Civil service: from SEO to G6 (skipping G7)

[changingnames786]

I work as an SEO in an ALB in a technical field. I have been looking for G7 roles in main departments in my field, they don't come up very often, a role has come up today in an agency, advertised externally. I meet all the criteria and the job description sounds well within what I could do. Would it look ridiculous for me to apply for a G6 as an SEO? Tbh they wouldn't really know what grade I was unless they ask, my job description can range from SEO grade through to G7 depending on the department, and the role advertised is usually a G7 role, it's quite generous that it's a G6! Am I being silly to worry about this?

Just to explain as well I can't get promoted internally as I work for a small organisation so S grade is essentially the highest I can go in my field as the risk is smaller here, I need to move to a bigger organisation with more risk to get to a higher position remaining in my field. So I have all the experience but it's on a "smaller scale" if that makes sense, I want/need to apply it to a more challenging domain. But feel like a fraud applying 2 grades up 🙈

Apply , what a grade means seems to vary a lot within the civil service. I recently did some recruitment and had a few people apply which would have been a two grade jump - they didn’t get the role as they didn’t have the right experience but it wasn’t frowned upon and they were assessed same as every other applicant

I know people who have made the jump from HEO to Grade 7 but Grade 6s have a lot more responsibility so I would say that it's a long shot.

However, I think you should apply. The new success profiles can take some getting used to. Hopefully you'll get some useful feedback (or at least scores) on your application and you can hone your application for the next opportunity that comes along.

Thank you, yes I was surprised as G6s in my organisation are directors, whereas the role I'm applying for is a deputy, in the department we're an ALB for this role is a G7, and the lead role is the G6 but the job spec is what I'm looking for so I suppose it's worth an application, though I've no doubt it'll be very competitive with current G7s applying so won't hold my breath.

I stupidly didn't realise I could access the internal jobs on the CS jobs portal (I'd just been looking externally) and have found another 2 G7 roles that suit what I am looking for, so going to have a busy week ahead, I wasn't even actively job hunting but they look like good opportunities.