Fast track to Whitehall

Arabella Scott is a graduate who recently undertook an internship as part of the Fast Stream Summer Placement Scheme, managed by the Cabinet Office and Scope. She talks about experiencing life inside the Civil Service

I did a two-month internship at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) this summer, as part of a scheme for disabled people, to give them experience of working in government and to encourage them to apply for the Fast Stream, which is a graduate recruitment programme for the Civil Service.

I was working in procurement. It was a very interesting time to be there, as obviously the MOD was in the public eye quite a lot, so to actually see things behind the scenes and to see the difficulties and challenges of the way a government works rather than just from the outside – I loved it, absolutely loved it.

We were given choice in the sorts of areas that we wanted to work in, areas of interest, and they tried to put us there as much as possible. I’m interested in foreign policy and strategic areas so either the Foreign Office or the Ministry Of Defence would have been useful, so it was really good to be able to be placed where I was really genuinely interested.

I found it massively worthwhile. It was so positive. I haven’t always been disabled (I have a spinal injury) and with just getting to the end of being a student, along with beginning to think what the job market’s like, and trying to get a job as a disabled person and was there any discrimination, I was so pleasantly surprised how hard they worked towards making every effort to make sure I could work effectively and well. There was absolutely no stigma at all.

They train up all the staff in awareness and I really felt that they were very advanced and I felt really welcomed.
I graduated with a degree in politics from Durham University last summer and I’m doing a masters there at the moment in International Relations.

I’m now applying for the Fast Stream, so I’ll see how far I get.

There are online tests, additional assessments and there’s also an all day test. Obviously they also look at your CV beforehand, although the assessment centre day is the main way that they test you and see that you’ve got the competency that they’re looking for.

It’s hard to think about long-term plans when you haven’t experienced it, but the Fast Stream is a five year programme where you get to experience five different jobs in five years. So they give you loads of different experience so you can see which areas you’re interested in, whether it’s policy or strategy etc.

I think ultimately I’d love to end up in the Middle East working there either in the Foreign Office or being seconded by one of the other departments.

• Arabella Scott was talking to Paul Carter

?ARABELLA SCOTT: CAREER PATH

• 2008 – Durham University – Politics degree
• Summer 2009 – Fast Stream Summer Placement Scheme
• 2009 – Present – Durham University – International Relations masters degree