How to move into the Civil Service from Teaching

[misshappycat]

Has anyone any experience of moving from teaching into the civil service? Any helpful hints? I’m currently a middle leader in my early 40s who would love a change and a challenge. I know the applications and interviews are based on competencies. If anybody has any wisdom that they can share it would be deeply appreciated. Need out of teaching!

Definitely doable.Best to start looking at jobs available and see what you'd want to apply to. Both the applications and interviews are looking for structured responses (STAR) so read up about that before applying.

What profession are you considering? Business support? Policy? Finance? Commercial? Project management? Operational delivery?

They're all really different, looking for different things.

PP is correct about STAR though, and you'll need help writing/reviewing your personal statement and CV as they look for specific things. Do you know any current civil servants who might help you?

No advice but reassurance. I know 6 people who have made this move in the last 6 months.

An issue will probably be that the HEO / SEO pay is likely to be lower than an experienced teacher’s pay, and it’s hard to enter direct from outside at grade 7 (£50k) without more obviously directly relevant experience than teaching. Some people apply for and get promotions 2 years in, others take much longer or don’t manage to progress.

Depending on your teaching subject you might be able to join at G7. I know several people who have joined at G7 in STEM professions (statisticians, scientists, software developers etc) who have no previous experience of CS or similar roles.

I joined an arms length body rather than civil service from teaching last year,the recruitment and employment conditions are pretty much the same. I took a substantial pay cut to get my foot in the door but then moved to a higher grade 6 months later, perhaps not so easy to do with recruitment freezes. Taking the lower pay grade is useful to actually just get over teaching and not have to use masses of brain power, learn the way the organisation works and then look at which direction you think you might like to go.

In my organisation staff wellbeing is genuinely a top priority, not just something they pay lip service too which makes a big difference. If I work over my contracted hours my line manager checks in on me,it's taken me awhile to get out of the habit of completing work at all costs and that actually at the end of my 7.4 hours I can just shut my laptop and finish it the next day.

I've met several ex teachers too they have mostly moved in to communications and training roles and I'm project managing a small project and completing my PM qualification at the same time

What did you teach if science or geography it is worth looking at DEFRA and it's arms length bodies so APHA, Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Department of Education is a natural move too and there are various area of Digital work if you have a computing background or Change Management is quite an interesting area and good if you like behaviour management or perhaps have psychology or sociology background.

Thanks everyone. My subject is English so STEM roles might be restricted unfortunately. I’d take a gamble with a pay cut if I knew that there are opportunities to get a pay rise later on - completing further training wouldn’t be an issue for me. So G7 roles are pretty rare and competitive especially given recent freezes?

With an English background you could work as a communications officer in pretty much any branch. Dealing with social media, Freedom of Information requests from the public etc

G7 roles aren't necessarily rare but they do tend to be heavily location restricted, with most being in the departmental headquarters. With the 60% in office guidance, this will now be restrictive for many applicants unless they already live in a commutable distance. Its worth taking a look at CS jobs and seeing what is available within a commuting distance that you are happy to undertake

I’m also trying to get out of education, although not teaching and I don’t seem to be able to get past the application form despite reading quite a bit about the criteria and attending a civil service candidate session. Does anyone know where I can find actual examples of what a successful application might look like? Thank you.

Depends on what role in the civil service, and where, none of the restrictions other posters have mentioned apply in the devolved administration I work for. I know some G7 equivalents (we have a different grading system) that are never in the office as they live so far away from it. Policy roles don’t require any specialist technical skills but they are hard to get into if you’ve no policy experience. There are a fair amount of promotion opportunities where I am just now but I do know budgets are getting very tight and that situation may not last.

@Sundaefraise the only way I know of seeing successful applications is to ask someone to send you theirs. If you know any civil servants ask them.

Yes definitely doable -two of my team are former teachers but I think they both through the fast stream.
My advice would be - don't just focus on Department for Education ( in my experience anyway) the roles were more competitive and slow to respond . Maybe something which sounds less attractive on paper might have less applications but allow you to get experience and be more interesting than you think.
In terms of application it is a skill but also a bit down to luck/persistance as i have seen the same answers get different scores on different applications! As pp said if you know anyone in civil service who can proofread applications that would help a lot.

It can be tricky in some departments to secure promotion, especially at the moment. So if you can get in at G7 it would be a good idea.

Also worth knowing that in many departments you no longer go up the points in the pay range. You generally come in at the lowest point and stay there unless you are successful in getting a promotion.

Yes, it is useful to know that despite there being pay scales you don't actually move up them. You might be able to wrangle a slightly higher starting point but you have to bring something unique and desirable to the role.

It's also worth knowing it can take a very long time for the recruitment process, I applied in Feb heard nothing until May when I was invited to interview, informed 2 weeks later I had the role subject to various checks. They confirmed in August that all was good, I then handed in my notice but then my school wanted me to work the full notice so I didn't start until Jan although they were happy to wait for me. Very different to school recruitment when generally you interview and find out on the same day and then just work until the end of term.

I’m already thinking sacrificing holiday days for the ease of more regular hours and a bit of flexibility would be worth it. Take it those of you that have moved over to the Civil Service agree?

Starting point really is to see what's available to you. There's very few home working roles now and depts are being pressured to get staff back in offices 3 days a week, so you need to be able to commute happily that often to wherever you're based.

If you're near London there's a big govt presence but the same is not true for the rest of the country - there are govt hubs in various non London locations but in provincial towns you're looking at DWP ops roles basically.

The application process is a bit of a mare but perfectly do-able!

Yes, IME working hours and flexibility are pretty good, if you avoid certain areas known to be otherwise.

Also agree with the PP saying that people from ‘front line’ occupations can find the change pleasant!

I don’t think entry to policy or project jobs at G7 is feasible from being an English teacher. If you can afford to take a pay cut and risk would also apply at lower levels.

We recently had 180 applicants for an HEO comms role, not even in press office, in what I think is a fairly dull area of work!

DH left teaching and entered the CS as an SEO. He did that for 18m, moving around a bit in EOI's and got his perm G7 position a couple of months ago after doing a TDA as a 7 for 9 months mate leave.

He has never looked back - he's still revelling in working his hours then switching off rather than spending all weekend planning and marking.

Mat leave, that should have said

Thanks everyone. Having had a brief look at roles, a G7 salary is still below what I currently earn as a HoD but guessing I’d have to drop even lower to get my foot in the door if I could - 180 applicants @Civilservant!