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Fast Stream 2012

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Reply 2420
From the Fast Stream website:

"Working outside London

A Fast Stream career does not have to mean London. Equally challenging opportunities are available in other parts of the country and offer a unique perspective which London-based Fast Streamers do not often see.

Even those in London are expected to be mobile and work wherever their departments need them. Remember, too, that in order to gain the all-important experience of operational delivery, you may well have to work in more than one location. Fast Streamers are increasingly being deployed to operational and corporate services work away from London headquarters."

So it does look as though it's highly likely you could be asked to go somewhere else at one stage. I'm not convinced it's compulsory, however - if your dept. needs you in London then they'll keep you there. Of the people I know on the Fast Stream its about 2/3:1/3 between those who have seen out the scheme in London only (with some short operational trips elsewhere, but no relocation), and those who have either asked for or been handed a post somewhere else [this is a relatively small sample so may not be representative, but seems to indicate some variation]. Suppose it just depends on individual departments and circumstances, but like Lee says, there is a requirement for a degree of flexibility on the part of the employee.
Reply 2421
To be honest, with the proposed shake-up of the Fast Stream that Francis Maude (Minister for the Cabinet Office) is pushing for, placements and rotations looks to be the norm. This may impact people already on the fast stream, but will affect those of us who have applied for 2013 entry for certain.

http://network.civilservicelive.com/pg/features/csw/read/639407/the-fast-stream-enters-the-rapids
But surely if they are going to have you moving around so much, you'd have to be based in London? I actually quite like the idea of working in a few different departments and things being centrally managed, it removes the element of luck in the amount of training and mentoring you get. It also seems fairer to allow everyone to second elsewhere, rather than some been able to and some not.
Original post by rob_o
After a day of despair just found out I'm 1st on reserve list for NI fast stream. Not I'm not sure whether I should be kicking myself for being so close to getting accepted or if i should be thankful that I'm ok. Would anyone have any knowledge of how certain a person in this position would be of getting accepted? Cheers folks


Congrats! What was your fsac score? Well another thing to think about is that they may not have given 5 definite successfuls yet? There may still be some solid positions up for grabs and your first on the list when a vacancy arises! Also, another way to look at it is that they are not going to offer reserve places for nothing, there is obviously a projected forecast done and they are offered because it is likely that the requirement will be there? Hmm maybe I'm thinking too positively lol but I hope it's good news for us on the bench!!
Reply 2424
Original post by crazychick
Fingers crossed for us!!! What was your score at fsac? I tried to get more info out of parity ie how many people are on NI reserve list and what my chances were of getting a place but they wouldn't tell me any more! Do you think some NI depts havent released their places yet? Hopefully!!!


I got a 16.18 on my FSAC. It was a really good report and I knew I had let myself down in a couple of areas so it was no great shock. What about yourself? Maybe we can find some way to have Parity take pity on us and get some more information...seems like wishful thinking! :smile: Oh well! When was your FSAC?
Original post by nius
I got a 16.18 on my FSAC. It was a really good report and I knew I had let myself down in a couple of areas so it was no great shock. What about yourself? Maybe we can find some way to have Parity take pity on us and get some more information...seems like wishful thinking! :smile: Oh well! When was your FSAC?


I got 16.15 so there doesn't seem to be a great deal between the top 4 anyway. just goes to show how close we probably were lol!! fsac was on 5th march, the report was great but i hope i don't have to use it to prepare next year lol. pray pray pray!!! I wonder how long we will have to wait before we hear either way!?
Reply 2426
Original post by BrusselsorUK
Hi Rach,
Would you mind sharing what scheme you were on and what score you got to be a reserve? Someone said that with 16.56 they failed, and someone else passed with 16.58 (both GFS CD I believe).

Did you get 16.57? I ask because I am trying to work out how many people might be on the reserve list. I have heard it said that occasionally other offers arise through the year and job offers might (big MIGHT) be offered to other candidates who missed the pass mark by a fraction.

I am not complaining about the FS methodology at all and understand the need for a clear cut off. Knowing what the cut off is for clear pass fail reserve could help other candidates, including in future years (hello class of 2013/14/15!)

If anyone else can shed any light on this as well I would be very curious.


