Executive officer policy advisor Review
at Civil Service
Placement (10 Months+)
Manchester
Review Submitted: November 2021
Overall Rating
2.2 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
2/5
-
Overview of Role
2.8/5
-
Skills Development
2/5
-
Support and Guidance
2.8/5
-
Company Culture
1/5
-
Overall Experience
1/5
-
Future Career Prospects
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
Respond to member of the publics queries on the policy, provide advice to members of government. Provide admin support for legislative reviews
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
Not a lot, my manager insulated me from most of the important work
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
2/5
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
How to multitask, soft skills, essay writing
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
1/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
3/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
4/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
3/5
Support and Guidance
How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
None. My manager really didn’t bother helping me develop my skills. I was left to get on with small hits of work none of the wider team wanted to do. Despite making it clear I had Asperger’s, my manager didn’t factor this is to account and it made working in the environment difficult
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
1/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
3/5
Company Culture
What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
Due to being the youngest in the team by over 3 decades, it was always serious and there wasn’t much of an opportunity to joke. Management wasn’t interested in hearing our opinion on how things could be approached. We were just cogs in the machine
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
1/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
1/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
4/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
5/5
Overall Experience
To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
Really didn’t enjoy at all. Found the work repetitive, being pushed outside of my stretch zone repeatedly without any help, when I asked for help it was largely ignored and I was delegated to simple admin jobs. I repeatedly felt anxious and that the work culture was borderline toxic. There were multiple occasions I considered quitting
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
1/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
1/5
Future Career Prospects
Please rate the future employment prospects at Civil Service
1/5
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Civil Service to a friend?
No
What advice would you give to others applying to Civil Service
Be aware that you have little autonomy or freedom to approach work, you have to conform to established processes. Whilst good for getting core soft social skills, be aware that you’ll need thick skin to be able to get the most out of this.
