Politics, Government and the Public Sector

If you would like to do further research into this sector, the following webpages may be useful. 

• In this alumni profile, William discusses consulting and research roles within the public sector and shares his journey to becoming a Public Policy Consultant.
• Listen to Politics graduate Erika reflects on her career journey including roles as a Research Officer, Council Officer and Policy Adviser.
• Listen to History and International Relations graduate Tara discussing her role as a Parliamentary Assistant.
• Explore Target Jobs articles about public services and administration.
• Prospects provide a helpful overview of the UK's public services sector, as well as a range of relevant job profiles and information about securing a graduate job in public services.
• Watch videos about a range of roles with local councils on Local Council Jobs.

Making contacts is essential for success in this and other sectors. Many jobs in this field come through networking and speculative applications. You could start by speaking with the experts – find out what they did after graduation and contact them for advice.

Making contacts for work shadowing, informational interviews and speculative applications

To help increase your networks who may also be able to suggest ways to gain experiences look at:

• Ask an Alum: A fuss-free way to connect with University of Exeter alumni to ask careers questions.  
• Career Mentor Scheme: A popular employability scheme which matches a student or graduate with an experienced professional, for sector insight and one-to-one careers advice and guidance, over a 6-month period. 
• Professional Pathways: a suite of sector specific training courses and paid week-long internships that take place in June.  

There are many routes to making contacts in the field of politics, government, political administration, public relations, social research and think tanks. National security understandably is more opaque but contacts in any of these other sectors will also help here. A well-established route into contacts with political parties is to volunteer either for political parties directly or for campaigns or pressure groups. All political parties have youth sections, and these are always open to new people. For contacts in government or political administration you can find records of all MPs here Find MPs - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament  or you can find your local Councillors from your local Council website. Additionally, the All Party Parliamentary Groups APPGs in Parliament holds records of the hundreds of APPGs and their MP members who can be contacted to request volunteering opportunities.

In public relations there are well established routes into networking via the institutes such as the Public Affairs Board of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) PRCA Global which hosts the Public Affairs Register Public Affairs Register - Public Affairs Board which lists everyone in every PR organisation, a great resource for finding people in the field you can reach out to. For making contacts in UK and global think tanks  On Think Tanks | Open think tank directory is a very useful resource.

With all these areas there are many volunteering opportunities possible for students of all disciplines and interests. Most opportunities are not advertised and will need speculative applications showing real passion and interest in the cause or area of work to be successful. One rule applies networking in all these areas – seek out people who know people and seek to impress them with your commitment and energy.

• Recruitment fairs, careers fairs, open days, talks, and events give insights and opportunities to make contacts. For details of future events visit Handshake. If you have not yet activated your account, select the Single Sign On (SSO) option and follow the onscreen instructions. Other annual events of interest include:
• Institute for Government -public events make news, shape opinion and share ideas on how government works and how it can be improved
• Westminster Insight - a range of conferences relevant to the public sector. These events are ideal for students interested in public sector innovation and policy development.

Many major graduate recruiters have policies and processes that are proactive in recruiting graduates from diverse backgrounds. To find out the policies and attitudes of employers that you are interested in, explore their equality and diversity policies and see if they offer Disability Confident Employer Scheme or are recognised for their policy by such indicators as Mindful Employer or as a Stonewall’s Diversity Champion. 

Useful link  - How to find a company’s diversity initiatives | graduate-jobs.com

The UK law protects you from discrimination due to your age, gender, race, religion or beliefs, disability or sexual orientation and more. For further information on the Equality Act and to find out where and how you are protected, as well as information on what you need to do if you feel you have been discriminated against, visit the Government’s webpages on discrimination.

To learn more about how to share details of a disability with an employer and the support you can receive applying for jobs and work experience visit our equality and diversity page . You may also find the following podcast useful:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity - Career Zone Podcast – Apple Podcasts.  

Further information

Civil Service Fast Stream (UK)

• Target Group: The Civil Service Fast Stream is open to all graduates, but there are specific initiatives to attract students from underrepresented groups:
  • The Fast Stream Diversity and Inclusion Scheme: Focuses on increasing the representation of diverse groups in senior roles within the Civil Service.
  • Summer Diversity Internship Programme: Aimed at diverse students, this internship provides insights into working in government, alongside mentoring and networking opportunities.
  • Civil Service Care Leavers Internship scheme - Civil Service Care Leavers Internship Scheme | Civil Service Careers.

Government Social Research (GSR) Fast Stream (UK)

• Target Group: Open to graduates, with a particular focus on increasing representation from diverse backgrounds.