Civil Servant: Job Profile and Role

Are you looking for an exciting career where each working day is different and filled with challenging and fulfilling tasks? If so, we may have the perfect career choice for you: the job of a civil servant. Your career can take all sorts of directions, including working for His Majesty’s Civil Service (HMCS).

In this blog, we will explore how you can become a civil servant. You will get all the information on the required qualifications and skills and what a typical day in the life of a civil servant can look like. To help you advance your career, we conclude this article by giving you three important tips for thriving.

Short Summary

• As a civil servant, you can over advisory roles and assist government officials.
• As a civil servant, you are asked to be impartial even though you are asked to represent both your employer’s and your audience’s interests at the same time.
• As a civil servant, you can be responsible for working on and implementing initiatives and contracts that have been authorised by the UK government.

Job description

Some of your civil servant jobs make an upright, impartial, and discreet personality paramount. Why? In your job, you will be asked to assist in implementing government initiatives and to manage government contracts. You are also responsible for liaising with the public and important public bodies since you are your employer’s representative (not always the most thankful of roles). As a governmental representative, your job also includes advisory roles which you will perform when needed.

Responsibilities

• Implementing Government Initiatives
• Managing Government Contracts
• Representing the Government
• Regulation and Compliance
• Providing Frontline Support
• Public Service Delivery
• Policy Development
• Advisory Roles
• Administration
• Impartiality

Different types of Civil Servants

• Economist
• Administrative Officer
• Policy Advisor/Analyst
• Operational Delivery Officer
• Foreign Service Officer/Diplomat

Salary

Your starting salary as a civil servant comes in at around￡25,000. With work experience, it can increase to ￡38,000. Your civil servant position will also affect your annual salary. If you hold the position of a civil servant grade 6 or a senior civil servant, you can expect annual salaries that can be as high as ￡65,000 or even ￡82,000. Keep in mind that two more factors will decide on your annual wages: your employer and the location of your employment.

Working hours

Your working hours tend to range from 37 to 40 hours a week. Depending on your employer and your contract, you may be asked to work shifts which means that you may have to work evenings and weekends. It is also possible that you have to work Bank Holidays. Furthermore, your job may entail travelling – again, this mainly depends on your employer and your job description and expectations.

Employers

Your civil servant career can be an exciting one which is also reflected in your potential employers. To name but a few illustrious ports of call: ministries and government departments like the Home Office, the Commonwealth & Development Office, or even His Majesty’s Civil Service (HMCS). Alternatively, you can find employment in the following sectors: non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and local government administration.

Qualifications

Depending on your approach to becoming a civil servant, you may need the following qualifications: A-Levels, for example, in history, economics, and politics, or GCSEs at pass grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English. These qualifications allow you to enter a university course or an apprenticeship. You can also complete a graduate training scheme like taking part in the Fast Stream scheme.

These educational qualifications aside, you will benefit from familiarising yourself with civil servant-related software. Depending on your job, this can range from CRM tools to cybersecurity and data protection tools and government-specific software, such as GOV.UK.

Skills

Each job should be based on a set of soft skills which naturally also applies to the job of a civil servant. Before we take a look at three beneficial skills you should have or develop, we have one more tip for you: always check with your employer which competencies are needed the most. This way, you can find your perfect job/employer. For now, let’s take a look at the skills you should have.

Emotional Intelligence

As a civil servant, you may well function as the bridge between a government institution and the civilian world. To be more precise: you may be the person who communicates official decisions or who is asked to liaise with the citizens. Your job as a messenger will be a lot easier if you have emotional intelligence. It enables you to read people, to see things from their point of view, and to ensure a harmonious relationship between your employer and them.

Stress Resilience

Your job can be fast-paced and high-pressure. Therefore, you should have or develop strong stress resilience. Having the relevant tools at your disposal can be vital since constant stress can not only cost you your job – you are prone to make more mistakes due to a lack of concentration – but it can also cost you your health. Besides your resilience, you should also take time-outs where you can recharge.

Attention to Detail

Being a civil servant means that you have to be pernickety to the point where even the smallest detail has not been neglected. This is an important competency to have in any civil service job – but it may be especially important when you work on government or other legal contracts. One little oversight and whole systems can come crashing down. Sounds a bit extreme? Maybe – but we just want to make sure you get the importance of this particular civil servant skill.

