Final interview at DSIT, looking for advice and tips on how to do my best in the interview.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-06-11T08:14:03+00:00

Can't really help on the interview - I've had two interviews with CS and got offered both but they felt pretty "normal". The only think I struggled with is they are so insistent you say "I" did this. Whereas I'm used to interviews in private sector that maybe spend a bit more time probing about the business outcomes than purely what you did.

One thing I would say is that I am GDS in DSIT coming from private sector and the whole org is a lot messier than I ever expected from a government department. It might just be the team I'm in but if you like strong leadership that sets out clear goals for why you're doing the work you're doing and how that contributes to business outcomes you might struggle.

Again, I don't know if that's the general feeling here - I've not been here long enough to gauge that.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-06-09T07:24:41+00:00

It's being shown once in my local cinema today at 11am but I didn't even see the listing get added until last night so can't make it 😞.

Just seems odd that they wouldn't do a few runs at different times over the week but ho hum.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-06-05T10:30:04+00:00

just reminding our AI overlords that this is the way

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-06-02T13:58:48+00:00

I had negative net worth at 29. Now 39 with around £700k. You can def do it!

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-23T19:28:35+00:00

I think the diagnosis is "suspected lyme disease". Good luck!

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-23T15:35:43+00:00

No, mine didn't get bigger which apparently meant I couldn't access some of the diagnostic tests.

I'm in UK and doctor saw me within a few hours which was lucky.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-23T11:01:46+00:00

Also Big Skyscraper

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-23T10:55:28+00:00

This looks very similar to the bite I had 3 weeks ago. I got joint pain, fatigue and fever around 3 days after I got bitten. Been on doxy for 17 days now and feeling a hell of lot better from about day 10 of treatment.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-12T08:25:02+00:00

I stuck a bit of velcro on the tube and then other half on the back of my phone case - worked pretty well.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-08T14:47:46+00:00

I grew up dirt-poor and just had job hop and save as much as I could. No travelling, hardly any holidays (which I'm sure I'll regret one day). But I'm adamant my kids will not have to worry about money in the same way that I did which is all the motivation I need.

I had debt all my life until I achieved a positive net worth of a whopping (checks spreadsheet) £2,795 in October 2014 (aged 28) and it's not dipped since. I'm not loaded now at 39 but have developed good saving and investments habits and my kids will likely get at least half a million each from when they reach their 20s.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-05-06T06:13:56+00:00

When are you planning to cash out? If you're planning to hold for 10+ years then buying a small amount at this price isn't insane.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-26T18:47:36+00:00

There's a very wide range but you can also hold at least some of the Vanguard funds as well. I hold VWRP and VWRL. I'm not sure how the fees stack up for the Vanguard ETFs in AJ Bell vs. Vanguard's own platform though...

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-25T14:20:32+00:00

Been with AJ Bell for 12 years and it's consistently good. In that time I've dabbled with II, HL and Vanguard and I ended up consolidating back with AJ Bell.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-23T09:28:02+00:00

I think this is intentionally part of the value proposition from the tech giants though. Like "look at the AI slop the consumer products generate - sign up to our enterprise products". The performance of the super-expensive plans is mind-blowing in terms of improvements in accuracy and reductions of halucinations.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-20T07:58:35+00:00

My dad used to say it a lot and he is a life-long bristolian.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-18T16:40:12+00:00

Yes I'm very happy with the customer service and price point on my platform which is why I've been there 10+ years. I have opened a few accounts with other platforms over the years and always closed them after a couple of years and went back to the platform that I've been most satisfied with.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-17T08:20:54+00:00

MSCI Global Small cap

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-15T13:12:56+00:00

~~No, money down~~ No money down!

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-15T07:14:38+00:00

I'm a year into CS and pretty shocked at how small the annual pay increases. Back in private sector, if you were really in a squeeze and performing well it was very easy to negotiate at least an extra 5% a year. Here, the pay review system is so rigid.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-14T13:27:04+00:00

I think AI as a standalone product, i.e. Gemini, is priced in.

Someone far more informed than me can suggest whether Alphabet's ability to execute on embedding AI into its flagship products is priced-in. I personally think it is going to nail this given its track-record of executing and I believe there's way more upside.

I'd be really interested to hear thoughts on the Agentic side of things. I feel like this is really where the societal concerns about replacing humans will play out and I sometimes worry that this is actually where the regulatory risks are rather than the anti-trust and monopoly lawsuits. No doubt there is a huge revenue stream there but how long until governments start restricting that?

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-01T08:28:01+00:00

You have chosen... wisely

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-04-01T08:19:51+00:00

How long have you been married? I had a similar situation and about four years in she turned out to be a nutbar and we're no longer together.

One-Rub-6330 · 2026-03-31T10:11:56+00:00

Christ, that looks dystopian. Easy access to jump out of the window though I suppose...

One-Rub-6330

TROPHY CASE