I'm on HR scheme and my score was just under 16 (can't access the report at the min) but I think HR is traditionally lower than CD. My report was quite good except the decision making (which I oddly thought was one of my best) but on that one I only got just over 2 (think it was 2.3) so very nearly got immediately unsuccessful due to that! My report was very tailored around how I'd fit with HR specifically which is good but I wasn't sure it would be as all the different schemes are mixed together at FSAC.
Original post by monthen
Has anyone on the EFS scheme had their placement yet? If so, in which department? And what documents have you been asked to provide?

Still waiting to hear back from the FCO FSB, so currently in limbo, and have no idea where I'm likely to be placed if unsuccessful for FCO. Any info from the advance guard would be much appreciated.

Ta


Hey, I'm waiting on EFS too, but I think that nobody will be placed until after all the FCO FSBs are over and they have completed the final sift. I spoke to Parity yesterday and they said they anticipate that all the results will be out by the end of next week...scary! But from what I've read, EFSers don't really have any choice about which department they're placed in as there are so few places, so I guess it's luck of the draw really!
Original post by lm222
but anyway, the FCO FSB seems less intense than the TiB


Hi

Any chance you can expand a bit on this?

I have the TiB FSB on Monday and from the guide it does not sound more intimidating than the FSAC as it mentions a briefing as well as being interviewed on the understanding of technology and how it can be used to affect business change on a large scale such as goverment.

The FSAC was quite fun although in the report areas where I previously was strong in and others where I was weaker reversed. I put this down to maybe holding myself back a bit on idea creation to not be seen as too out of the box, but work I have done on making sure I am perceived to be inclusive in group working has defnitely paid off. Overall I received a 17.31 whcih from what I have read seems not to bad.

Is anyone else going to be at the TiB FSB on Monday the 16th if so I'll look forward to meeting you there?
Reply 2429
Yeah - I just meant that TiB FSB seems to include more tasks, and require knowledge of the subject area, whilst FCO FSB just has two short roleplays, for which no in-depth knowledge of anything FCO-related is really needed.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 2430
Original post by GenerationX
Hi

Any chance you can expand a bit on this?

I have the TiB FSB on Monday and from the guide it does not sound more intimidating than the FSAC as it mentions a briefing as well as being interviewed on the understanding of technology and how it can be used to affect business change on a large scale such as goverment.

The FSAC was quite fun although in the report areas where I previously was strong in and others where I was weaker reversed. I put this down to maybe holding myself back a bit on idea creation to not be seen as too out of the box, but work I have done on making sure I am perceived to be inclusive in group working has defnitely paid off. Overall I received a 17.31 whcih from what I have read seems not to bad.

Is anyone else going to be at the TiB FSB on Monday the 16th if so I'll look forward to meeting you there?


Hey Gen-X, mr_maroon and I have ours the very next day. No one else has mentioned having an FSB on the 16th. I'll send you a PM anyway. It'd be nice to network with other prospective TiBers.

Funny I had the exact same experience with you in terms of strong and weak competences reversing between last year and now. I was really strong in decision-making and constructive thinking this year (which were my weakest last time around). Ironically, I was weak in Drive for Results and almost atrocious in Building Productive relationships. The group exercise tanked my scores. My attempt to 'drive' for results backfired. I was timekeeper and that put me in the precarious situation of needing to move things along (something that is very difficult to navigate when you're trying to defend your brief robustly). I did well enough overall to get through. I recovered on building productive relationships in the interview, and need to demonstrate that further in the FSB. But it does concern me because it is important to TiB and also because it wasn't a close representation of my natural preference to be "collaborative" in relationships. Oh well... I learned from it and moved on.

How are you preparing for the FSB? I've basically gone through the TiB-related posts on the fast stream website, which has in turn directed me towards some additional reading to better understand what ICT is all about in the civil service.

Did you apply solely for the TiB FS or the GFS as well? With 17+ you would have been immediately successful.

All the best!
Reply 2431
Original post by lm222
Yeah - I just meant that TiB FSB seems to include more tasks, and require knowledge of the subject area, whilst FCO FSB just has two short roleplays, for which no in-depth knowledge of anything FCO-related is really needed.


It's two activities for us too... A presentation and an interview. We've been told we don't need specialist knowledge, but I presume the strongest candidates will have look to develop their understanding a little better before hand.

