To think there might be a chance - civil service fixed term contract

[Charlieandthechocolatecake]

I just started a new job last week working for DWP. The position is a fixed term agreement of 1 year.

I'm not naive at all but i already love it here. My colleagues are beyond welcoming.

I'm yet to start my official training which starts next month. I've also been placed on a year long apprenticeship which is yet to start ( It definitely will).

My new colleagues have told me they have been desperate for more staff to reduce their workload.

Aibu to think that there is a chance that my position could be made permanent?

Would the CS really make me do an apprenticeship only to let me go with it unfinished?

Also, if permanent positions came up (likely), would i need to go through the interview process again or would my position become permanent given I'm already in the roll?

What got me thinking is that some of my colleagues (at a lower grade) applied for the same roll yet didn't pass the interview.

It's along way off yet but any advice would be wonderful!

I read too many replies on Mumsnet asking for paragraphs and I think I overdone it a tad. My apologies!

Whether an apprentice position in CS can become permanent or not depends on:

Whether the contract allows for this (I’ve known CS apprentice contracts that do and some that don’t),

Whether there is actually a job to give you, and

Whether they want you to stay or not.

I know one apprentice who was simply made permanent because they loved him so much, others who were let go because there was no permanent job for them and others who were let go because they weren’t up to scratch

Generally we try and hold on to our apprentices because there’s no point training someone and then letting them go - but some CS apprentice positions are not “real vacancies” ie they were only created for the apprenticeship.

Lots of civil servants started on fixed term contracts and just stayed. Doesn't mean you will because it depends on lots of things (current recruitment policies, nature of the job, budgets etc) but theres always a chance. Make yourself good and indispensable though, that always helps

If you are part of the large Intake of work coaches I doubt it will be permanent. Not impossible but not likely. The ones who started a 12 month contract last year were offered the chance to apply again competing against external candidates, a very short extension for a few or nothing

I'm ex DWP. Basically it depends - sometimes extensions are given, sometimes not. But generally to be made permanent (rather than just having the fixed term extended) you would need to apply for a permanent position and go through the full process

I would agree with @starfishmummy: when I got a permanent job with DWP, there were people working in my office who were on fixed term contracts. They had also gone for the permanent positions, but unfortunately two of them hadn’t been successful. They had had to go through the whole application process again. I guess you’re in the best position to hear about permanent roles, and you could ask your colleagues to help you prepare. One thing I did notice about my during my time at DWP, there is a lot of money wasted, So I wouldn’t necessarily believe that their paying for you to be trained was an indication of their intention to make you a permanent member of staff. I don’t think I ever heard of a temporary contract being made permanent: the member of staff always had to apply for a permanent role if one came up.