The Great Debate Tour
Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of travelling to Sheffield for the Great Debate Tour, which was kindly hosted by the African Caribbean Societies of both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam.
The Great Debate Tour gives an opportunity for young people to discuss topics that are important to them. The quality of the discussion was extremely high, and it was brilliant to see so many intelligent and articulate people exchanging ideas.
The Civil Service Fast Stream is a proud diversity partner of the Great Debate Tour, and it was fantastic to speak to students about the exciting opportunities on offer at the Civil Service.
At the Civil Service, you can expect to find rich and rewarding work that affects millions of people. You get given real responsibility from day one, a healthy work-life balance, and an intellectually rewarding job.
Diversity is one of our top priorities, because it’s incredibly important that we reflect the diversity of the public that we serve. It’s not a nice-to-have: it’s critical for the success of the Civil Service.
We spoke about three opportunities in particular: the Fast Stream, the Summer Diversity Internship Programme, and the Early Diversity Internship Programme.
The Fast Stream is our flagship graduate programme, taking in over 1,000 people each year. There are fifteen different programmes on offer, so there’s something for everyone, whether you’re interested in economics, human resources, digital, policy, or something else!
Expectations are high: as a Fast Streamer you are regarded as a future leader in the Civil Service. You can expect to rotate between different roles in different departments, which gives you a fantastic variety of experiences which ensure that no two days are the same.
Applications are open now, so head to faststream.gov.uk to find out more.
Our summer diversity internship programme is open to graduates and final year students who are either BAME, have a declared disability, or are from a lower socio-economic background — for example if you’re the first person from your family to go to university.
It lasts for 6–9 weeks over summer and you’ll be paid to work in a central government department. You’ll have real responsibility, and if you achieve your objectives then you will be given a ‘fast pass’, meaning that you can skip over much of the application process for the Fast Stream and go straight to the assessment centre!
Finally, our early diversity internship programme is open to first year students who are BAME, have a declared disability, or are from a lower socio-economic background. It lasts for one week in the spring, and you can expect a mixture of work shadowing, networking events, and workshops. The internships are based in London and your expenses will be covered for the week.
Applications for both of our diversity internship programmes will open later this month, so follow @faststreamuk on Twitter for all the latest news and updates.
During the debate we spoke about career choices, and there was an interesting discussion about whether students should take ‘traditional’ degrees rather than study ‘non-traditional’ subjects, even if that’s what really interests them.
Most of the students felt very strongly that they should study what interests them, and I’d agree. Many of the Fast Stream programmes ask for a 2:2 in any subject, because what we really care about is your skills and competencies. If you studied a ‘non-traditional’ subject because it’s what you care about, you can use that to show passion, drive, and self-motivation — and that’s great. Be sure to visit the Fast Stream website to find out more about the minimum entry requirements for each programme on offer.
It was a pleasure to visit Sheffield again having graduated there myself last summer, and I look forward to returning in the coming weeks!
Follow us on Twitter at @faststreamsheff to find out more about our future events in Sheffield.
And follow @GreatDebateTour for updates on future debates in other cities — we’ll be there too!
