Civil Service Fast Stream 2024 - Applicants thread

Reply 20

FishkillFun

6

Original post

by FriedFish

What are everyone's top choices?

Personally, I went for:

Government Policy;
DDaT and Cyber;
Operational Delivery;
Finance

Reply 21

Hello34

15

Original post

by FriedFish

What are everyone's top choices?

I'm thinking Government Policy, Commercial, House of Parliament and Diplomat. Haven't applied yet but these are the ones I'm considering and in that order

Reply 22

Maria1711

6

Hi all. Good luck for your applications. What would you say some with an interest in data analyst should choose. I have maths degree. My top choice is statistical services. Operation research and then operational delivery

Reply 23

ThatOldGuy

19

Original post

by Maria1711

Hi all. Good luck for your applications. What would you say some with an interest in data analyst should choose. I have maths degree. My top choice is statistical services. Operation research and then operational delivery

Statistical Services traditionally has low applications, so it's pretty solid. Just make sure you do practice tests for the SJT as they very rarely have choices you would actually choose and often come down to:

"At work, two colleagues are having a disagreement over the best way to solve a problem. Do you:

A) Punch them.
B) Shout a racial slur.
C) Make a nice Chai Tea.
D) Call their mothers."

And you have to judge which are effective, counterproductive, partially effective and ineffective.

Reply 24

Stu76

9

hi just came across the thread,

just applied ; diplomatic and development, commercial, property and project delivery

completed the first test, but only got result for the numerical one.

good luck with the applications! :smile:

Reply 25

ThatOldGuy

19

Original post

by Maria1711

Hi all. Good luck for your applications. What would you say some with an interest in data analyst should choose. I have maths degree. My top choice is statistical services. Operation research and then operational delivery

Go Statistics. The Office of National Statistics is a solid place to work from what I've seen. Good pay, good benefits and right up a Mathy's alley.

Reply 26

ThatOldGuy

19

Original post

by Stu76

hi just came across the thread,

just applied ; diplomatic and development, commercial, property and project delivery

completed the first test, but only got result for the numerical one.

good luck with the applications! :smile:

Congrats! How'd you do on the maths one?

Reply 27

JMR2021_

22

Original post

by Hello34

I'm thinking Government Policy, Commercial, House of Parliament and Diplomat. Haven't applied yet but these are the ones I'm considering and in that order

Just be wary that if you put Houses of Parliament or Diplomatic anything other than your first choice, then you won't get them (simply because they are the most competitive ones)

Reply 28

Stu76

9

Original post

by ThatOldGuy

Congrats! How'd you do on the maths one?

hi, got: Your responses to the Numerical test demonstrated a good capability to successfully perform calculations, and evaluate and interpret numerical information to solve problems. In this respect your performance on this assessment is higher than the majority of people who previously took the test.

suppose its a good start, given awful at maths :smile:

just wondering when the others come through?

Reply 29

ThatOldGuy

19

Original post

by Stu76

hi, got: Your responses to the Numerical test demonstrated a good capability to successfully perform calculations, and evaluate and interpret numerical information to solve problems. In this respect your performance on this assessment is higher than the majority of people who previously took the test.

suppose its a good start, given awful at maths :smile:

just wondering when the others come through?

That's a great start as that's the highest you can get. They won't say 'You scored better than 86%' or the like. Well done!

I honestly have no idea when all the others come through. My test scores last year came through almost immediately, but there seems to be a delay this time.

Reply 30

username2069573

6

Hey guys!
Going to apply today and am looking at the diplomacy, policy, digital data & tech, and commercial schemes. I understand you've got to place diplomacy first to be in with a shot of really getting it, but I'm wondering if this will disadvantage me when it comes to the rest of my choices? I.e. I may be ranked below someone for my second choice who put it as their first choice.
Many thanks in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!

Reply 31

ThatOldGuy

19

Original post

by juliax

Hey guys!
Going to apply today and am looking at the diplomacy, policy, digital data & tech, and commercial schemes. I understand you've got to place diplomacy first to be in with a shot of really getting it, but I'm wondering if this will disadvantage me when it comes to the rest of my choices? I.e. I may be ranked below someone for my second choice who put it as their first choice.
Many thanks in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!