Also, the information we have is really vague. We can only guess that our presentation will be similar to the briefing at FSAC, except that it'd be an IT project and they won't be looking so much at constructive thinking as common sense in approaching project management, as such, no gravy points for generating infinite ideas.
Original post by GenerationX

The FSAC was quite fun although in the report areas where I previously was strong in and others where I was weaker reversed. I put this down to maybe holding myself back a bit on idea creation to not be seen as too out of the box, but work I have done on making sure I am perceived to be inclusive in group working has defnitely paid off. Overall I received a 17.31 whcih from what I have read seems not to bad.


I did the same I think, tried to think of ideas that would be relatively straightforward and practical to implement. FSAC report wasn't impressed with that side of things for me, but praised everything else :smile: Building Productive relationships went up by almost 1.2 points, so definitely the work I put in that area paid off :biggrin:

With regards to the TiB FSB, I'm trying to not worry about it too much :s-smilie: You can only prepare so much before it becomes detrimental and starts to stress you out. I've just tried to read a little about current technology topics, and think about the competencies that will be tested. Pretty much the same as what I did for the FSAC really, although obvious I researched policies there rather the technology.

One thing I was wondering though was if people have been assigned FSB days based on their FSAC score? Are the highest scores generally earlier in the week, or is it all mixed up? I know the assessors have our FSAC reports as well so I wonder if they will quiz us on the areas we performed weakly on :confused: Oh well, I hope everyone here does really well and according to the Fast Stream Recruitment reports for 09 and 10, the odds are in our favour, or at least that's what I am desperately trying to convince myself :wink:
Reply 2433
I'm probably shooting myself in the foot by posting this here, since I'm a current TiB applicant, but here's my take on it. Disclaimer that I'm in no better position to judge what will happen in the coming weeks than any of you, as previously mentioned I've not been through a FSB before.

Original post by obamtl
We've been told we don't need specialist knowledge, but I presume the strongest candidates will have look to develop their understanding a little better before hand.


The guidance suggests a bit more than that - from the TiB FSB guide: However, prior to attending you may find it useful to consider some examples that you can use in the interview to provide evidence against the areas listed above.

We need to demonstrate some non-trivial competencies, even if we aren't required to have any particular technical knowledge:
1) an understanding of how technology can change government’s interaction with the public

As an example, perhaps it's worth thinking about DirectGov and the like? I know submitting my tax return online is a whole lot easier than it was in 2003 when I had no option but to return a paper copy! There's also the e-Petitions, and many other services offered online now.

2) a sound grasp of how technology can be harnessed to achieve large-scale business change
3) an aptitude to work within a technology environment and understand the technologies involved

These suggest that - despite not needing to have any specific knowledge of any given technology or process - we need to be confident and competent with technology in general.

One particular topic at the moment (as evidenced by recent government policy) is Cloud computing, what with the current g-Cloud project that is in progress.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/uk-government-ict-strategy-resources

The last two competences seem more general, and are things we've partially demonstrated at FSAC:
4) a drive for results and the capacity to apply project management techniques in your work
5) an ability to build business relationships across traditional boundaries


I'd assume these will be probed at interview, for the most part.

Original post by obamtl
Also, the information we have is really vague. We can only guess that our presentation will be similar to the briefing at FSAC, except that it'd be an IT project and they won't be looking so much at constructive thinking as common sense in approaching project management, as such, no gravy points for generating infinite ideas.


This is pretty much my take on it, I expect we'll be given a brief much as we were for the FSAC briefing exercise and be asked to outline our ideas for making it work, possible pitfalls we anticipate etc. It's a shame they haven't published a little more guidance on what to expect as was the case with the FSAC.

EDIT: Just seen richardp2020's post. I'm in one of the very early FSBs, got my invite to it on the 29th Feb (just over 2 weeks after my FSAC). I'm guessing they were allocated to those who were immediately successful first, that's all. Whether there's any particular order based on FSAC score is harder to tell.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 2434
Chiyru, we have the same understanding. By specialist knowledge, I mean having the full knowledge of all the technical details that you would get when you are fully qualified in Project Management and Service Management, as well as a DEEP understanding of all aspects of government IT policy.

When I say strong candidates may develop their understanding, it covers much of what you've said.

As for candidates being given dates according to how well they've scored, I don't think it's that clean cut. I didn't get through until late March. I am in the mid-to-low-16s, while I believe the final score is around the mid-15s. I however got a date for the 17th.

