By Gemma Seabrook, Careers Consultant
When I meet a student and we are exploring their career ideas, there is one issue that comes up fairly regularly. A number of students, although not exactly sure what they want to do, feel that they would like a role where they are making a difference. This can be difficult to quantify, but what it often comes down to is that students want to tackle real life problems and make a positive impact on people’s lives.
If this sounds like you, then you might want to consider a career within the public sector. You could be helping influence and inform policy within central government through the Civil Service Fast Stream or focusing on technology and security issues through the SIS graduate scheme. You may prefer to work at a more local level on issues such as housing, transport and homelessness through the National Graduate Development Programme or gain a specialist post graduate qualification through the graduate schemes for social work such as Think Ahead & Frontline. Unlocked, the graduate scheme for probation officers or graduate schemes such as Police Now or Teach First.
As the roles are so varied there is no one “ideal” candidate and depending on the role you are applying for you may find that you need some specialist knowledge or relevant experience in order to make a successful application. However, what is true is that any person applying for a position in the public sector must be determined, strong-willed, and most importantly of all, passionate about what they do.
The people who work in the public sector actively shape the world we live in. If you want to be a part of this industry, it’s crucial for you to really care about your career and acknowledge its significance in society.
So, what can you do to maximise your chances of success? Here are 7 key skills that you should be trying to develop during your time at university if you want to make a competitive application for a career within the public sector.
1. Problem solving & flexible thinking
Demonstrate you can work through difficult issues and use your creativity and critical thinking to come up with innovative and workable solutions. You can develop these skills in a range of ways, through your academic study, by helping to run a student society by being a course representative or through volunteering or work experience
2. Communication
Strong communication skills are crucial to building relationships with service users, colleagues and collaborative partners. It is essential to be able to persuade, explain and present ideas effectively. Being able to listen and vary your verbal and writing style to get your point across is also important. You can develop these skills through your academic work and speaking up in seminars. Being part of a student committee or a student representative will also help develop your skills in this area.
3. Leadership
A key skill for public sector organisations is the ability to lead people towards a common goal or direction without being overly controlling. Evidence of positions of responsibility though student societies or sport or volunteer leaders can help you demonstrate your leadership potential.
4. Resilience
If you are interested in a career on the front line of public sector work, such social work, teaching, probation or the police force then resilience is essential. Resilience is the ability to take a positive approach to change, deal with uncertainty, cope with pressurised situations and being able to persevere under emotionally difficult circumstances. Demonstrating this isn’t always easy but relevant volunteering or work experience in challenging environments possibly linked to your preferred sector, can provide strong evidence of this quality.
5. Collaborative working
You will need to demonstrate that you can build relationships with colleagues, clients and other service users so being able to work with people from all backgrounds is crucial. Any work experience or voluntary work should provide evidence of this skill as well as strong involvement in group or project work through your academic study.
6. Digital literacy
The last few months have proved that we all need to ensure we have strong digital literacy skills and the ability to adapt to new working practices. The public sector is no different. You may be handling confidential information and understanding the rules around sharing and storing information securely is of paramount importance. Showing an understanding of the issues around data sharing (such as GDPR legislation) is a good way to demonstrate this skill.
7. Time Management & Organisation
Depending on your role you may be juggling a high volume of case files or a number of different proposals and priorities at once. Being well organised can also help take the pressure off a busy work load. Demonstrating you have the ability to juggle the demands of an academic schedule by meeting deadlines successfully along with a number of other activities such as sport, societies, volunteering or a part time job can be good evidence of your organisational abilities.
Finally if you want to get more information on the graduate schemes on offer check out https://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/public-service-charity-and-social-work for more information.