The Civil Service has over 20 Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) Life Chance Schemes currently in operation across Government, using innovative approaches to recruitment and providing Individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, who face barriers to employment, with opportunities and experience.
In this blog edition, we introduce you to our latest scheme the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People.
What is the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People?
The GFiE Scheme for Autistic People is a pilot scheme offering employment opportunities across the civil service, working with the Civil Service Autism Exchange Internship Programme (AEIP) to bring brilliant new voices into the Civil Service.
How does the scheme work?
Following a period of paid work experience in the Civil Service through AEIP and if a hosting department has available roles, Interns may be offered a temporary fixed term appointment for up to 24 months, with a possibility of permanent employment from 12 months through the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People.
Where hosting departments do not have available roles to offer Interns after completion of the work experience placement, Interns can express an interest to the GFiE team, to have their details added to the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People candidate bank, and where departments have a vacancy and choose to offer a role via the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People, Interns will then be notified of the vacancy and provided the opportunity to declare an interest in the role.
Eligibility Criteria
This pilot is currently only available to individuals who have completed work experience placements via the Civil Service Autism Exchange Internship programme.
How can Civil Service departments get involved?
We currently have individuals across the country that have expressed an interest in pursuing a role in the civil service following completion of the Autism Exchange Internship. We are now seeking vacancies to match these individuals with ,so if you are a Civil Service department and would like to discuss providing life changing roles to individuals through use of this scheme for live vacancies or any vacancies you have coming up, please do get in contact with the GfiE Team at GFiE@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
What do the Interns think about their time in the Civil Service
Some of the candidates from this years Autism Exchange share their experience of their work placement in the Civil Service. Following successful placements, individuals are already receiving job offers from Departments via the GFiE Scheme for Autistic People:
Intern at Department for Work and Pensions
I was placed working in the Disability Analysis Division of the Department for Work and Pensions, specifically in a team looking at data on disputes around benefits. This was suitable for me because I have A levels in maths and further maths and I am studying for a degree in physics, so I requested a more numerical internship as I felt that would fit my skillset. Throughout the internship, I have been working on Excel spreadsheets and I have learnt much more about using Excel as a result. I have also become more confident at being able to describe what a chart shows and why that may be important. The internship has also given me more confidence in articulating my findings and what I think they mean and just generally improved my presentation abilities and ability to talk with confidence to people who are more knowledgeable and experienced than me.
For me, the best parts of my internship have been the times when I was able to produce statistics that surprised and interested other members of my team, as it gave me a sense that I was making a valuable contribution, however small, not just to my team but also maybe in the long run to the running of the disputes system for benefits in this country.
The civil service seems to me to be a good place to work, due to hybrid working and flexible working hours, the knowledge your work is aiming to help people, and the fact that all the civil servants I met while working here were friendly and helpful.
Akhilesh - Intern at Department for Work and Pensions
Having recently graduated from university, the first thing on my mind has, of course, been employment and job-searching. Thus, the prospect of being able to work immediately following the end of my course, that too in a Civil Service department, was an exciting one to say the least! Being a student of History and International Relations, I felt that a placement as a Communications Officer in this type of environment would allow me to use the transferrable skills I had received from my degree in my work.
I was welcomed very warmly by my line manager and co-workers, who did their utmost to make sure I settled into the office environment quickly. Throughout these past 4 weeks, they have all been at hand to ensure that I have been able to complete any and all work with ease, as well as going beyond the scope of my current job in giving me career support and advice for my future efforts, through such actions as one-on-one conversations about my aspirations and what exactly I could do (or need to do) to fulfil them, as well as assistance in filling out various applications.
Concerning the skills that I have gained from this internship, this opportunity has both taught me new skills and enhanced my already existing ones. In terms of new skills, I would say the major ones would include learning how to set out a professional communications campaign following the OASIS framework, an accompanying project plan, and how stakeholders are cooperated with in the workplace. My existing skills, such as competency with essential software as those found in the Microsoft Office package, have also been used in general administrative work, such as in organising spreadsheets relating to the popularity of articles from the Comms and Engagement Team or to the organisation of the People Directory, and in collating initial data and research for the department’s protracted sustainability campaign. Overall, I would highly recommend anyone who sees an opportunity like this to take it! This internship has provided me with various valuable experiences that
This opportunity set me on a good path to achieve further employment within the public sector, I am confident it can do the same for others
Tom - Intern at Department for Work and Pensions
My Internship with the DWP is an example of a good news story. I’ve gained lots of skills and had a lot of good experiences.
As part of my internship, I am presenting my findings from the project I have undertaken in the all staff fortnightly call. This is the first time I’ve had to present to a larger audience so it should make me feel more confident when speaking to an audience in future. It’s not something I’ve done before so I was slightly nervous but now I’ve done I know it’s ok. I’ve developed my writing and summarising skills when having to summarise the teal book, a very detailed and extended piece of literature used in the department.
I’ve enjoyed working in an office environment, it was my first time so naturally I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I felt comfortable doing it. It’s put me in a good place for the future. As the election took place during the internship, I was able to join the DWP call with the new Secretary of State. It was excellent to hear from her and she came across as very genuine so I hope she does her job with the best interests of DWP in mind.
Right from my first day the Profession and Practices team have been lovely to me and made me feel welcomed and a part of the team, such as being part of staff calls where I’ve learnt about the work done within the department by permanent members. This really helped in making the internship brilliant for me, I’ve really enjoyed being here over these four weeks. It’s made my time in the civil service go very quickly! DWP have been an excellent employer.
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