Career Path

Starting with your entry-level position in civil service, you can advance to more senior positions after several years. If you want to more or less “fly” through the civil service ranks, you may want to look into the Fast Stream scheme since this means that you reach senior positions within five years of working in your job. Depending on your ambitions, your future career steps can include the following: executive officer (EO) and senior executive officer/higher executive officer (SEO/HEO).

Educational Background

It is not mandatory to complete a university course if you want to work in civil service. However, if you want to pursue this educational approach, you can look into doing a foundation degree, or a higher national diploma. Suitable subjects can be economics, law, and political science. There are four more options which qualify you to work in civil service: a Civil Service higher or advanced apprenticeship, working towards your future role, direct application for a civil servant job or a graduate training scheme like the Fast Stream scheme. This, you can apply for if you are either a graduate or in your final university year. 

Entry Level

Your first job in civil service will likely be that of an administrative assistant or administrative officer. In this job, you learn the ropes of civil service which enable you to advance in the coming years. Depending on your ambitions, your career trajectory can take various directions and employments, for instance, as a senior civil servant (SCS).

Continuous Learning

We are certain that you are interested in ways to improve both your personal and professional skills. Let’s have a look at some options that make up your continuous learning when working in civil service. 

How about looking into so-called secondments? Here, you can be transferred to another civil service department, either internal or external. This transfer is temporary and gives you the chance to broaden your horizons and network. You can also discuss job rotations which tend to be internal affairs. They give you the chance to understand all civil service functions and responsibilities in your office. 

Moreover, you can do further training which is offered by civil service colleges and the government.co.uk. Interesting training options can be financial management, accountability and governance, or leadership and management.

The Hierarchy of Civil Service in the United Kingdom

In the UK, there is a strict structure or hierarchy when it comes to the different civil service positions. Generally, these positions are ranked as follows: administrative officer/administrative assistant (AO/AA), executive officer (EO), senior executive officer/higher executive officer (SEO/HEO), grades 6 and 7 civil servants, and senior civil service (SCS).

A Day in the Life of a Civil Servant

Your average working day in civil service will start relatively early. Usually, you are expected to be at your desk at 8 a.m. So, get your first coffee of the day and get ready for your day as a civil servant! In this section, we will take a closer look at three typical tasks you will perform.

Analysing, Drafting, Researching

A great part of your working day will be spent in front of a computer – and by this, we do not mean idly checking your various inboxes (excluding official inboxes, of course!). Among your daily jobs will be data analysis, the drafting of official and top-secret reports, and researching various subjects, such as societal issues, legal requirements, and economic trends and developments.

Liaising

You will also have personal contact in your civil servant job – not all your tasks chain you to your computer. You are also responsible for liaising with other departments and your superiors. It may also be a part of your job to meet external stakeholders, such as citizens, non-governmental organisations, internal organisations, and trade unions.

Finalising and Updating

Before you can go home and put your feet up, there are a few more things you need to take off. After you have completed all of your day’s tasks, you need to finalise and update. This can range from giving reports and documents another once-over to updating projects and other important statuses. 

Tips for Thriving as a Civil Servant

Getting onto the Fast Stream scheme is one way to thrive in civil service since it allows you to climb the career ladder relatively fast. If this is not the right option for you, you can look into other ways to thrive, three of which we will look at in this section:

• Build valuable relationships
• Improve your competencies
• Be upright and impartial 

Build Valuable Relationships

Nowadays, networking is king and should, therefore, be something you invest time and effort in. Regardless of your employer, you need to build strong relationships, be it with your colleagues, your superiors, or the public who you will liaise with regularly. Moreover: do not shy away from making new connections at important events since an external network is just as important as an internal one.

Improve Your Competencies

You may have a seriously strong skill set and have already blown your employers and colleagues off their feet – but this does not mean that you can put your feet up when it comes to working on your competencies. Believe us, it never hurts to become even better and to improve one’s competencies. Because let’s face it: the better your communication, emotional intelligence, attention to detail, and stress resilience, the more likely it is that you will succeed and thrive.

Be Upright and Impartial 

Showing integrity and impartiality may be some of the most difficult things to uphold when working in civil service – especially, when you have a strong moral compass and unshakable political and ethical beliefs. However, all these take a backstep when you work for the government. Here, you are expected to be impartial and serve your government as best you can. No mean feat if you absolutely do not agree with its agenda. Your impartiality is accompanied by your integrity. Regardless of your personal opinion, you are still expected to stand behind your employer. 

Frequently Asked Questions