EDIP intern Review

Fantastic, got to experience working in the middle of London and at the heart of government. Was provided with many opportunities to see and talk to people who had previously done the scheme and who worked at various departments. Honestly a great experience and I’d advise anyone to do it

Did not feel particularly valued in general by the organisation as there was not any set work or tasks for us to complete and sometimes it felt a bit like we were there to fill diversity quotas. However, the people who worked in the organisation were very helpful and friendly and made us feel part of the team, which I greatly appreciated.

Received a lot of support from the workers who were all very encouraging of my ambitions and offered valuable advice as well as lessons from their experience. They also offered much guidance as to how the organisation functions and how to successfully gain a place on the graduate scheme. Being new to London, a lot of things (e.g. the tube) were new and their guidance for non-work related problems was also greatly appreciated.

The EDIP scheme helped to develop my networking skills and throughout the week we were all heavily encouraged to network with one another and civil service employees. I believe these skills will aid me, and everyone else on the scheme, in our future careers. I did nothing career related here, but it definitely broadened my horizons.

The insight week could have been better structured, as there was a lot of confusion over certain aspects of the programme, such as who our mentor was/what department we were in/where to go etc. However, in the end it all worked out well and the experiences were organised at the right times. For example the networking workshop was held after the opening reception but before we actually started, this ensured we could put those skills to practice during the week.

The general atmosphere among those undertaking the insight week was very friendly and a lot of friendships were forged. It was an inspirational week and the guest speakers ensured we were all motivated and inspired for the week and for the future. The mentors and other civil servants were all very helpful which created a nice laid back free thinking atmosphere.

I wouldn't say they invested a lot in us as it was only 1 week long. But we did do a lot in that week and as mentioned before we did a lot of networking and had useful workshops to develop this skill. We also took part in various exercises which helped develop our teamwork. As a by-product from the insight week, we developed a lot.

Not much as we were not at one place long enough.

It helped a lot to get an insight into the culture as we were able to speak to people across the civil service and at different grades. This enabled us to ask questions about how the civil service functions and what the culture was like. We also got to witness the working lifestyle and work/life balance enjoyed by the civil servants.

It was valuable as I saw how the civil service operates, what it's values are and what the culture is like. This was very helpful and has made me seriously consider a career in the civil service once I graduate. However, I did not gain any experience in the stream which I wish to work in if I do go on to work for the civil service.

I havent't been reimbursed yet but have applied

There were, but there could have been more. During the week there were many opportunities to network with civil servants in the department you were assigned, however it would have been very useful to have more time to network and meet fast streamers.

There were many networking events, and the scheme was designed purposefully for this. They were very good and I managed to meet many fantastic students from around the country which was motivating. We also got the chance to network with civil servants and former fast streamers, although it would have been preferential to had had more opportunities to network with former fast streamers.

I didn't, although I did find out that the civil servants socialise between departments often.

Definitely.