James E.
About me
| James E. | |
| Economics and Related Studies | |
| Development Economics and Emerging Markets | |
| Taught Postgraduate | |
| Wentworth | |
| 2010 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Assistant Economist | |
| Government Economic Service / Civil Service Fast Stream / Department for Work and Pensions | |
| United Kingdom | |
| 2010 |
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A day in the life of a Assistant Economist in the United Kingdom
My career history
About the time I finished my Masters at York I took a job in a small consultancy (in Manchester), which allowed me to quickly gain a wide range of experience, and work with different organisations. I found this built my CV quite substantially and gave me numerous examples for competency-based interviews.
After a year I joined the Government Economic Service (in London) through the Civil Service Fast Stream and was placed with DWP. In the three years since, I have had a range of posts within the Civil Service, including policy roles in the Cabinet Office. I currently undertake analysis of Universal Credit - a high profile reform to the benefits system. This post has forced me to develop my skills at microsimulation and economic analysis... which is why I chose it.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I will look to be promoted to an economic adviser within a couple of years. I may then look to other sectors/industries.
My advice to students considering work
Be aware of what career you'd like to pursue as early as possible. You can then work towards building up your experiences to fit any recruitment processes. Talk to current Fast Streamers in the Civil Service. They are placed all around the country and will usually be very happy to give advice - either by phone/email or in person.
My advice about working in my industry
Talk to current Fast Streamers in the Civil Service. They are placed all around the country and will usually be very happy to give advice - either by phone/email or in person.
What I do
My job is part of graduate programme, so I move posts at least once a year. Currently I work in a role which is very analytical, modelling the impacts of Universal Credit using an in-house microsimulation model. The results of this analysis are used to inform parliament, and other interested parties via freedom of information requests. On a day-to-day basis my job might involve calculating the cost of a new policy option or responding to a parliamentary question on impacts.
I chose this role to develop my analytical skills and previous roles I've chosen have been more policy focussed - for example writing regulations or strategies, or working with more delivery focussed teams.
What I like most
In my current post I like:
Problem solving... I will be given a task and left to achieve it however I think best (there are often numerous ways a policy can be modelled). I am also with a great team of analysts.
More broadly, in the Civil Service I like:
The opportunity to more to different posts and learn different aspects of public administration.
What I like least
It doesn't pay well compared to the large consultancies, and it can be bureaucratic.
Next steps...
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