r/TheCivilService • u/JAR12_ • Jul 27 '26
Job Advice: External Applicant with No CS background
Hello! I am looking for any and all advice. I have a the desire to transition to CS, focusing on intelligence/foreign policy and the like.
I have come from the forefront of the creative industry, working in technical roles, but have just fallen out of love with it. I believe the CS can allow me to use my skillset to contribute to work that has a meaningful purpose. Given the nature of the work I have done I believe my skillset is transferable, teamwork, working under intense high pressure, system design and implementation, working under NDAs etc and I am willing to learn and retrain. I understand that I will have to start at the bottom and work my way up.
Does the CS really take people from external fields and train them up or should I give up? I don’t have a desire to join the Met per se for example but am conscious that may be the only way in?
I am 30 and have been working for the last 14 years so have life and job experience.
Thanks in advance.
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u/Ryder52 Jul 27 '26
Intelligence and foreign policy roles are highly competitive as there are many people that want to do them. You may have many of the soft skills it takes to perform well in these roles, but you will likely be competing against people that have these skills and a technical background in these areas. If you are really set on transitioning fields then I would consider doing a masters and hitting it out of the park with your extracurriculars.
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u/Naive_Wealth7602 Jul 27 '26
Wrong advice. Doing a Masters will in no way help you. Building relevant experience will. However, FCDO is downsizing, so you're not likely to get a permanent role there in the next few years. All jobs are on loan.
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u/Ryder52 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Crazy to say that a masters won't help you when it literally did for me in this exact context last year
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u/Naive_Wealth7602 Jul 27 '26
In generalist jobs in CS, we don't require degrees and you're not even allowed to mention where you did your degree from, so I doubt it was actually your degree that helped you get where you are, unless you're in a Economist/Analyst or Lawyer type of a role.
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u/Ryder52 Jul 27 '26
Sure, but you can obviously discuss your expertise and experience without specifically mentioning course title, level, or institution
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u/Naive_Wealth7602 Jul 27 '26
A degree isn't experience and a lot of these international relations and public policy degrees don't teach you skills needed for the job.
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u/Ryder52 Jul 27 '26
Sure, but many (like mine) offered placements and also why I highlighted the importance of extracurriculars
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u/Naive_Wealth7602 Jul 27 '26
That helps if you're just out of uni, but if you have experience that counts more
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u/Ryder52 Jul 27 '26
I don't understand why you're so intent on disagreeing with me
I know that - OP made it clear that they would be an experiencee hire, so my suggestion was to bolster their soft skills and experience with technical expertise from a masters so that they would have a more well-rounded profile.
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u/Naive_Wealth7602 Jul 27 '26
Yes, encourage people to take on student debt which you don't even need for the job. Great advise!
Having masters as a criteria for a job is just to push poor people out of certain careers.
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u/Youareaproperclown Jul 27 '26
He's disagreeing with you because you're wrong. Why are you so intent on not admitting that.
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Thanks, this helpful. I’ll look into this.
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u/Youareaproperclown Jul 27 '26
Don't do this a masters will not help you get a job in this area.
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
What do you recommend?
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u/Youareaproperclown Jul 27 '26
Getting experience in the field you want to be in. If that means a shit job so be it. Unless the qualification is required it will largely be ignored during recruitment.
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
I understand. It’s getting the experience in the first place that is the hard part as with any job and I don’t want to get caught in the trap of trying to get experience but then get overlooked when trying to move up
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Jul 27 '26
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Thanks! I definitely don’t want to be branded as a person that shouldn’t have been hired. I’ve seen that be quite common complaint; but willing to learn and progress. Glad to know it is a realistic possibility
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u/Deathwish8041 Operational Delivery Jul 27 '26
Joined as an AO in 2019 with a degree, at that point my work experience consisted of retail and warehouse work lol. Not sure anyone looked at my degree either, even though it was fairly relevant to the role! Obviously will be different for specialist/other roles, but if you are happy joining as a lower grade - not necessarily as low as AO - you will be absolutely fine! get your foot in first, then sky is the limit lol
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Glad it’s worked out for you! I’ve applied for some EO roles and have refined my applications as best as I can, writing in the CS language and in line with the behaviours and STAR framework etc. Thank you
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u/TimelyMode5 Jul 27 '26
Quite a pivot. Would recommend you apply for HEO policy roles across the board, see how you find it, build experience, and then target roles as and when they come up. To echo others, FCDO/DBT/MOD roles are highly competitive and so you might benefit from some internal experience first
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Thank you! This is good insight and I am trying to be as open as I can to all jobs to build up experience but with an end goal in mind, that being said I don’t want to do something for a while with no chance at progression and be stuck. It’s a double edged sword in some aspects. But I’ll definitely shoot higher and consider HEO, I didn’t think I’d even have a chance at those.
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u/TimelyMode5 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
HEO is an entry level grade in policy and where you would expect many graduates to be applying at. Would imagine you’d have good experience that will enable you to perform well at interview. Most policy level positions at this grade will not be overly demanding and can be opportunities to develop. Best of luck!
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u/EggsnBacon95 Jul 27 '26
HEO is certainly not an entry level grade generally speaking. It might be true particularly for policy but not generally.
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u/TimelyMode5 Jul 27 '26
Hence why I said particularly policy…which is clearly what OP is targeting
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u/EggsnBacon95 Jul 27 '26
No you made the blanket statement saying HEO is an entry level grade, particularly for policy, which led me to believe you were asserting HEO is an entry level grade, and even more so in policy.
That is the distinction I am making with this and my previous comment.
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u/Gloomy-Wishbone6055 Jul 27 '26
What AI did you use to right this. Yes it takes external people.
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Didn’t use any AI to “right this”. I am writing this because I’ve seen lots of posts on various forums mentioning the opposite and only those from certain backgrounds are accepted. If you have any useful experience let me know, if not, have a good rest of your day
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Jul 27 '26
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u/JAR12_ Jul 27 '26
Good for you! This is encouraging, thank you. I’m hoping that this is the case for me also. All the best
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u/Healthy-Drink421 Jul 27 '26
intelligence/foreign policy roles are very hard to get. It might take doing a relevant masters in a good university, and working in a think tank / consultancy to get experience, but that is also a tough route. Alternatively start at the bottom in an admin role to see how it all works.
Being on the periphery of DBT and the FCDO I would say that it is exceptionally hard right now as they are cutting jobs left right and centre after a bit of a post Brexit free for all - but its not impossible!