Ed photographed supporting the Minister for Refugees in a meeting with the Polish Minister for the Interior in Warsaw last April. 

Two weeks after graduating in 2018 I joined the Civil Service, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with grand dreams of making waves in government; thinking of myself as a future Sir Humphrey crossed with a domesticated James Bond.

Having just missed out on the Civil Service Fast Stream, I was offered a job in a minor policy role in a small corner of a department with an unpronounceable acronym (MHCLG, now DLUHC), covering Digital Housing and Planning policy. It didn’t quite fit the image I’d conjured for myself, but I got stuck in.

I then moved into a role in Private Office (the teams of people that directly support the Government’s high and mighty) as a Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary, which was followed by a move to be head of a Ministerial Private Office.

Private Office is much closer to the role I expected when I first applied; working directly with senior “mandarins” and Ministers to advise them on anything from policy decisions, their communications strategy, negotiating with parliamentary colleagues and, most importantly, what to have for lunch. It ranges from the mundane to the farcical, but I like to think I play my part in making some genuinely meaningful change.

Though initially disappointed to not make it onto the Fast Stream, I’m arguably in a better position than I would have been (at least that’s what I tell my parents) and have been exposed to exciting challenges I wouldn’t have otherwise been. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed starting my career in the Civil Service, especially being around the heart of government during a socially, economically and politically turbulent period and would highly recommend it to any current or future OTs.

(FH 09-14)