Insider profil

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Jo .

ISBC People Team Leader

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Top Insider Advice

Don't underestimate the amount of time needed to apply for CS jobs. You will spend hours getting your behaviours and statement evidence right and that's how it has to be. Get a mentor/s to check your applications before submitting. Have the CS behaviour descriptions open when you are writing your statement, this is what you will be marked against. Tell us the how, I sift regularly and it is frustrating when candidates state @i am an excellent communication' for example, that is good but tell us how you communicate, what makes you so good! I like the STAR model but also the WHO, What, How, Outcome. Tell us your personal story, avoid jargon and write to a complete stranger who knows nothing about you or the department you are applying for.

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Career path

ISBC People Team Leader

HMRC

Started 10/2021 to Present

Company

What do you like about your job and the company?

I am a great advocate of the Civil Service and all it has to offer. My current role is varied, can be reactive at times without much chance to plan but extremely interesting and rewarding. My days include lots of engagement with our wider stakeholders on calls, more virtual connections in this day and age as opposed to face to face meetings. I spend a lot of time talking to my team, ensuring they are supported. I do not work manage my team so also have calls with the work managers to check the tasks they have allocated then cross refer with my team, this enables all to be clear on expectations and I can quickly react to any blockers or confusion.

Greatest achievements

I spent just over 2 years moving from placement to placement, some challenges along the way with colleagues not fully appreciating my role as it was centrally funded so I was essential free resource. I didn't realise how much I had learnt from each placement and the experience until I left them sometimes. I built resilience in droves by having to reinvent myself and establish those big working relationships every few months, Change does not bother me nowadays, if I had to move roles tomorrow, so be it. I am proud of moving from band O to SO in a little over 2 years, not an easy achievement but it can be done!

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Top Insider Advice

You never know what the future will bring, so aways make the best use of the present

Pete

Situational Awareness Officer

Top Insider Advice

Once established the keep your options open. The department and Civil Service are vast, work is varied and options are unlimited. Look for opportunities to expand your knowledge, experience and contacts.

Sue

Operational Lead

Top Insider Advice

I have been very lucky in that I have almost always been given a role (or applied for one) that I have enjoyed in HMRC (or earlier departments). If you show that you are keen to learn and willing to listen, then you will find that opportunities will present themselves to you and you will progress in your career. When I was told that I would have to undertake taxes training in 2005, I was horrified. Having been trained in National Insurance and done various management roles, I thought that tax would be just too hard for me and that I wouldn't pass the exams. However, I committed wholeheartedly to the training programme. I studied hard and passed all the exams first time - even though my daughter was still a baby so I was constantly exhausted as well as having to travel to London once a week for 18 months for my tutorials!

Discussions with Jo
Please describe the most enjoyable aspects of your day-to-day role?
in Career Tips·mardi, décembre 20, 2022
1 response
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