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Civil service fast stream 2014/2015

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I finished mine at 17:45 yesterday and heard nothing before I went to bed at ~1am. When I woke up at 10am I saw I had been successful.

Well done and thank you, the hope remains! :smile:

Reply 1021

stacyyy_xo

I finished the online test for GFS on the 3rd September and I still haven't heard anything back. I am registered as disabled and was offered the opportunity to apply through the Guaranteed Interview Scheme, so I'm not sure if it is different from the normal method of applying and that's the reason for the radio silence.But, I'm guessing I haven't been successful - It's a long time to spend in the amber band! :eek:

Reply 1022

PJ07

Original post by Philo 76

This is super-brief summary of advice on the competency test from previous years' forum threads:

(1) Don't be modest

(2) Be consistent

(3) Be honest

This is great advice for the competency - especially the first two.

Reply 1023

PJ07

Anyone for the January 13th FSAC?

Reply 1024

savdahn

Original post by table_lamp

Wondering if one can read an anonymous report... to understand how you are assessed.
for me its my fisrt time and just got results from e-tray successful

I was hoping for the same although i understand if nobody wants to provide such a personal thing

Reply 1025

nimoy234

Original post by ManifoldManifest

Fairly detailed recruitment stats are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-fast-stream-report

Last year HoP had 6 vacancies. The year before that it was 5, before that 6, and before that 3. I would be very much surprised if the number of places was any higher this year.

And yes, your friend is right - if you have CD as one of your options and you score high enough to pass for that then you will have the option of a place, even if you don't score high enough for HoP or aren't successful at the Final Selection Board.

Are stats available showing %applicants that get sifted at each stage of the process for different streams?

Reply 1026

nimoy234

Original post by Slowbro93

Am I right in thinking you go straight through if you're on the analytical FS?

Curious as to what you're basing this on. Hope it's true btw :biggrin:

Reply 1027

sempitern

Original post by Marini

I have a question for everybody here, especially those who already live in London: How the hell are you going to live with the 28k the Fast Stream pays?

Original post by MagicNMedicine

The cost of living in London is high and this situation is not going to get any easier as there is pressure to keep down public sector pay. Working in government you tend to find the fast streamers live a similar lifestyle to students, living in houseshares in mixed standard accommodation, and then older people with families etc often live outside London and have long commutes. You meet a lot of civil servants that live in Surrey, Kent, Sussex etc and commute.

......

There are quite a few people with this concern Marini. I chose not to take up my Fast Stream post because I couldn't afford to do so.

I think MagicNMedicine has written a great post regarding how many younger fast streamers enjoy the geographical mobility side and all the flat-sharing etc. Also I totally agree with everything said about the Estates Strategy and coming long-term change. However I don't feel that most older fast streamers (or just fast streamers with dependents) actually want to choose the commute option. It costs most commuters between £3000-£6000 pounds a year to get to London from the commuter belt. It's an excruciatingly difficult thing to do on the Fast Stream salary.
The number of Fast Stream applicants who don't fit into the 20-something-ex-student bracket is growing every year according to HR. I was offered an alternative promotion within my department and ultimately it was the best move for me and my family. Thinking long-term I probably won't stay with the civil service. I came from the private sector and I will probably return to the private sector within the next six years. The pay between private and public will never be equal but the gap is growing. There's a fight for grade 7 posts and the pay offered at grade 7 is not all that attractive to some considering that is supposed to be your medium term goal as a Fast Streamer.
Ultimately with respect to long term strategy (people strategy: up-skilling etc) it will benefit the civil service to have a lot more movement of staff from public to private to public etc.
However just to put minds at ease for any other applicants on here with similar worries - I know a fair few fast streamers with dependents who will spend their entire fast stream period out of London in regional areas on account of the additional responsibilities they have (moving kids in and out of schools on a frequent basis is just not practical).
Also - there's a fair sub-set who don't want to be in London at all. So they do their compulsory London six month post and then move back to a regional area). In theory, even if you don't have children or any other dependents, you could still fulfil the geographical mobility aspect and avoid London for most of your posts. This really depends on the scheme you apply for. Clearly, DS / HoP/ EFS choices are going to land you in London. Analytical posts have a decent number outside of London. Economists most likely London. Central Departments / HR / Digital schemes will land you a lot of placement choice outside of London.

