Early Talent
We’re committed to helping colleagues develop their skills and progress in line with their aspirations. This commitment includes supporting talent at the early stages of their careers by offering several dedicated development schemes.
We host short-term placements and internships which will give you a sense of our work and how the Civil Service is organised, and offer you the opportunity to learn and earn with our apprenticeships offer. We particularly want to build pipelines of early talent from under-represented groups.
Movement to Work: Movement to Work is a charity coalition of the UK’s leading employers civil society and government. Movement to Work supports the Home Office to provide 2-to-6 week work placements that combine employability skills training with on-the-job experience.
Care Leavers Internships: These are 12 month paid internships which are aimed at helping care leavers to develop skills and competencies that support them into long-term jobs. This is a cross-government programme that offers over 500 places in the Civil Service.
Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP): The Summer Diversity Internship Programme gives talented undergraduates and graduates from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to see what a career in the Civil Service is like.
SDIP, and indeed the Civil Service, provided us interns with the opportunity to find a place where we can fulfil our potential and make the most of our abilities. To be able to claim that by going to work you are making an effective change to the way our country works is quite extraordinary!
Simron, Home Office SDIP Intern
Early Diversity Internship Programme (EIDP): This programme is available to first-year undergraduates from diverse backgrounds. The 5-day placement in a government department gives valuable insight and understanding of what it’s like to be on the Fast Stream.
I found this week incredibly interesting, challenging and stimulating to take part in. It was useful to learn more general skills regarding applying for the Fast Stream and networking. Getting to meet others on the internship from different backgrounds with similar interests was a good way to start a network of peers who could be a point of reference when applying to SDIP in the future.
Sophie, Home Office EDIP Intern
Fast Stream: An accelerated, cross-Civil Service career path to leadership which is recognised as one of the best graduate schemes in the country. The Fast Stream also includes the Direct Appointment Scheme (grade EO-HEO)for candidates who have progressed through several stages of the application process but have not met the benchmark for the Fast Stream Assessment Centre (FSAC) or their chosen scheme.
Ambitious About Autism: A national charity which works closely with young people and children with autism. They provide services, raise awareness and understanding, and campaign for change. Through their connection with the Cabinet Office, during the summer they arrange and match young people with appropriate internships throughout different government departments.
Apprenticeships: These are a crucial way to develop the skills required by the department, and provide people from all backgrounds with the chance to obtain job-specific and transferable skills that will contribute to their achievement in the workplace. Apprenticeships are an opportunity for everyone, regardless of age or background, and provide a unique combination of formal learning and development and on-the-job experience. We offer apprenticeships at all levels from A-level equivalent to degree-level, covering topics including operational delivery, customer service, finance, digital and cyber, project management, and business administration. Two of our apprentices (Carl Harland & Jacob Graham) have shared their apprenticeship experience below. These testimonials highlight the fantastic opportunities and positive impact apprenticeships can have on your career.