EDIP intern Review

I really enjoyed this insight because of the exposure I was able to gain to people within the civil service. I didn't really know about the type of work which went on in the civil service on a day to day basis but this experience was the best way to see and speak to people within government departments and discuss with them the type of work which goes on. In my case, I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to numerous people in different areas of my department which gave me a broad understanding of the areas within which my department had responsibilities for.

I felt valued because of how the person I was shadowing was very welcoming into the office despite being busy with the job she had to do, and really helped me gain a lot throughout the week by organizing numerous meetings for me with people within the department who helped me gain an understanding of the huge variety of work being done within the government, and this was despite me being in only one department, it still struck me how large the government is as a whole and the challenges and opportunities which that brings.

I received quite a lot of guidance throughout the insight, through several workshops and panels which helped the interns develop a great understanding of the work which people on the graduate program do, as well as advice and tips as well as practice about how to best get through the various stages of the application process. It was very open as well, so we were able to ask questions to whoever we came into contact which was useful

Whilst the skills and knowledge I learned didn't directly fit right into the degree which I do, I believe they were more useful in terms of what I would like to do beyond my degree. Ideally I would like to work in the civil service and to have already had exposure to the organization so early on and to have seen the type of work which is done, spoken to people who have gone through the application process, and have worked there for years, will surely be invaluable for me after university.

Although the insight was fairly well structured, in terms of going from event to event and the shadowing as a whole, if I was to change one thing I would have one ongoing project, even if it was small, that interns had to have completed by the end of the week, just to make sure that throughout the week we always had something to do, as sometimes there were times where we were less busy than what would have been ideal.

Overall the insight was incredibly welcoming and friendly. Both within the separate events which we attended where everyone was really open and approachable, to the work shadowing where I was able to speak to people in the office about what they were doing and any other questions, despite the fact that the were busy, was really nice to experience the wider culture of the civil service which was friendly.

In terms of personal training, we had a session on networking which was ok, could have been more beneficial, but we also had a practice group exercise from the assessment center which was really beneficial to see the types of things which assessors are looking to see from candidates and I think that was something which will really be useful to me going forward.

This was one of the best parts of the week, where during the work shadowing we were able to discuss with our mentors how their careers have progressed and how they have found the process once they started full time. I also particularly found the graduate panel useful where we could ask questions to people who have joined the graduate program about how they have found the program. However, one thing I would say is the 'networking' sessions would be more useful if we could talk to the graduates rather than to just the other interns.

Although this was not explicitly explained, throughout the week I managed to get a better understanding of the culture of the civil service. To me, it seemed a very supportive and welcoming environment to work in. This seemed clear as despite people being busy and having to work hard, it didn't seem too cold as a place to work, but people seemed open and willing to ask others for help and to have good working relationships.

There were plenty of networking opportunities throughout the week, although some were more useful than others. The main thing I would recommend is that the interns have more interactions with graduates as opposed to with each other which although is useful is less useful than speaking to people already on the graduate program and who have been working in the civil service for much longer so can provide a better understanding of the work they do.

I would recommend this insight as it is a good way to determine whether or not the civil service is a career that you could potentially be interested in. It is also a good way to see the type of work and skills required to work in government and whether or not you would like to work in such an environment and see the issues being worked on. It is also a good way to see whether the summer internship would be a useful experience in just one week which is invaluable.