Later this year, I will be starting my three-year placement with the Civil Service Fast Stream in the Digital, Data, Technology & Cyber department.
For those of you who don’t know what the Civil Service Fast Stream is: the Civil Service work alongside the government to deliver public services and implement its policies. The role of a civil servant is heavily research-based and it all contributes to the improvement of the region you are working in, all whilst helping the UK pursue its national interests; from providing aid abroad or protecting the UK’s technology infrastructure. The Fast Stream programme develops talented, high-potential people to become future Civil Service leaders.
There are also internships available (EDIP and SDIP) that give you a taster of the Fast Stream scheme. These are usually 6-9 weeks and are paid.
As requested, here is some advice and insight into what I did to become a Fast Streamer:
(The assessment layout is the same for the SDIP but does not require as many stages. So if you pass the SDIP, the Civil Service will wait for your Fast Stream result before offering you the internship, if you did not pass the Fast Stream application but passed the SDIP one)
1. Read requirements for each Fast Stream Scheme!!
- There are 15 different schemes on the Fast Stream and you can choose up to 4 scheme preferences when you apply.
- It is important to check the degree and degree level (grade) requirements when picking these preferences. By the time I got to the final stage before the assessment centre, I was rejected from two of my preferences because I did not see that they required an economics or quantitive research-based degree.
- Some schemes, especially economics one, will require a maths tests at some point.
- Moreover, some schemes have a final stage after the assessment centre. For example, for schemes where you can work abroad, there will be a language aptitude test to see how quickly you will be able to learn a new language.
2. Apply to FS and SDIP for a safety net, if eligible
- If you are eligible, you can make the SDIP your fifth preference as a safety net.
3. Apply as early as possible
- There are a lot of stages in the application process, which include a mixture of situational judgement tests, work-based scenarios, maths tests and a video interview.
- Each assessment can also take a lot of time. However, you will have some time between each assessment (stage) where your feedback will be formulated and results will be graded to see if you have passed. If you have passed, you will usually have at least a week to complete an assessment (stage).
- I believe I applied in October and the whole application process ended in February. This allowed me to take my time to prepare and didn’t put pressure on my academics.
4. As mentioned, don’t wait last minute to complete the stages!
5. Get clued up on basic GCSE maths
- As mentioned, there will definitely be mathematical questions and also depending on your scheme, a maths test.
- I just looked up basic formulas like fractions, percentages, etc.
6. Situational Judgement Tests & Work-Based Scenarios
- In these assessments, you will be given scenarios and context and then be given numerous options to choose from on how you would behave in these scenarios.
- You may also be asked to rate your skills and rank your skills against each other.
- To answer these questions, make sure to study what the Civil Service looks for in a Civil Servant to help inform you on decisions to make. Even for the internship: always think about the bigger picture of becoming a Civil Servant.
- There are opportunities online to do practise SJTs. I had done so many that I felt very prepared to complete them.
7. But be authentic!
- Picking answers you think the Civil Service would like to hear/see does not always work well.
- Your answer are looked at in its entirety so even if you are weak in one part, the other parts can make up for it. Just like in the assessment centre.
- Moreover, in the assessment centre, your previous answers/grades do not ‘matter’. The only important thing is that you pass them.
8.Communicate if you need adjustments and do it ASAP
- The Civil Service are very supportive when it comes to providing reasonable adjustments, so make sure to utilise this feature! The only adjustment I am aware of is extra-time in timed assessments but I know there are many more.
9. Video interview
- The interview is a competency-based assessment, where you will be asked quite a few questions.
- For the video interview, I created a table of possible questions I could be asked.This was influenced by past questions I had been asked in competency-based assessments and a mock interview I did with Rare’s Civil Service Team. Competency-based questions are usually generally always the same no matter what job you’re being interviewed for.
- In this table, I categorised this by themes and then for each theme I wrote three possible questions I could be asked.
- For each question, I gave an example using STAR method. This is the most effective way to structure your answer and help the company reviewing your answer pinpoint the crucial points of your answer.
Theme | Question | Example 1 | Example 2 |
Leadership | Tell me about a time … | S: T: A: R: | S: T: A: R; |
Creativity | | | |
Organisation | | | |
- Having multiple examples will help you think on your feet, be confident in the questions you didn’t think about and have alternative answers available if you already use an example for another theme/question.
- I felt like, to a ‘corporate’ standard, I did bad in it but it could’ve been that I was just being too hard on myself. I realised that what they look for is someone who is able to provide an example that effectively answers the questions and display your strengths.
10. Read feedback
- In each stage, you will be given feedback, whether or not you pass, which will explain what you did well and what you could work on for future stages.
11. Do not go into any stage blind: make sure you know the format of every test before starting it
12. You do not need to pay for anything (practise tests, etc) so don’t let people swindle you!
13. (If you have time and want to, I sometimes use other applications as practise for the actual jobs I want: like I said, I’ve done soooo many situational judgement tests)
14. Final questions before assessment centre
- When you have passed all of the initial stages, some schemes will require you to answer some questions such as ‘Why xyz…?’, ‘What skills do you think would help…?’, ‘What are the benefits of…?’
- I don’t really have advice for this but online you will find answers from Fast Streamers, especially within the schemes you’ve picked, explaining why they picked the scheme, what they enjoy about it and the tasks they complete.
- Finally, have someone read through your answer. I had people from Rare do this for me. This also means giving yourself enough time to receive feedback.
Good luck to everyone applying in the new application season! When it gets closer to the time, I can make a blog specifically for the assessment centre and insight into working in the Fast Stream.
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