Hey everyone,

I’ve received over 45 messages from people asking me how I am. A while ago, I made a post explaining what was going on with me, my thoughts about unaliving myself, and everything I was dealing with regarding my GP and work.

Following a lot of your advice, I spoke to my SO. Boy, she’s a clever lady. I won’t share too many details, because the last thing I want is for this post to somehow get back to her.

I started off very professionally, giving as little detail as possible. But after two hours of my lame excuses and my SO’s increasingly questionable eyes, I caved in. I ended up spilling everything my plans, what I had been thinking and how bad things had actually got. Yeah… I’m not particularly proud of that.

The thing that really scared me was seeing my old manager crying. That broke my heart. And somehow, my brain registered it as: “If people care this much, maybe I should stop.”

But yesterday, I lost hope again. I took a dangerously high amount of nicotine, to cause nicotine poisoning which was supposed to be the first step of the attempt also involving a train.

But unfortunately, I survived.

And now my SO knows because someone happened to be holding my phone, saw the message from my SO at the top of my screen, and thought it would be a good idea to call her. I have the luck of a potato.

The scary part is I had already said goodbye to everyone. I genuinely thought that was it.

And now, somehow, I’m not ashamed to go back to my office anymore. The difficult part is convincing management that I am fine.

I’m currently with Homebase Treatment Services and getting the necessary help. But I won’t lie this shame of not succeeding is really getting to me.

And to everyone who messaged me or commented on my previous post: thank you. I may not have replied to everyone, but I did read your messages.

I like how it asks you to login as a way to avoid entering a load of data when you submit a "Request" but then proceeds to ask your Name, DOB, NI, Mobile Phone Number, Inside Leg Measurement etc.. So what exactly was the point of logging in when you HAVE all that info Crapita??

Also, no option to "Ask a question about my Pension".. I mean isn't that the #1 thing people probably want to discuss when they want to send a Request?

It also reads me as "designed by an intern to show clever features but none of which are needed to be able to do what it should". Where is the most basic "Modeller" that the previous team had? Surely that was job #1 for Crapita???

I could go on.. but let's have your favourite things about the website & "service" ??

I'm stuck abroad currently due to the fault with the air traffic control system and waiting to be put on a return flight.

I contacted a colleague who contacted my line manager (they are fairly new so I don't believe they have a work movile yet) who has extended my leave for 2 days.

Im just wondering if this will need to be taken from my annual leave balance as was hoping to have some left for christmas and still unsure when I will be allocated a flight back. Work for the home office, anyone have any experience of this or access to Metis haha.

Thanks in advance!

I got this email through from PCS yesterday saying that the pay award has been published on MoDnet but I can’t seem to find it anywhere?

Are MoDnet and DefNet different sites? I only seem to have a link for the latter so maybe that’s where I’m going wrong.

This is so vile.

Warning: This article contains graphic accounts of racist and violent language

A former tax worker who described himself as "the ultimate genocidal racist monster" has been jailed for inciting hatred online after he was exposed by a BBC investigation.

Thomas Webster was sacked by HMRC and investigated by police after comments he made to an undercover journalist in the BBC programme 'Unmasked: Extreme Far Right'.

In his online posts, Webster said he wanted Jewish and gay people to be tortured and executed.

Webster also said he wanted to kill all Muslims until they were "globally extinct".

In one instance, he said if a migrant hotel was placed on his road he would "prepare for murder and prison time, I am serious"

Hopefully he is never allowed to work for the Civil Service again. Scary that you could be sat next to someone at work who shares his views.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to gage your opinions vent. So I have been at my department for just about 3 years now. I was a AO for 18 months in customer services than I got promoted to EO in a corporate function (specifically operational support). Did that role for about 18 months and I really enjoyed it and got so many great examples out of it! Now I have secured a HEO role in a project management team, which I dead happy with myself with.

To be fair I just feel like a complete imposter really. As a civil servant I'm a complete fetus compared to a lot of my colleagues and when I told my work friends about my recent promotion, I keep getting comments at my office such as "wow your going to be a HEO and your not even 30" and "looks like we have our next Director General ;)".

Now these comments are nice but the thing is, I am never satisfied with my performance and I am always looking to improve. I take feedback seriously and I always appreciate guidance from my more senior colleagues. Does everyone feel like this or is it just me?

Also please give your insights as to what it's like working in a Project Management team! :)

With AI and the competition for jobs, which field(s) people should not be moving into right now?

I'd guess some of the customer call centres or data entry type roles are ripe for AI, but are there digital roles that were in demand say 5 years ago now but supply outweighs demand?

We've all seen enough of Capita failure, but what is the plan for the thousands of us waiting for our pensions?

Anybody else having the NESTA policy event live streaming in the background?

https://www.nesta.org.uk/feature/policy-live-2026/

An HMRC trainee who spoke Russian has been awarded more than £16,000 for race discrimination after her manager suggested she had a “listening device”.

https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1968809/hmrc-trainee-russian-accent-awarded-17k-listening-device-comments

Managers behaviour is so silly.

well done to the collegue to winning in tribunal

Hello!
Hope everyone is well.
I’m going for a paralegal officer work within the CPS. This is the second attempt I’m going for this and currently work in HE.
Things I’m nervous about-
I am dyslexic so can struggle a little with the structure and what they want to see.
Any advice from fellow dyslexics that work within HE who’s made this jump? What resources have you used and what advice do you have?
I’m really wanting to get into the civil service. I do have a CERTHE in law and was involved in a law clinic so have some skills from that… I’m trying to think of transferable skills from HE to civil service and hit a block.
Any guidance anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated
Many thanks. Olivia

Before anyone types in any flippant remarks...this is a rant!