Reply 1028

ryan_ni

Original post by nimoy234

Are stats available showing %applicants that get sifted at each stage of the process for different streams?

If you look at the 2011 one it will give you a rough idea

Reply 1029

jo131278

Original post by stacyyy_xo

I applied under the GIS too and heard within a day about my competency results so I think you are amber banded as if you had been unsuccessful straight away you would have heard by now. I have my orientation session on the 1st Dec so they are happening pretty quickly but I don't have a FSAC date as yet. This is my 1st time applying so I am only basing the above on what I have read on these boards. Good luck on the results.

Reply 1030

TritonSails

2nd half of that e-tray written exercise was a bit rough!

Reply 1031

jo131278

Original post by TritonSails

2nd half of that e-tray written exercise was a bit rough!

Yes, I think I may have to make sure I put plenty of effort into those competencies at the FSAC. I didn't do enough on it at all but tried to cover everything which made each section slightly thin on the ground. :frown:

Reply 1032

Foreordained99

I found the first part far harder than last year. 2nd part was ok but I got cut off mid-sentence :frown:

Now to wait :smile:

Reply 1033

legaliggle

Has anyone done their etray on a Saturday night and heard immediately/ on the Sunday? Anxiously waiting :frown:

Reply 1034

MagicNMedicine

Original post by sempitern

The pay between private and public will never be equal but the gap is growing. There's a fight for grade 7 posts and the pay offered at grade 7 is not all that attractive to some considering that is supposed to be your medium term goal as a Fast Streamer.

I think the pay at Grade 7 is reasonable for the stage you are supposed to be at in your career. If you benchmark it for instance against going in to accountancy, if you had two people graduate at the same time, one goes to a Big 4 accountancy firm and does the ACA, the other goes to the fast stream, you will probably find the fast streamer has a much better deal. Better pay, better hours, more interesting and varied work, and doesn't have to do exams in their own time. The accountant will be looking to get qualified in about 3-4 years which is about the same time frame a fast streamer will be looking to be a G7. At this career move stage the salaries will probably be similar, £40-50k is reasonable for a newly qualified ACA.

The difference will be the divergence after that as many G7s will stay at that level for years, and further promotions will get progressively more difficult and also offer relatively modest salary increases in relation to the responsibility, whereas an ACA salary will rise considerably. On the ICAEW website it says the average salary 6-9 years out of qualifying is £86k. For someone going in straight from uni that equates to a salary in mid 30s. A like for like fast streamer would have had to make Senior Civil Service to be on that and even there a lot of them will be below it, and there are only a few SCS that are that age. It would be interesting to track the career progression of fast streamers, I would guess that 12 years down the line a lot would be G7 on £40-50k, a fair number would be G6 on £50-60k and a smaller portion would be SCS on say £70-90k.

Reply 1035

thursdayJ

Original post by legaliggle

Has anyone done their etray on a Saturday night and heard immediately/ on the Sunday? Anxiously waiting :frown:

i did mine on friday and am yet to hear.... i am really not very hopeful as i heard back hours later after the numeracy/verbal. pretty sure this means i'm in the amber band :-( hope you hear back soon!

Reply 1036

stacyyy_xo

Original post by jo131278

Ah that's helpful, thank you. I wonder how wide the amber band is!

Reply 1037

ParetoOptimum

Original post by MagicNMedicine

That is a very depressing thought

You seem to know a lot about the Civil Service structure. Would you be able to outline the main differences between the Fast Stream and entering the civil service at the same pay/seniority level, but outside the Fast Stream?

I understand the Fast Stream allows a number of different placements over the four years, with lots of support/training/networking and the expectation of future leadership. But does it offer a noticeable advantage in terms of advancing up the ranks compared to a non-Fast Streamer at the same initial seniority level? For example, entering the Civil Service as an Assistant Economist outside of the Fast Stream, rather than entering the Civil Service as a Fast Stream Assistant Economist?

Reply 1038

GManTheGMan

I'm not too sure about how the economist stream works, but for me the placements and training opportunities will be a huge help in getting through competency interviews in the future. It's also great for networking and there is a high probability I will go straight into a promotion at the end and a good possibility that I will go straight in 2 grades up ready to prepare to apply for grade 6.

Government recruitment will be opening up (hopefully) but when I applied it was not easy to get into the civil service at any pay grade. The fast stream's a great way in!