On Monday, students from St Helen and St Katharine and Abingdon School had the opportunity to attend the ‘Careers In Government’ panel, to gain an insight into working both alongside and as part of the civil service.
The panellists – all of whom were former students from the two schools – shared their pathways towards their current roles after leaving school, such as the Civil Service Fast Track for graduates and degree apprenticeships which are recently becoming more popular within the service.
Civil Servants Claire Macfarlane (Deputy Director for International Finance and Development at HM Treasury), Jonny Webb (Home Office Civil Servant) and Phoebe Topping (Head of Europe and Humanitarian Response at the Department of Health and Social Care) gave profound insights into different opportunities available within the service, such as the flexibility of working between different departments and taking on a series of challenges. Phoebe’s experience of tackling the issue of abortion policies with ministers whilst battling her and her team’s own political opinions was particularly interesting.
I also found the work of Caitlin Williams (Associate Director at Social Finance) incredibly interesting to see how the private sector closely links to the work of various governments across the world to come up with new policy incentives.
The evening was a great way for students to learn more about careers so vital to the running of the country! Thank you to both the St Helen’s and Abingdon Careers Departments for providing us with this opportunity.
Discover higher education and careers support at St Helen’s Sixth Form.
