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How Many Of You Have Worked In Civil Service

posted 11 years ago by TheFonz79
7 replies | jump to latest

I was wondering how many fans of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister work or have worked in civil service? I'm an American, but I lived in Australia for awhile and worked for the NSW state government for five years. Even though it is not the British civil service, it is structured in a similar manner. A few years after coming back to the U.S., I discovered these two series on Netflix. I love them! It reminded me so much of those years working in civil service, and could relate to some of the situations.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Sussexfilmlad 11 years ago

I was a (Whitehall) Civil Servant for many years, and am a massive fan of Yes, Minister. I would suggest that I'm far from alone. Watching old episodes often feels more like observational comedy than satire. I can't think of an episode that doesn't have me squirming and thinking "that's a bit familiar" at one point or another...

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Sussexfilmlad 11 years ago

I'm assuming that 'secretary' is used here as an insult or a abelittle? If I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but it's worth remembering that 'secretary' is one of the most prized job descriptions in English politics - the one who keeps secrets.
I was never a secretary during my career, I achieved G7, with a temporary promotion to G5 during one policy project, and I worked with/for many SOS and minsters.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Sussexfilmlad 11 years ago

Ah - I see. I apologise.
In the civil service secretary is pretty much only used for very senior positions (Appleby for example, the permanent secretary - essentially the civil service boss of the department and Bernard is the principle private secretary - basically the boss of the minister's private office and support team). Unless you end up in private office (which confusingly is staffed to a lesser or greater extent by public sector staff) most grades are either acronyms based around "something officer" or numbers that count down from 7 to 1 with 1 being perm sec. Hope that makes sense!

[–] 11 years ago

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