Civil Service internship. Only children of the "working class"

[Quirkswork]

If your child is coming up for 14 and interested in a career in the Civil Service and you have a job in a profession or that means you pay a lot of tax, I suggest you down tools now.

As reported in the Telegraph,

Civil Service internships will only be offered to students from lower income families in a bid to make Whitehall more working class, ministers have announced.

Only young people from “lower socio-economic backgrounds” will be able to apply to Whitehall’s internship programme, the Cabinet Office has said.

A student will be judged eligible depending on what jobs their parents did when they were 14. Students with parents who are receptionists, electricians, plumbers, butchers or van drivers would be among those eligible for the programme.

Quite. People are behaving as though not being able to apply for one small internship excludes them from the CS for ever! There are 20p young people o; this. If they all get in to permanent posuti9ns there’s still plenty of space. And they won’t. Some. Will decide it’s not for them. Some won’t show aptitude. Some will be fine, but as with all interviews will be beaten by someone else on the day.

This isn't recruitment. An internment doesn't result in a job. It's work experience. A taster scheme for otherwise disadvantaged candidates to try it out.

And 'best' is subjective. High performing teams have a diversity of experiences. If the team lacks a specific set of skills/experiences then the 'best' candidate is someone who fills that gap

I read this a few times on this thread and I thought people were talking in jest. Do people actually do this?

Apparently.

It's quite sad.

Yes plenty of space for the 59% in the CS who are privately educated when 93% of the population aren’t. There is a big equality problem in the CS and this just makes it worse.

They blind recruit - they assess your values and behaviours. You do not mention your education or previous roles in your statement.

Is this true??? for grads or experienced hires? they recruit without assessing your previous experience?

This might explain the quality of our CS... I still can't believe this

What do you mean? It’s aimed at strivers. Young people who got to university with no road map because nobody in their family ever did it before.

Because nobody is being segregated? There’s a tiny opportunity for a group of people who don’t get many opportunities on the whole.

But if the criteria for who is best suited to the job is basically defined as "people like us", something needs to give.

God forbid trying to give people from low socio economic backgrounds opportunities eh. Save them all for those who can afford the leg up!

Rubbish!!!

2x working class jobs or even one if you’re a shop keeper or brick layer can pull in a very healthy household income.

It’s not about income. It’s about contacts and aspiration. That’s been explained repeatedly.

As people have pointed out, income is only part of it

It sounds like you've just come on here to rant- not actually understand why the CS is doing this.

I'm in CS and come from a relatively comfortable/affluent family and I'm one of the most 'common' people among my colleagues. ( I wouldnt have qualified for these internships either, despite not seeing myself as particularly posh or privileged)

I'll not repeat the many good points made already, but will add that if you want a competent civil service, you need a diverse one. Numerous studies have shown that diverse teams are more effective and successful.

The CS is there to serve the needs of ALL citizens of the UK. The people making policies need to understand the challenges facing everyone in the UK- not just middle class people in the south east.

Ironically, your post is a perfect example of why we need more diverse thought. You aren't actually listening to the very good points made and are rigidly thinking that things should stay the same because it would benefit your child (am.guessing that's why you posted). This is why the CS is so full of posh, white people.

Your proposal to open up these internships to everyone would just see the cs remain the same and be less effective or competent as a result.

The criteria for any job should always be the person who can carry it out best, according to their qualifications and experience and any aptitude tests. “People like us” (whoever the us of the moment is) should never be a criteria. Of course I am talking about real private sector jobs with a definite function which needs to be fulfilled to a certain standard. Maybe civil service roles do not have a definite function and standard. It might explain the quality of our public sector!

The racist laws of the United States that mandated separate facilities for people of different ethnicities brutally enforced by the police and legal system and unofficially underpinned by the torture, murder and terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan?

Hard to tell. Giving a bit of a leg up in gaining work experience to a handful of people from underprivileged backgrounds sounds so similar, it's probably going to require forensic analysis to detect any differences between the two.

And as others have pointed out type of job does not disadvantage make.

Our village shop keeper has one of the biggest houses in the village, a brick layer I know is a very successful landlord with several properties….

Exactly. It is a combination of several factors.

Train drivers are on there and they earn loads, but not factory or warehouse workers. Van drivers but not lorry drivers.

So this measure is utterly ridiculous and does not help sort the 59% who are privately educated in the CS.

Do they know how to do well at CS selection? Or what CS jobs are available?
Or how to find out?
It’s not just about money.

Train drivers have a lot of union clout. I think we can see where this is coming from now.

It’s not an exhaustive list. It’s indicative.

Oh don’t be daft!
The main rail union isn’t even affiliated, and it’s not a scheme just for the children of rail workers.