Civil Service ignoring work history of graduate recruits

THE Civil Service has introduced an “experience-blind” selection process for its “fast stream” programme to prevent applicants from mentioning their work history on their CVs, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Whitehall bosses believe that preventing their applicants from disclosing any work experience when applying for a Civil Service role will make the programme more diverse. Applicants for places on the fast stream, the Civil Service’s accelerated development programme for graduates, are not able to tell recruiters about their previous workplace experience in case it biases the process towards them.

An independent diversity review in 2016 encouraged recruiters to “focus on potential to perform over previous experiences” and use aptitude tests to discover whether applicants would make good civil servants.

The review warned that an interview where government recruiters were allowed to ask follow-up questions “creates opportunities for unconscious bias”, and that “candidates from lower socio-economic background groups have less access to the opportunities and experiences from which to draw examples throughout the selection process”.

It also suggested that the Civil Service run regional assessment centres around the UK because inviting applicants to Whitehall “creates a sense of mystique among some students, which contributes to the experience of intimidation”. The Telegraph understands that the review’s recommendations have all been implemented, but the effects of the changes cannot be measured because the Civil Service stopped releasing annual data regarding diversity in 2018.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Our objective is simple – to recruit, train and retain talented people from all backgrounds and we have already begun work to reform the fast stream and other entry routes into the Civil Service to help achieve this.”