Nemat has now been appointed Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
Can you please give a brief description of your role as Permanent Secretary for DflD?
I manage the Department of International Development, which leads the British Government's fight against world poverty. We provide aid in over 100 countries, to provide education, health and a whole variety of development programmes across the world. We also lead on policy issues around the international financial institutions in the UN and European Union.
What are the main differences between working for the public and private sector?
The public and private sector have some things in common and some things that are different. The things that are different, in the public sector, you're much closer to politics, you're much closer to policy issues, and having to engage with all of the various mechanisms of accountability that the public sector has. And in the private sector, obviously, the profit motive is of much bigger part of your daily life, than in the public sector.
Having said that, there are many things that are similar and many of the skills that you develop in the public sector are very transferable to the private sector. So, for example, in the public sector, management skills are increasingly important; having technical skills is very valued, being able to work in teams across disciplines, being able to communicate clearly and effectively, having financial skills and knowing how to manage money well and efficiently. All of those are skills that are important in the public sector but are also incredibly transferable to the private sector.
Skills set
What qualities do you think and civil servant should possess?
I think the qualities that are often sighted are the importance of passions; really caring about issues, pace; being able to deliver things quickly, professionalisms; because the Civil Service is increasingly one which appreciates and values professional skills, and lastly pride; and that pride is an important part of the role of civil servants and their integrity and the importance and the value of the special role that they have.
How can a civil servant create a successful career?
I think the first thing is to pick people to work with that you are going to learn from. So, picking good bosses and people who have got interesting skills that will teach you something, I think, is an important part of any career strategy. The second is to pick issues that you care about, because part of the attraction of the Civil Service, is that there are so many other questions that you are going to deal with, are ones that are incredibly important issues of the day, and picking issues that you care about always makes you more motivated. And, lastly, moving around; increasingly working in more than one government department is an important part of a career strategy in the civil service. Finding opportunities to work in different places and doing different types of roles is a good way to stretch yourself professionally and prepare for a longer term career.
Benefits/challenges
What are the key benefits of working for government?
I think the biggest benefit of working for the government is working on the most important issues of the day. The satisfaction and gratification that you get by working on topics that have national, and in many cases, global consequences, is the biggest reward. The other thing is that in the Civil Service you can do lots of different kinds of jobs within the civil service. You can do jobs that are about policy and politics; you can do jobs that are very managerial, you can develop you financial skills, you can develop your management skills, so there's a whole bunch of different kind of skills that you can develop within the same profession and that's something that's fairly special.
Off course, there are other attractions, like, job security, although that's changing, and is linked to performance, but there are other attractions, in terms of the overall package of benefits that the civil service provides that are attractive.
What are the main challenges of working for government?
One of the biggest challenges of working for government is that you quickly realise that every issue is a lot more complicated that you might think, and that there are many points of view as to how a particular problem can be solved. And reconciling those different points of view is an important role that the Civil Service plays in terms of providing the evidence to try and find a way through the solutions to the big questions of the day. It's a challenge but it's also what makes the job really fun.
How do you see the future for the civil service and the Fast Stream?
I think the Fast Stream will always have a very special place in the civil service. It provides some of the best talent coming into the Civil Service and it provides a huge source of new ideas and energy. I think the future for the Fast Stream, is very bright. I think, the future for the civil service will look different. I think the Civil Service of the future will probably a bit smaller than it has been in the past. It will probably be more evidence based, and more focussed on higher level policy stakeholder management issues. And much of the more traditional jobs in the civil service will probably reduce in numbers, so the nature of the jobs will change over time, but I think they will continue to be very, very attractive, especially for Fast Streamers.
What advice would you give anyone considering applying to the Civil Service through the Fast Stream?
The main advice is, go for it, do it, and also use the opportunity to learn as much as you can. There are very few organisations in the world, that will give you as much interesting work to do, as early in your career as the Civil Service, and the most important thing to do is to take advantage of that opportunity.