Another benefit is job security – especially in the current economic climate where so many of my friends have been laid off. The civil service doesn’t tend to make people redundant. If your job disappears, they will move you to a different role.
A lot of people stay in the civil service for life. It can be difficult to leave. The pace of the civil service and the kind of reports you write – these skills would be completely useless in the private sector.
Similarly, the private sector would expect a lot of skills that civil servants would not have. Delivering value for money and profit is completely outside of the scope of most civil servants, so moving to the private sector feels a bit intimidating.
‘In Whitehall, you really are a small cog in a massive machine’
I enjoy my work, but it’s really hard to feel as though what I’m doing is making an impact sometimes. In Whitehall, you really are a small cog in a massive machine and I am very much a middle manager.
You can feel as though you are completely replaceable. I could just not turn up for work and nothing would change. But I try to step back and remind myself that if all civil servants stopped doing their jobs then things would be very different. That helps me keep up morale – even if I can’t see the specific impact from my work, my team together does make a difference.
A hugely important aspect of being a civil servant is maintaining political neutrality. We are not employed to have party politics in mind. We are there to serve the Government and the people of the UK. And if the people have put a government in power, then we have to carry out what that government wants.
In our team meetings, which are completely informal coffee catch-ups, we do not talk about politics or our personal views. I have no idea how anyone in my team voted in the recent election. When a new minister comes into a position, there’s never any upset or celebration.
The attitude is: “Right, we have a job to do, let’s do it.” I think that’s really admirable given the divisive political culture in the world right now.
The best part of my job is the people. My colleagues are lovely and knowledgeable. There’s a refreshing lack of competition. Obviously, there are personal ambitions, but you feel as though you are working as part of a team – there’s a sense of camaraderie.
It is great to do work where you are making a difference for the better and not just boosting someone else’s profits. I think I would struggle with working for someone else’s gain in the private sector.
The worst part of the job is the public perception of civil servants. I know that we are not liked. Some of my family look down on civil servants.
I can understand why people see it as not a real job because it is so secure and slow-paced. People see us as pen-pushers who send emails all day. And it’s true – a big part of my job is sending emails. But there’s more to it than that, and the fact that the public don’t agree can be demoralising.