I joined the Civil Service aged 18, having decided not to go to university. Whilst I was waiting for my EO application to go through, I worked in my local (then) DHSS office in Slough as a clerical assistant/officer. I was then appointed to the Immigration & Nationality Department in the Home Office, in Croydon, where I worked in a team that dealt with deportations of illegal immigrants, and became a manager. Three years later, I felt like a change and moved to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP’s) Office in central London, as a Law Clerk. This involved preparing prosecution files and attending court to assist prosecution counsel. It was fascinating, and I enjoyed working with the police and lawyers. I became a Senior Law Clerk and then the manager of the Special Casework Team. One of my roles also involved assisting the Departmental Records Officer to review archived files for retention or destruction. These included some major criminal investigations and prosecutions (the Lord Lucan case and the IRA bombings in the 1970s).
In 1987, I moved to Personnel, to manage a project to introduce a computerised personnel information system. I hadn’t worked in personnel before or used a computer, so this was an excellent opportunity to learn something newI managed the pay delegation project, subsequently being promoted to Head of Personnel Branch. During this time, I decided that I wanted to keep personnel as my career anchor, and I qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development. I am now a Fellow.
In 1997, I led the CPS team responsible for implementing the changes, following a review of the CPS, working closely with colleagues from the Home Office, the Police Service and what is now the Ministry of Justice. I was temporarily appointed Director of Personnel (Strategy) whilst the personnel function was reorganised. In 1999, I joined MAFF (now Defra), as Head of Personnel, Training & Development – my first experience of a big policy-making department. I have stayed with Defra since then (including a short maternity leave break and a spell of part-time working) in various HR roles. The last 12 years’ HR challenges have included the 2000 fuel crisis, the 2001 Foot & Mouth outbreak, the overnight creation of Defra, and several change programmes/projects – as well as a variety of day-to-day HR issues. After 34 years in the Civil Service, I can say that I have certainly never been bored, and continue to enjoy my work and learn every day.