(March 2012)
Spring is upon us and I have suddenly found myself over half way through my second one year Fast Stream posting. It feels like I’ve only been here a couple of months, but I am in fact now closer to leaving this role than I am to having started!
I was telling you back in September that I’d been accepted onto my departmental scheme to study a finance qualification alongside my main Fast Stream postings. I’ve been working hard these past few months and I have now completed the first level of the qualification and have a few more letters after my name, although with many more exams still to do.
The Fast Stream Facebook page project I was writing about back in December has also had some exciting developments recently, and we are proud to have made and published our own videos on the page to tell people about what we do on the scheme. If you’re wondering what the Fast Stream is actually like, I’d encourage you to visit the page and check out the videos section! We’ve worked really hard to try and put across some of what we do on a daily basis, so please do give them a look and let us know what you think.
I expect some of you will be receiving your offers for the Fast Stream at about this time of year. If you’ve been accepted onto the scheme, very well done!
I remember being asked to express a preference for which area I’d like to work in, and I felt that it was a make or break situation for my career, or certainly for my Fast Stream experience, to choose the right options on that list. I set about doing a great deal of research to try to find out which options would be the best for me and make my selections accordingly.
Having now been on the scheme for 18 months and met loads of people across many departments, I can reassure you that, although you may have your heart set on a particular department or area of work, it’s certainly not the end of the world if you don’t get placed where you were wanting. I’ve been amazed that the things I’ve found interesting in my job were not things I’d even considered before, and sometimes departments which sound like they might not suit you will surprise you with how interesting their work really can be.
Also, if you ultimately want to work on a given subject, there’s no reason why you can’t apply for jobs in other departments after the Fast Stream. I actually know relatively few people who have been promoted a couple of times who haven’t moved departments, because our skills are transferrable across areas of work. Some people also go on secondment while they’re on the scheme, so you aren’t necessarily tied down to the area to which you’re assigned.
I am really enjoying working in the Civil Service; there is so much going on and so many areas of work just within my one department. If you join you’re bound to find something that interests you!