There's possibly some correlation between dates and FSAC scores, but it's not as significant as the FSAC dates with etray scores, where those who score really high on an early etray take up the first FSAC dates.
Reply 2435
Original post by kyrilpananovitch
Hey, I'm waiting on EFS too, but I think that nobody will be placed until after all the FCO FSBs are over and they have completed the final sift. I spoke to Parity yesterday and they said they anticipate that all the results will be out by the end of next week...scary! But from what I've read, EFSers don't really have any choice about which department they're placed in as there are so few places, so I guess it's luck of the draw really!


are there many efs candidates left on this thread?
Well, just finished the FCO FSB, and as usual, find it hard to judge on how I've done... So we shall wait and see. Met La Vache there too :smile:

EDIT: just realised I'm back on the let's-check-the-website-every-two-minutes-even-if-I-know-nothing-will-have-changed bandwagon :frown:

ALSO: Should I wait to fill in the Scotland Disclosure forms etc that they post to you? Does possibly being DV-ed over-ride this? confused.com
(edited 11 years ago)
Hi everyone thanks for the replies. Like Chiryu I had my FSAC in Feb and received my results within two weeks although I think it took a bit longer to get the date for the FSB.

LM222 thanks for the further info I wasn't sure from your original post if you had already attended a TiB FSB, but what youself and others expect based on the guide is the same as myself.

What I have been doing is reading everything I can find on the TiB Fast Stream from the profiles, web pages, blogs, the facebook page and even the link I found to here. This is just to get a good idea of the Fast Stream itself. The briefing I don't think you can prepare for other than to work on the general skills it takes to disseminate a brieff and prepare a presentation until you actually get there and see what the topic is. The more subjective competencies of understanding technology and change is probably helped because I have a general interest in how government services could be more focused through the use of technology although I would add to what other have already said by possibly pointing out the obvious. Although its semantics you have to watch that the competency is to display how "technology can change" and not just regurgitate how "technology has changed" the interactions of govermnet and the public. SO IMHO although it is good to read some of the PDF's linked to get an idea of where technology is used in goverment again IMHO it is also important to have a general think of how yourself has interacted with the goverment and is there anyway thyat process could have been improved through the use of technology and then follow this through by considering who are all the stakeholders within that system of interest and how any change would affect them. Just about everyone has had some interaction with a gov ernment dept so could possibly come up with some ideas if nothing else then most will have at some point applied for JSA or its equivelant and does no one else find it a bit odd those on JSA still sign on in the same way as they did when benefits were first introduced.

I'm quite comfortable on the working with technology competencies as I have a 2:1 Honours in Information Systems as well as being a capable programmer if anything I will be looking to be more systemic and viewing technology at a higher level so as not to be viewed as just a programmer since at the FSAC the interviewer pointed out to me that the majority of actual development is outsourced so their not looking for programmers.

Good luck to all who are in the process and its worth remembering if the nerves hit that the only person your competing with is yourself. It is just as possible that everyone in your group is hired as only one person so you will be seen in a better light if you work with your group than to take the approach you are competing with each other. Overall I found the high calibre of applicants made the FSAC process easier as A Sugar says they got the plot.
Reply 2438
I'm loving that people are willingly contributing to discussion here and not jealously guarding their viewpoints until after the FSBs - the discussion may well make us all better candidates in the end!

Original post by GenerationX
Although its semantics you have to watch that the competency is to display how "technology can change" and not just regurgitate how "technology has changed" the interactions of govermnet and the public.

That's a fair point, but by looking at what has changed in recent years (and more to the point, what hasn't - as you say, JSA is a great example of that, as it was almost the same experience when I signed on for a month in 1996 as when I signed on for three months in 2008!), it might provide some inspiration for what could come.

A good read is the Sept 2010 Directgov review, and the October 2010 "letter" (really a report) by Martha Lane Fox to Francis Maude:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/directgov-2010-and-beyond-revolution-not-evolution

Lots of good points made regarding the Government's delivery of public services via the Web.

Of course, it really comes down to whatever the brief is on the day! I'm quite looking forward to seeing what that is :smile:
Totaly Agree Chiryu, actually in the process of reading the Martha Lane Fox file. It will be interesting to see the brieffing excercise I'm hoping this one gives more scope for a technology solution. I have a few topics I would like to see but at the same time I don't want to focus to much on any at this point as I want to answer the brieff as given not the one I practiced for beforehand.

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