Hey! I graduated in 2020 and joined the Civil Service on the Fast Stream programme (which offers an accelerated path to a higher grade, providing that you pass assessments along the way).
I’ve done 3 postings in 3 different government departments - working partly in the office and partly at home. The work is really interesting to me - I enjoy seeing how government works, working on policy advice for ministers, legislation, stakeholder consultations etc.
It’s 37 hours a week, which is roughly 9-5, but we have flexi working - which means that you can work extra hours on one day and take them back another day. So, for example, if you log on at 8 from Monday to Thursday, you can take Friday afternoon off.
I do very little working out of core hours - only when things are really busy and at crunch point - but I can always claim the time back which makes a big difference. I think I have a better work life balance than my friends who work in law or banking.
Being the public sector, it does pay less, but the pension is good (obviously that’s a way off but it’s important to think about). I also earn a good salary for my age - having successfully finished the Fast Stream and been promoted to a middle management level job, I’m now earning around £55,000 - which I’m very happy with three years out of university.