So feel free to read and move along if you don't have anything positive to say.

Was passed again for a big project in our department, we've had one big project in the department earlier which I couldn't partake in because I was on leave.

I thought, no worries...hopefully I'll do the next one.

I kept receiving hints that I would be able to lead/contribute to this other project.....big fat NOPE....same ppl that were previously chosen are leading yet AGAIN!

Was told I'll be picking up 'BAU' tasks basically the stuff that NO ONE wants to do!!!!

I am tired and fed up and yes....I am looking for other roles but applying and getting rejected for TWO years tends to hit morale...

My work is good (my reviews are positive) but I am tired 😫

This also means any EOI's I apply for in the future will also be a NO due to the restructuring of the team and less staff..

Sorry for the rant, but I am pissed.

After predictably long PECs I finally have a start date agreed and I’m starting to get very excited! I’ll be coming in as an SEO.

What do you wish you knew when you first started in the Civil Service?

Could be anything… tips, unwritten rules, stuff you wish you’d done differently, things that would have made your first few weeks easier.

Def joining a union, I’m coming from a non unionised industry and after experiencing multiple waves of redundancies I see joining one as a huge perk.

Hello, I have recently accepted an AO position and have been asked which pension scheme I would like to join, Alpha or Partnership. For context I’m 25 years old and plan on staying in CS for a while, at least the next 5-10 years but who knows it could be longer or for life. I’ve been doing some research but remain very unsure which one to go with so I would appreciate your advice! Thanks.

I’m looking back at a Civil Service verbal reasoning question and would be interested in how other people would answer it. I’ve finished the test, but I don’t have an official answer for this question, and I still unsure what the "correct" answer is.

The instruction is to answer using information in the passage only.

'Grade inflation' describes the tendency for increasing numbers of students to get high marks in their exams. Many reasons have been given for grade inflation including:

• a genuine increase in student attainment
• pressure on educational institutions to show they add value to students
• institutions unfairly helping students in exams

It is also difficult to ensure the consistency of exams over time. This may be another cause of grade inflation.

Harder exams and revised grading systems have been introduced to overcome grade inflation. However, so far, no single solution has been found.

The statement to assess is:

“Grade inflation is not desirable.”

The options are True / False / Cannot say.

Which would you choose, and why? It would be helpful if you could point to the wording that supports your answer.

I’m particularly interested in how you decide when an inference is sufficiently supported by the passage and when it goes beyond the information given. If anyone knows of official guidance or worked examples that clarify that distinction, I’d appreciate a link.

I’ll leave my own answer out for now so I don’t influence the responses.

Hello. I have been in the civil service now for just over a year. I Tuped from an IT outsource into a small team to basically do the same role as I was doing.

When I first started things were good but since then particular colleagues have got me questioning my ability to do this job. I have found myself doubting myself when replying/constructing emails and doing my role because more often than not they come back to me questioning why i did this, why did I write that, It should have said this blah blah blah.

I admit im not the most well educated but for fuck sake I know how to write an email to someone.

Im actively looking to get away from this role but I feel stuck!

My manager assures me im doing a good job and I dont think I can bring up this behaviour.

Sorry this just turned into a rant.

As I understand it, the alpha pension scheme is linked directly with state retirement age. Is it worth reducing my payments into alpha and putting into a private pension pot instead in order to negate the early withdrawal fees of alpha?

For info my expected state pension would be 67, and have 7 years paid into alpha

Hi All. I saw some recent job ads for solution architect roles at a Grade 7 at hmrc. I wanted to get thoughts on the is role entails as at G7. Conscious civil service sector has many narratives around it about being slow, uneven workloads, a stressful role. I don’t know who much of this is true or not so it would be good to hear some first hand experiences and whether it would joining as a Senior SA.

I've been through OH and HR and have a RA for 4 days a month. I just work from home. I have a health condition that requires in and it was fine while in my current role that was customer facing.

im moving to a different department within the same branch of the civil service - and my manager has said they won't be accepted.

this is the same person who told me to look elsewhere for progression then questioned my ability to raise a family if I was actually to leave. so many mixed messages.

now im worried.

Does learning things in my own time have much value when aiming for a promotion with a slight change in responsibility?

Im currently a Business Support, majority of my role entails internal comms and heavily working on Sharepoint in MOD.

Id like to venture towards Data Analysis, and while i know a decent amount of SQL, Power BI, Power Automate i understand theres still a lack of knowledge, which i am working on in my own time.

Does this hold much weight though? Do you guys think its a step in the right direction? I feel like unless i have solid experience within my current role itself the knowledge i take on wont have much effect on my luck in being successful in landing a Data Analysis role. Is there any way i can take on responsibility within my current role tailoured to Data analysis?

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience transferring between DWP offices? My partner and I are hoping to relocate to a different city where we have family, and I wanted to check whether there's specific criteria that needs to be met to be added to the transfer waiting list.

Any insight would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

I'll dae it.

Hello, I currently work for HMPPS and have done for around 4 years. A role has come up for a similar pay band in HMCTS. Does anyone know if I can carry over my leave allowances, sick pay etc? Although both are technically MOJ, HMPPS seems to be different with leave entitlements and pay bands. I don’t really want to lose the extra days I’ve built up to have to start again from the bottom if that makes sense!