others about how unfair it is - rather than appreciating and using the feedback they receive, and engaging with the many, many sources of support available to improve interview technique and experience (line manager, e-learning, holiday cover opportunities, etc). I don’t know if your daughter is one of these, but don’t let her become one.

LondonPapa · Today 10:32

Sadwork · Yesterday 08:08

Not for Facebook use.

Dd is late 20s. She's been working in a govt department for a few years. Has moved up slightly.

She's applied for lots of promotions and had a few interviews. No joy. It's really getting her down. She wants to move from the area she's in but can't afford it. She doesn't live with her dp.
Had anyone experienced this in gov jobs? Does your face have to fit?
She won't want to move back home and tbh commute would be difficult.

I don’t know your DD’s grade but I recently lead a recruitment campaign for a single post at G7. We had an insane number of people apply, and interviewed 20 for just 1 post. The quality of candidate is enhanced beyond what most think. And unfortunately, part of it is who you know as there are a lot of TPs about that skew and lead to perm. posts at the level. If DD doesn’t play the game, she’ll lose.

Thinkofnewthings · Today 10:34

HatAndScarf33 · Yesterday 08:25

In my experience there is often someone they have lined up already for most government jobs. They can’t just give people the jobs because they have to follow a certain process, so they find other ways of swaying things in that person’s favour (tailoring interview questions, probing more to get them extra interview points). My advice would be to make sure she makes herself known to the people in the areas that she’s interested in working in and hopefully if she makes a good impression, she’ll be one of the ones that gets lined up. As a minimum she should always arrange to meet with the manager / team lead of the department / team she’s interviewing for ahead of time to make herself known.

Gosh, I would say the opposite to that. Civil service is pretty strict on that.

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