taking a job in civil service (dstl) is it worth taking a pay cut?

[Marmaladegin]

Any feedback from CS workers in general and dstl in particular gratefully received:

Have interview for a potentially interesting (I hope) job at dstl. The top of the advertised scale would be marginally lower than my current salary. I'm currently a (quite expensive) teacher. I do not hate my job, but it is tricky to balance around a family. Some people seem to go on about the flexibility and less stressful nature of working for the CS, compared to teaching. But others bemoan the difficulty of achieving salary progression. What are your experiences please, in terms of progression, job satisfaction and flexibility?

I too started my civil service career at Dstl, I absolutely loved it! I came from the private sector where everything was so rigid and stuffy, then to work in a place I was actually treated like an adult was fantastic! Great flexibility, no micromanaging, left to do my job (which was extremely interesting!) No dress code. There was a lot of protocols, training and security to get my head around at first (understandably) but then I loved it!

One downside is public and media perception. The scientists there do a flipping amazing job keeping the public safe every day but the average person doesn’t (can’t) know and the media just like to focus on what happened there in the past.

Other downside is you can get more in the private sector for the same work but it isn’t as interesting.

I was there 7 years and only moved on because of moving far from the area. I’d work there again in a heart beat! The people are great (still keep in touch with many!)

Definitely evaluate the final-salary pension scheme. An index-linked defined-benefit scheme would be very expensive to replicate through a personal defined-contribution scheme. Mine is worth a fair bit more than £20k pa. Most employees totally undervalue it which is why employers like to cut it.

A £40k salary with a decent pension scheme is a better deal than an £60k salary without, but staff would nearly always go for the higher salary.

Happy to answer any questions about flexibility. I’ve only been gone a year so still in the know I feel.

The hybrid would be because there is always the possibility you will need to work on certain things on site (that you can’t from home) so it’s never be fully remote. Although since 2020 to me leaving I only was physically on site about 4 or 5 times.

So I thought I'd update.

Interview went well. Quite taxing but the interviewers were nice. Not heard back yet. As @jeblee said, I've been told that certain projects can require in-office working, but otherwise you can be pretty much remote all the time.

Contrary to some advice, I was told it was definitely not a given that an external applicant would start on the bottom of the scale... but perhaps this is because it's a specialist post.

Any idea what the wait might be like between interview and outcome?

My interview was on Monday and I heard back Friday so very quick really but I guess it all depends on how many applicants they have and how quickly they can get through them. Let us know how you get on, fingers crossed for you 😀

Not DSTL but another Dept. I joined about 3 years ago to a specialist post and came in about 2/3 of the way up the scale. Now on the max.

It should state on the advert that new entrants are expected to start on the band minimum. You can always ask if you're made a provisional offer.

If they have approval to offer higher than the band minimum, then they'll be able to make an offer based off the calculation/rules. However, if they don't have approval, you'll be offered the band minimum and there's no negotiation with that.

There may be some room for negotiation. My DH went in and they matched his pay which was middle of scale, as shortage and specialised area.