Civil service policy advice

[summerdayslemonade]

I'm going to apply for a seo policy role in the civil service. I have expertise in the policy area, although haven't worked in policy before.

Does anyone have any advice?

And the thing I can't work out from the job advert... what do policy advisers actually do day to day?!

Thanks!

Have you worked in the CS before outside of policy? Do you know how the application/interview process works?

What you’ll do day to day depends a lot on the policy area but usually it’s incredibly varied.

Policy professionals work to design and deliver appropriate projects and policy solutions to help meet key government priorities and ministerial objectives. Good policy is developed by teams that bring diversity of thought and experience to the process.

Taken from Civil Service Jobs - Role spec for a Policy advisor
https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=am9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0xOTA4Njg4JnBhZ2VhY3Rpb249dmlld3ZhY2J5am9ibGlzdCZ1c2Vyc2VhcmNoY29udGV4dD03OTk5MDUwNiZzZWFyY2hzb3J0PWNsb3NpbmcmcGFnZWNsYXNzPUpvYnMmb3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZzZWFyY2hwYWdlPTQ=#:~:text=Job%20summary,and%20experience%20to%20the%20process.

Not in CS but have researched how the application process, scoring etc works (some v helpful Mumsnet threads!)

And thanks - but I just all of the descriptions so vague - if anyone knows of a day in the life type description that would be helpful 😅

It will be very dependent on the type of role and the department. Some policy advisors work on long term policies such as changes to legislation or internal policies, others work on quick ball policy such as operational requirements or security decisions.

Largely, you will take a problem and investigate all the possible options before presenting a series of choices to decision makers. Some policies will need very senior sign off and ministerial approval, others can be signed off at line manager level.

I've done both (long term as C2 and fast ball as C1) and personally I prefer the fast ball work but that's because I work best to pressure and deadlines.

It's an excellent grounding for roles outside of the policy domain also as the breadth of skills required to be good at it is vast.

Thanks that's helpful!

I think the main things all policy jobs are likely to have in common are that they will involve lots of meetings and doing lots of writing, which will be expected to be of a high standard. You’ll also have to have your work reviewed and edited by one or more managers as standard, which new starters can find a bit strange if they’re used to working more autonomously.

Can anyone advise how wfh vs office says compare? Is it hard to coordinate everyone being in the office on the same day for in person meetings?

In my experience it never really matters, most meetings have some people if not everyone dialling in. We organise team office days according to what suits everyone best. Obviously how hard that is depends on the size and circumstances of the team.

Thanks. With the push to have everyone in 60% of the time, is it useful having people in the office, or are people just coming all the way in to do the same work they could have done at home?

OP I think you will struggle to get meaningful responses unless you are more specific about the department and role (and possibly location) that you're applying for- and you may quite understandably not want to give those details. The CS is a vast organisation and there will be tons of differences between departments, specialisms and teams. I currently work in policy and there is only one other person that I work directly with, we happen to work in the same location but that's just coincidence. We try to come into the office on the same days but there's no obligation to. Team meetings are sometimes held in person in a different location that we both travel to if we can, but there's always an option to dial in.
None of this will be particularly useful to you though if you are not applying to join my team, which you won't be because we don't have SEO grades in the team. If you are comfortable to give more information about the role you're applying for, you might get some more useful replies?

As PP says it completely depends and is probably more nuanced than that. I personally don’t believe the fact you can do lots of work from home negates the usefulness of people spending a chunk of their time in the office, but I think I’m in the minority on that.

I would say the most important skill is being able to write with clarity. Make sure your application is spot on. I suggest you get it checked over by a friend who is able to spot those tiny errors that people like me don't notice.

Stakeholder management is another biggy. You spend a lot of time engaging with a wide variety of people.

It’s definitely useful to see your team and colleagues face to face. We can’t do 60% in any of the 5 locations I’ve got staff due to a lack of desks. Lucky to do 30% in one of our locations.

I’m an operations lead, I’d find policy work boring but it’s each to their own. A lot of people hate the fast pace of ops but I love it. I’ve been in the CS 23yrs now