With the final sentencing and rehabilitation Green Paper chapters being put together, impact assessments nearing completion, I finally have had some time to catch up on the induction readings I never got round to looking at when I started.
It has also has given me the chance to explore the training on offer through the Core Learning Program and discuss my training needs with my line manager. The Fast Stream puts a lot of emphasis on training, so when you have the chance it’s good to reflect on what areas you need to improve.
Although training budgets have tightened, colleagues are now more actively offering their services to train in house, using the pool of talents already here at no extra cost. It’s also good to find out about what your colleagues’ strengths and interests are so you know who to turn to with certain types of questions or to help you on projects.
It’s also almost time for what are called the ‘managed moves’ where assistant economists who have been in their role for around a year move to a different division within the MoJ, working on a different aspect of MoJ policy. As I’m still relatively new I won’t be taking part of this yet, but for the other assistant economists it’s all change.
But back to the work! I’ve been recently introduced to the spread sheet that brings together key statistics that inform my division's evidence base. Once the number crunching and modelling is complete, I look forward to discussing what impacts these figures will have on our choice of policy options that are currently being developed. I enjoy taking a step back to assess where our work fits in with wider policy.
Last word - do not worry if you have some gaps in your technical knowledge before the specialist assessment – I think as long as you demonstrate capability and willingness to learn in interview, then a lot of knowledge can be acquired once you’re in the job. Again, good luck!