Graduate police roles, intelligence etc?

[BobtheFrog]

Looking ahead to graduation for my eldest DD, we are exploring career options, esp in fields that are new to us (I am lucky enough to have had a very varied career and worked as placement tutor in a Uni) but there are so many choices out there.

Don't really know much about police careers options for graduates and haven't seen anything at job fairs to ask folks. 'Leadership' and 'Detective' seem to have career paths, but DD is more interested in Intelligence / SFO / NCA type work.

Any provide any insight or point us in the right direction, to learn more about this type of work and how a career in this arena might work?

NCA do grad schemes, as do the intelligence services (MI5/6).

Do you not have to work your way up in the police? SFO - what is her degree? Mi6-Mi5 are hugely competitive and civil service. I think they recruit people with the talents they need as opposed to any grad who fancies it.

The Civil Service / NCA etc route all seems super competitive. Will still apply but, Police seems much less competitive and (may?) offer a route in . . .

Politics and Economics

No, you can enter the police as a grad now on a 2yr programme to become a detective. I know someone doing it with the Met. Hard work but she's enjoying it.

https://www.policenow.org.uk/national-detective-programme/

@NewName2025 The DD didn’t want the police detective route - that she knows about. The chosen career was intelligence and SFO. The move from detective to these roles seems unclear but the police could be a starting point. Or apply to the civil service.

I work in the civil service. Depending on the type of "intelligence" she is interested in, she could also look at entry via the counter fraud profession. It also has intellence roles. You don't have to join via the faststream grad programme - if she looks for counter fraud roles around the EO / HEO level, that's the same level that grads start on the faststream and can sometimes be less competitive. It just might take a year or two longer to reach manager level (G7 - which is what the faststream offers at the end of the three year programme), but perfectly doable. She can do training in intelligence paid for by the CS (usually accessed through Depts learning and development budgets) and then look for sideways moves into NCA / SFO / CF roles in other departments. There's a lot of focus on counter fraud in the CS at the moment so lots of interesting work.

Info on the CF profession - https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/professions/working-in-counter-fraud/

Here are a few job examples (based on knowing nothing about where you are based!). Sorry for the long links. She can go on civilservicejobs.gov.uk and just put intelligence or fraud as a key word.

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=dXNlcnNlYXJjaGNvbnRleHQ9MTI4OTMxOTg5Jm93bmVydHlwZT1mYWlyJnNlYXJjaHNvcnQ9c2NvcmUmb3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZwYWdlYWN0aW9uPXZpZXd2YWNieWpvYmxpc3Qmam9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0xOTQ3ODg5JnNlYXJjaHBhZ2U9MSZwYWdlY2xhc3M9Sm9icyZyZXFzaWc9MTc0NDk2ODAzMi0xMzM3MTI1NzQ3OTJhMWUwYzIwMTk3NzE3NDQxZTA5MmUyODFmYjgy

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=dXNlcnNlYXJjaGNvbnRleHQ9MTI4OTMxOTg5Jm93bmVydHlwZT1mYWlyJmpvYmxpc3Rfdmlld192YWM9MTk0NjE3OCZwYWdlY2xhc3M9Sm9icyZwYWdlYWN0aW9uPXZpZXd2YWNieWpvYmxpc3Qmc2VhcmNocGFnZT0yJnNlYXJjaHNvcnQ9c2NvcmUmb3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZyZXFzaWc9MTc0NDk2ODI0Ny1lZTA3ZTk5ZDcyNDZkMzYyYzI0MTdiZjc0MTllMjJhYzk5ODUwZmFh this one says for example "accreditation as financial intelligence officer or willingness to undertake" (my bold). My experience as a hiring manager is that when we put this in the criteria, it means we'll be willing to train you up if you are a good candidate and perform well at interview.

She could also look at getting a foot in the door with SFO in a different role and then moving into intelligence. Once you are in the CS, if you express a preference into a certain area long term, I find people are really supportive in helping you get there.
Example here: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=dXNlcnNlYXJjaGNvbnRleHQ9MTI4OTMxOTg5Jm93bmVydHlwZT1mYWlyJnNlYXJjaHNvcnQ9c2NvcmUmcGFnZWFjdGlvbj12aWV3dmFjYnlqb2JsaXN0Jm93bmVyPTUwNzAwMDAmam9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0xOTQ3NjQ4JnNlYXJjaHBhZ2U9MSZwYWdlY2xhc3M9Sm9icyZyZXFzaWc9MTc0NDk2ODAzMi0xMzM3MTI1NzQ3OTJhMWUwYzIwMTk3NzE3NDQxZTA5MmUyODFmYjgy

awesome, thanks NewName

I think the challenge with a degree like Econ/Pol is that it doesnt lead directly to an obvious career - which was kind of the point when she started. As graduation looms she still isnt clear what to do next.

Something with 'flexibility but purpose' seems a good answer here - so joining a large organisation as a graduate (e.g. Civil Service / Police etc) and trying to head towards an interesting niche (e.g. intelligence) seems as good a thing to do as any - she is smart, analytical and driven by fairness, right and wrong, so there is a values fit too.

The civil service is very competitive but their recruitment/assessment process is different from the private sector so it's always worth having a go and see how far you get. It starts with online tests and you can find a lot online about the kind of tests they do.

When does she graduate?

She might also find she develops a liking for something different. I joined the CS as a recent grad with a plan to do international / overseas / diplomacy type work and actually discovered a love for a totally different type of work in a small niche department, which id never even heard of when first joining. I'm 12 years in and on the whole have had a very fulfilling and interesting career with lots of opportunities for promotion and since having my two DC, lots of flexibility for PT / school hours working etc. Obviously that's not front of mind when graduating, but has been so helpful as I hit my 30s. 😅

Thanks again Newame, that's what I hope will happen

I graduated with a specialism, joined a large firm with the promise of working in that specialist area after a couple of 6 month rotations. Someone left from a different specialism, I got promoted and suddenly I was responsible for something I have never heard of 12 months earlier.

A mate of mine from Uni joined HMRC graduate scheme and similar happened, did some rotations got offered a job in a different field because there was work, went from there

I think it is okay to not "know" what you want to do, but you still need to have a direction, or an aspiration - make a start and see what happens. And also to grab those opportunities when they happen . . .

My DD is just about to graduate from doing Politics and IR, she has applied for Grad roles wide and far. All I can say is she may not get the luxury of being choosy as roles are so so competitive - think like 10k applicants for less than 100 roles. It would be best for her to keep an open mind, apply apply and apply and hopefully one door will open which can then lead on to other avenues. DD got rejected from so many that she fitted the criteria perfectly for but there are just too many applicants in the exact same boat.

And gchq

There was a recent drive to get a more diverse applicant audience (I heard something on R1) so I don't think there is any harm in applying https://www.sis.gov.uk/

@Seeyouincourtkeithyoutwat The other thread about the future of HE might interest you. Over supply of grads and not enough jobs. It’s not something the HE employees wish to consider but it’s a great disservice to grads. Very disappointing.