Theoretically, it shouldn't matter which you place first as you will get the first one you're qualified for. It doesn't matter in which order you have.

Except that it does. Not for purposes of whether they'll accept you, but simply put: If you put Houses of Parliament and you qualify, it means you've beaten out 999 other people to get that position. If it was your second one, then you absolutely qualified for your first choice and will be given that one as priority.

Reply 32

PD1997

1

Original post

by juliax

Hey guys!
Going to apply today and am looking at the diplomacy, policy, digital data & tech, and commercial schemes. I understand you've got to place diplomacy first to be in with a shot of really getting it, but I'm wondering if this will disadvantage me when it comes to the rest of my choices? I.e. I may be ranked below someone for my second choice who put it as their first choice.
Many thanks in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!

Doesn't make a difference. Also I'm pretty sure there is an option to change them after the WBS bit. Worst case if you decide not to do something at the FSB point you could just fail FSB and then do the FSB for the next scheme etc. Do consider that Diplo and HoP have very very very low acceptance rates though.

Reply 33

FriedFish

14

Original post

by ThatOldGuy

That's a great start as that's the highest you can get. They won't say 'You scored better than 86%' or the like. Well done!

I honestly have no idea when all the others come through. My test scores last year came through almost immediately, but there seems to be a delay this time.

The FAQ says something along the lines of finalising the online assessment score boundaries in November. That might be a new thing?

Reply 34

FishkillFun

6

Original post

by FriedFish

The FAQ says something along the lines of finalising the online assessment score boundaries in November. That might be a new thing?

In the past, they’ve always said something similar, but they also gave immediate feedback based on the average cohort scores up to that point. In terms of whether you’ve “passed” for the schemes you applied for, people are given results at different times. The deadlines that they list on the website are when they work out the final pass marks, but if you’ve clearly passed (or failed) relative to the applicants for your selected schemes, you might get your results earlier.

Whether or not results this year will be managed in the same way as previous years is currently a matter of speculation, until anyone has actually received feedback or results for anything other than the numerical test.

Reply 35

FishkillFun

6

Original post

by PD1997

Doesn't make a difference. Also I'm pretty sure there is an option to change them after the WBS bit. Worst case if you decide not to do something at the FSB point you could just fail FSB and then do the FSB for the next scheme etc. Do consider that Diplo and HoP have very very very low acceptance rates though.

Yeah, the website suggests that you can withdraw from any given scheme, as long as it's before you've been invited to the assessment centre - if you've been invited, but haven't yet attended, it's still too late to withdraw. Note that, while you can withdraw from a higher preference scheme to favour a lower preference scheme, it is not possible to reorder your preferences without withdrawing.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 36

username893096

4

Hi everyone! It’s a shame they’re not doing the communications option this time. Which scheme would you recommend for an English grad?

Reply 37

FishkillFun

6

Original post

by stephlikesbooks

Hi everyone! It’s a shame they’re not doing the communications option this time. Which scheme would you recommend for an English grad?

Hmm, that really depends on what interests you. Off the top of my head, Commercial, HR and Diplomatic could suit an English grad, but if you’re more interested in policy, delivery or finance, there’s no reason that you couldn’t succeed on those schemes.

I wouldn’t apply for the HoP scheme unless it’s something you definitely want to pursue, as it’s incredibly competitive (due to how few vacancies there are), but, if it is, there’s no reason an English grad couldn’t thrive there either.

Reply 38

Tttttxxxxx

7

Original post

by stephlikesbooks

Hi everyone! It’s a shame they’re not doing the communications option this time. Which scheme would you recommend for an English grad?

I'm an English grad and I've put HR as my top choice and Government Policy as my second. I reckon the skills would align fairly well to both. As there's no subject specific requirements though I've put Project Delivery and Operational delivery as my 3rd and 4th choice - they sounded fairly interesting and I think they're more interested in potential rather than previous knowledge and experience for the majority of the schemes. Just try and pick the ones that you have a real interest in.

Reply 39

username893096

4

Thanks for the advice! I think I’m interested in the policy one so I’ll definitely apply for that.

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