As a graduate or a student have you every though about a career in the public sector? There are many government departments in the civil service that have many public sector graduate jobs available, aimed at those who have just completed their degrees of PhD’s.

Every year 1000’s of the best graduates are recruited to work in different departments. Apart from the advantage of working for a major UK organization, you get pay that is comparable with the private sector, excellent pensions as well as a stable long term job prospects.

What are graduate recruitment schemes
These are recruitment schemes that are organized and run by large public sector employers and blue chip companies or multinationals to attract high calibre graduate talent from university campuses.

The recruitment process can take place on a university campus or at specialist graduate recruitment fairs. At these exhibitions young job hunters would typically find many different companies advertising their graduate careers opportunities. Organizations would have a stand or stage and people from their human resources department would be there to give a insight into their jobs vacancies and also benefits at their organization. As well as giving general career advice about the industry, as well as graduate training schemes and placements.

The advantage of graduate recruitment schemes is that they are tailored and targeted at those who have graduated or who are close to graduation, you should look at them as another form of job search. Unfortunately in the current economic climate many companies are cutting back their graduate recruitment schemes.

What is a internship?
Some students may take a gap year out as a break from their studies while others may decide on a internship. A internships is a form of work experience. For a student it is more focused on getting them the job experience in their chosen field rather than a salary. They are an excellent way for a student to get practical daily work experience of a particular industry and to find out if they will like to do that job as a career. You should note that interns typically receive low salaries or are not paid at all. Obviously for the employer the great advantage is that they get an extra employee for very little money or even free sometimes. Placements can last from a few weeks to up to 3 months or longer, depending on the industry in question. Another advantage for corporations is that after training up the intern, they have a trained potential future employee who already knows the job.

There are many different public service providers that a graduate could look to find work. On the dayjob we provide a online recruitment job board that will list all of the latest graduate job vacancies from organizations like the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise etc. As a tip it is best to apply for vacancies which are related or connected to your degree studies. This will give more weight to your application. For instance if you have a degree in teaching then you have a better chance of getting a teaching job. A great advantage about public sector jobs is that they are based all over the United Kingdom, and not just focused in one city or town. Vacancies are available in airports, sea ports, courts and police authorities etc.

As with most public sector recruitment vacancies you must be a UK national to be able to apply for one. The application process for these jobs can sometimes be long. After applying for any graduate trainee jobs the screening process will begin, and selected applicants will be called in for interview.

The Civil Service Fast Stream
In certain types of public sector graduate jobs in the civil service there is a fast track service called the the Civil Service Fast Stream for the top graduates who have a 2:2 degree and who are articulate and show managerial potential. The Fast Stream can offer these graduates accelerated promotion to management positions quickly. To test new graduates as well as expand their skill set, in this scheme they are posted to different departments quickly to gain valuable experience.

Further information:

The National Union of Students
NUS HQ,
Centro 3,
19 Mandela Street,
London
NW1 0DU
Telephone: 020 7380 6600
Website: www.nus.org.uk