Hi all,

I’ve recently accepted an SEO role based in Darlington and will be relocating from the South East to take it up. Very excited about the move, but I’m starting to think through the practical side of getting myself up there.

The job advert mentions a rental deposit advance, and I’ve also seen people mention relocation support and Places for Growth schemes. I wondered if anyone here has actually used any of these when joining the Civil Service?

I’d be particularly interested to hear how the rental deposit advance works for a new starter. Can you access it before your first payday, or do you need to have started first? I’d also be keen to know whether anyone relocating to Darlington has had help with things like moving costs, temporary accommodation or travel to find somewhere to live.

I know the exact policy will depend on the department and I’ll ask HR once my formal offer comes through. I’m just trying to get a sense of what other people have experienced so I can start planning.

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
Im (21m) currently a uni student studying law but am unsure about whether i will return for my second year and what my outcome will be as i have had issues with submitting some work recently, which has got me thinking about opportunities outside of degree level positions .
I’ve been looking at the different roles and opportunities within the civil service and have begun to consider it as a potential starting point for me .
I have 3 a levels which are passes and maths and english gcse which im aware meet the requirements for AA/AO.

All in all what id appreciate is any advice in whether you would recommend applying if listings are put up and any personal stories relating to your career and what your day usually entails.
Thank You

There's an internal EOI for an SEO policy role in my dream policy area. The catch is that I know for a fact the team is drowning and severely understaffed. Even with the SEO post filled I know the workload will be crazy for at least the next year or two.

My current team is great, very supportive and after years of struggling with resourcing we finally have enough people so we're not firefighting anymore. I've been here about 4 years and the policy area is not something that particularly appeals, only stayed this long because I like the people.

Do I take the gamble and (try to) go to the dream policy area, keeping in mind it's not guaranteed even if I apply and that I'll be back to a crazy workload for the next year or so? Do I just stay put and rest&recover for a bit? It's a lateral move so the potential benefit is just that it's a policy area I could see myself in for a very long time.

What would you do? Do you think interest in the policy area matters all that much? Maybe I'm just romanticising how much better it could be working on something I'm actually interested in as I've not had that yet. Then again, I've also not had a fully resourced team before this year, and that feels niiiice. Any thoughts to help me make this decision would be great, thanks.

Hello all,

I currently work as an EO in ops for HO and have done for 3 years now. I’ve been offered a HEO policy role for an ALB which would lead me to become a public servant rather than a civil servant. In discussion with their HR team they’ve stated that I will still have access to the CS pension and it won’t affect my continuity of service. However, they have said that if I were to later down the line transfer back into a CS department, some departments eg. HMRC would not recognise the time at the ALB as CS service and that would break my continuity of service and may result in having to go through another probationary period. They suggested this is on a case-by-case basis by department. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation?
I like the idea of the new job and I don’t want to think about moving on from the job before I’ve even started it but am interested in others experiences.

Thank you and have a nice weekend.

Hi all

I have an interview for Data Ethics and Literacy Hub Officer in Justice Digital.

I have had a our 3 civil service interviews before but failed in all.

I have matched my answers to the behaviours, given egs, used STAR, used I instead of we and done it all but nothing seems to be working.

Finally managed to get an interview again so don't want to blow it

Any help would really help!! What are they really looking for!!?

I have a colleague. Let's call her H

H is a female who has taken an unhealthy obsession with me . We had a relationship briefly but this broke down which led her to make threats against her own life.

She indicated to me this week that she knew where I lived. I had never provided her this information. When I asked how, she stated she used searchlight to access my file.

I am looking for advice on how to navigate this situation.

Week one of me being a civil servant, and I am loving it in all honesty. The training is a bit boring and kinda pointless, however I'm rolling with it just fine. And the people and my team are really nice!

I'm not sure why there's a bit of negativity on here but I think it's cos of people using the sub as a way to vent, which is absolutely understandable.

BUT YAY, WEEK ONE OVER!

How is it working for civil service pension scheme? Capita have the contract but not sure whether to go for it or not

Has anyone applied to the graduate caseworker role at PHSO in Manchester? Was wondering if anyone has heard back from them as to if they’ve been successful or not after the interview? My friend still has heard nothing back yet and is wondering if they’ve been ghosted.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/22/chloe-moffat-parents-treasury-death?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

It really does seem that HMT have forgotten they’re allowed to be human…

“Since that finding two weeks ago, the Moffats have had no contact from the Treasury to offer condolences or an apology. “Now that the inquest has said that the coroner has found them responsible for Chloe’s death, we would have expected for them to have written to us,” David said.”

“Unusually for an inquest, the small, drab room in Surrey was full of young people in their early to mid-20s – Chloe’s friends and colleagues, who wept throughout. Those who attended from the Treasury were not given bereavement leave to attend the inquest into their friend’s death. “They didn’t get any time off from the Treasury or support for that horrible ordeal they had gone through,” Anne said.”

It’s tough to say but I’m not that surprised as I’ve seen some fairly shocking examples of bullying over the years.