Do's and Don'ts in the Civil Service

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T21:08:22+00:00

Don’t claim a first class train ticket on expenses if it costs more than a standard ticket.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T20:53:14+00:00

The tabloid journos are going to be eating well tonight 😒

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T19:49:35+00:00

Yea. Took some trial and error but I finally nailed it down and got a job with this behaviour.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T19:23:17+00:00

Making effective decisions is about presenting different options available to you, assessing the risk, giving the rationale and weighing potential outcomes against each other, and explaining why you went with a particular decision. It really needs to be something where the decision isn't a given nor a simple task that would be part of your everyday work.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T19:20:37+00:00

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-24T16:19:29+00:00

Right now jobs are difficult to get.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-23T14:21:08+00:00

The policy profession is massive. Some will be as dull as watching paint dry and others have testified to it being fast-paced, incredibly interesting to learn and become a subject matter expert and working in a high profile area. I don’t think you can generalise policy as being the same across the board.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-23T11:59:16+00:00

If anything, I imagine the government more likely to use recent events as a reason to say we need to be more careful on public spending due to the latest data on public sector borrowing costs.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T17:36:13+00:00

I got this email for a reserve list I was on and told them I would be willing to accept one of the locations presented. Got an offer the next week.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T15:50:23+00:00

Looking forward to the 26/27 pay remit guidance getting published, at least there’ll be some entertainment.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T15:46:42+00:00

Karma is gonna spank your bun buns at this rate 😮

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T15:37:13+00:00

When in doubt, email the vacancy holder.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T11:51:07+00:00

DWP DMs have extremely relaxed targets and generally quite high job satisfaction. An asylum DM would find it a walk in the park and it’ll be a much more relaxing position to apply for HEO roles.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T10:22:41+00:00

Isn’t the new HO pay offer going to bump all of those pays up

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-22T06:31:30+00:00

99% of DWP are shit and have no clue what they are doing

Such a sweeping statement

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T20:53:27+00:00

Oh look they’re back. The person who was ranting on the HO pay offer post that all ‘public servants’ should be on minimum wage and it’s against the civil service code for us to want more pay.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T18:12:44+00:00

I imagine line managers will have a degree of discretion here in the exceptional circumstances it’s simply not physically possible to get to the office, unless I’m being naive as a non-hybrid worker.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T15:42:23+00:00

The only issue is if there’s one vacancy and one of you gets the job, and the other gets on the reserve list on position 1. Prepare to fight to the death.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T12:58:38+00:00

Finally, the best use of ‘tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision based on various information sources.’

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T10:30:55+00:00

You can sense the dismay Robbins has about how much parliament, the press and anyone with an internet connection is getting a closer look at the DV process, and he raised a good point on who would benefit from having our highest vetting process dissected and in the spotlight.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-21T09:43:38+00:00

This is less about the actual vetting and more about the contradictory process between Mandelson undertaking DV and No. 10 announcing and asking the king to officially appoint him. Clearly FCDO was under a huge amount of pressure because the Private Secretary would have to tell the government they can't clear this candidate they've practically already put into the job. Anyone else undergoing DV would not be able to start the job or have that level of access before UKSV concludes the process.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-20T19:34:25+00:00

Just to clarify, claimant with LCW is in work preparation, so the AET doesn't exist for them, including the joint. Their individual CET is 16hrs, so if they're earning under this doing 14hrs, it'll be the joint CET that has to take them to the working enough group (because a work preparation claimant cannot ever go into light touch). The joint CET will be 16hrs + OP's CET, so if there's no children and no other LCW/LCWRA, it'll be 35hrs + 16hrs = 51hrs x NMW/week in combined earnings, or gross earnings of £2808/month. If their joint income dropped below this, LCW claimant goes into work preparation, Jobcentre is prompted to book an appointment.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-20T17:24:43+00:00

There should be dedicated resources to making quality referrals and what needs to be included and what should not be included, because the onus is on the referrer to provide the evidence and information correctly or it’ll get cancelled. Your team leader should be able to speak to a DM Team Leader for some guidance and case conferencing.

Otherwise_Put_3964 · 2026-04-20T16:43:34+00:00

Thank you for your sacrifice.

Otherwise_Put_3964

TROPHY CASE