Student Experience: Government Internship

A2 year A Level Politics student James Doherty tell us about his intern experience at the government offices at Whitehall:

This summer, I was presented with the amazing opportunity of a two week internship in Whitehall, the civil servant offices in London. I was placed in HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs), the biggest department within government. Although this is not where I want to be in the future, the placement provided me with insight into in the civil service works and I gained contacts and a superb bank of knowledge.

Within HMRC there are four departments each headed by a Director General. I was placed in E&C (Enforcement and Compliance) under Director-General, Michael Earling. These large departments fragment again into different sub-departments. I worked in the Office of Local Compliance under Richard Summersgill. My duties in the office varied from the day to day needs of my Line Manager, I worked on answering the phones for the director which required me to quickly pick up on certain areas of discussion so I could answer questions, I was also set the tasks of maintaining his diary, booking his meeting rooms, train tickets and hotels.

I also had a set timetable which allowed me to spend days in other offices in the department. I spent certain days working with Jayne Banner Director for Change, in which I shadowed her during meetings and gave her my opinion on matters she felt needed new eyes to look at. I spent one day in the Director Generals office. The current Director General Michael Earling is retiring this year and so I was set task’s to help his replacement settle in, as she is moving from Australia.
Finally even if you end up with a department you didn’t want (like I did), it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. I have made friends with people from across the world, not only of the students but also the team leaders, which is invaluable in itself to have contacts who are working to the same goals as you, but not only that they are people who I will remember for life and have stayed in contact with.

The internship program is run by the SMF (Social Mobility Foundation) who work very closely with ministers like Baroness Warsi to help people understand that government is not off limits to them. They also run a similar internship with JP Morgan, a private banking firm. Only sixty students get this chance each year, so to have this on your CV is an amazing advantage to the rest of your year’s applicants, even if politics isn’t what you want to do eventually.

The experience was so enjoyable I would recommend that anyone with the slightest interest in politics should apply to go, there is no costing issues and it provides you with an amazing chance to improve your future.

www.socialmobility.org.uk