ICS scheme, and FCO

The ICS scheme looks great and very worthwhile. If you are interested I would encourage you to go for it.

With respect to the Fast Stream recruitment process; you don't need to have relevant experience exactly as the process is entirely competency based. Having said that, experiences such as this always help you to gain experience to help evidence competencies. You can evidence competencies from your experience in everyday life and how you handle challenges. However the greater the challenges you face, the more meatier your evidence might be in such an interview.

With respect to residency requirements, you can view these on the Fast Stream website:

http://faststream.civilservice.gov.uk/faqs-and-useful-info/nationality-and-immigration/

However I doubt that a 12 week programme with ICS would affect your Fast Stream application if you meet the other listed residency requirements.

A lot of roles within the FCO actually have a bar on applicants who have lived out of country for more than 3 months in any single year for 3-5 years. I wouldn't put any particular hope in joining the FCO through the fast stream as it is one of the hardest (and possibly the hardest) graduate scheme to get into in the UK. Apply, but keep other roles in mind.

That's interesting! So what other careers do you think are similar? I've had a good think about this, and, apart from other civil service jobs (which don't really involve working with other cultures, which is what attracts me to the FCO) I'm not sure what else to aim at. I am very interested in loads of other jobs, but they are entirely different to the FCO! Are you speaking from an FCO applicant perspective, what are your interests?

Home Office involves working with a lot of different cultures. From illegal migrants to legal ones, or interactions with them at the airport if you work for UK border force. You can also get seconded to the FCO to work abroad. Working with, though not necessarily assisting, and unless you're seconded the exposure to other cultures will be quite superficial.

I'm talking from the perspective of somebody working in customs/ immigration who is looking to internally transfer from the Home Office. We have 2 year secondments to places like Moscow, New Delhi, Lagos, Bogata and some other office in the far east that I can't remember.

Home Office involves working with a lot of different cultures. From illegal migrants to legal ones, or interactions with them at the airport if you work for UK border force. You can also get seconded to the FCO to work abroad. Working with, though not necessarily assisting, and unless you're seconded the exposure to other cultures will be quite superficial.

I'm talking from the perspective of somebody working in customs/ immigration who is looking to internally transfer from the Home Office. We have 2 year secondments to places like Moscow, New Delhi, Lagos, Bogata and some other office in the far east that I can't remember.

Hello Llamegeddon!

I was wondering if I could ask you (yet more) questions!

I've got an interview for a civil service role at AO level - I really want to get the job, and I'm looking at the competency framework. I feel like I could give good answers at EO level too - do you think it's better to answer competency questions specifically to the framework you're applying for (for me, AO!) or "impress" with more complex answers to the above?

I'm also not sure if I should avoid repeating the competency answers I gave in the application form, or whether they expect me to repeat the same examples. It would save me a lot of time and effort! I've asked my point of contact these questions, but no answer yet.

On another note, I'm wondering if they're going to ask any questions about the department and role itself.

The whole competency thing is quite interesting...