Recruitment process

The e-application form

Economist Fast Stream Appointments 2012

For alternative formats in Braille or audio please e-mail faststream@parity.net.

If you choose an Analytical Fast Stream (Economist, Statistician, Social Researcher or Operational Researcher), you will not be able to apply for GFS, TIB, NI, EFS, and the HR Fast Streams in the same year, and vice versa. You can apply for more than one scheme in the Analytical Fast Stream, but these must be in the same recruitment round.
You cannot apply for the GES Economist or Statistician or Social Researcher or Operational Researcher schemes on more than one occasion between September 2011 and April 2012. If you apply for Round 2 of any of the Analytical schemes, having already applied to Round 1 of any of the Analytical schemes, it will constitute a second application and will receive an automatic fail.

To progress through the recruitment process you must pass each individual stage. Once you have selected the option you wish to apply for you will have a specific number of days to complete each stage described below. You will be notified of your completion dates on your ‘Scheme Progress’ page in the password protected area of the site. If you need an extension of a completion date for a genuine reasons, it is essential that you contact the Fast Stream Helpdesk on 01276 400333 or send a message via the candidate website. The time frame for each stage is set once you have completed the preceding stage; any unused time is not carried forward. Click here for further details about the scheme timetable.

The recruitment process involves the following steps:

1. Registration

Once you have registered you will have a specific number of days to complete each stage described below.

2. On-line Tests

The Fast Steam selection tests are tests of verbal and numerical reasoning and completed online. You are given the opportunity to practise these tests before you take the real online tests.

3. Completing the e-application form

Please ensure that you provide full details about the economic components of your degree. We can only sift on the information you provide on the application form so please ensure you complete the form as fully as possible. The Government Economic Service team will complete a manual sift of applications (see below) based on the following criteria:

Sift criteria

Essential

  • UK, Commonwealth, or EEA Nationality for GES posts
  • You must have or expect to get in 2012 a 2.1 in Economics or an MSc/MA in Economics
  • If a mixed degree with economics as one of the subjects, such as business economics, then at least 50% of the course modules must be in economics. You must have studied both macro and micro economics
  • If your first degree is in another subject, you either need a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics or a taught Masters that includes macro and micro economics - give details of modules on the application form
  • If you graduated more than 5 years ago, you must give examples in the competency section of the application form, of economic articles and books you have read in depth to demonstrate that you have maintained competency in economics.

Competencies

It is important that you provide written evidence of your achievements in the following areas;

  •  working on own initiative,
  • organising and prioritising time;
  • producing results/determination.

You are allowed up to 100 words in each section.

Other Areas

  • Internships/work experience which demonstrate motivation for economic work. If you have any non economic work experience please also give details of that
  • Extra curricular activities which demonstrate you can build productive relationships with others. This may be from voluntary work/sports clubs, and so on

You are allowed up to 100 words in each section.

4. Manual sift of applications

Once you have submitted your application form, it will be passed to the GESR Team who will sift the applications based on the criteria outlined above. Those candidates who best meet the sift criteria will be invited to attend the Economics Assessment Centre.

5. Economic Assessment Centre - half day

There are five separate exercises to complete at the Economic Assessment Centre (EAC). You will be assessed against three competencies throughout:

  • knowledge of economics
  • application of economics
  • communication

You must pass all three competencies to progress to the next stage of the Fast Stream recruitment process.

Preparation beforehand

A common mistake among applicants is to think that they have to impress the assessors with advanced techniques. Assessors will give you the chance to discuss your specialist studies, but overwhelming they are looking for a firm grasp of the fundamentals. They want to see that you can apply them, even to unfamiliar topics. Rote learning advanced techniques will not get you into the GES.

So in terms of reading for the EAC process you may revise your strongest area, but also make sure that you are also familiar with the content covered in the latest editions of excellent introductory tomes such as by Begg, Parkin or Sloman. A good knowledge of core intermediate micro will also help, such as in Nicholson or Varian (Intermediate). Cost benefit analysis (CBA) is used extensively in Government but for EAC you are expected only to understand its roots in welfare economics rather than use advanced CBA techniques. So be well versed in deviations from efficiency and distributional concerns. Elementary econometrics may assist you and perhaps intermediate macro as in Blanchard or Carlin and Soskice.

Of all these the first year introductory texts and intermediate micro are the most important. But this won’t help if you can’ apply this knowledge. You may know the formula for the price elasticity of demand but what is this formula applied to the length of an elephant’s trunk with respect to the pull of an alligator? You can define opportunity cost but can you apply this to an asset? You may know MC=MR as a profit maximising condition but what if there are no costs? Can you draw on economics to shed light on the pros and cons of charging for entry to museums? Should water be metered? What economic concepts are relevant to a smoking ban or provision of early childcare?

At least two weeks before your EAC you are given a topic to research in advance. We expect this to take no more than 10 hours to research. At the EAC you will be asked to produce (without notes of any kind) two pieces of written work on the given topic. You should consider a range of sources when researching this topic.

At the EAC

Technical report on the given topic. For this exercise you are encouraged to ‘show off’ your knowledge, technical grasp and understanding of the relevant economics. But remember you will be verbally tested on what you write here as part of your interview. You will have 30 minutes to complete this report at EAC.

Policy report. For this report you must ‘translate’ your technical report into plain English for a non-economist. You will need to write clearly and concisely and will be marked down for jargon. You will have 30 minutes to complete this report at EAC.

Short answer questions. This will be a set of questions (likely to be 10 in total) testing your breadth of macro, micro and technical economics as an honours graduate. It is not multiple choices. You have 30 minutes to complete this at EAC.

Presentation to a two-person interview board on the policy recommendation. You will receive your policy report and technical report back 30 minutes before your interview to allow you to prepare. The interview board will be one academic economist and one government economist. You will be questioned on your policy report.

Interview. This will follow on directly from the presentation and will cover both your short answer questions paper (including additional questions) and topical issues, you may also be asked about your strongest area of economics. On topical issues, the Board is interested in the economic theory and application (not the politics). You will want to demonstrate your ability to think about things from first principles. The presentation and interview will take an hour in total.

Additional Written Non-Economics Exercise. Candidates will also complete an additional written non-economics exercise at EAC  that will be marked separately at FSAC and will contribute towards the final FSAC mark.

Complaints procedure

Information about how to make a complaint should you feel your application to the Assistant Economist Fast Stream has not been treated in accordance the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles:

Banking EAC

If you were successful at the Economic Assessment Centre (EAC) in November 2010 but were then unsuccessful at FSAC, you may be thinking about re-applying. Do make sure you requested feedback from your FSAC so that you know what areas you need to work on. If you do re-apply for the 2012 scheme you will be able to ‘bank’ your EAC. This means that you will not need to re-sit EAC. You will however have to complete, and pass, all other stages of the recruitment process on merit, including completing the application form and being sifted in to the process. Just because you passed EAC last year does not mean you will be automatically pass the manual sift this year. Applications to the Government Economic service have increased by 50% and demand is likely to be lower than in previous years so do please take some time to complete the application form (checking against the GES sift criteria) to ensure your form fully reflects your skills and experience. Please note that you cannot ‘bank’ your EAC two years in a row.

6.  Fast Stream Assessment Centre (one day)

You will receive more details about the one day Fast Stream Assessment when invited to attend.

7.  Final Selection Board – for Diplomatic Service candidates only

You will receive more details about the Final Selection Board for Diplomatic Service candidates when invited to attend.

8. Deferrals

Candidates who pass the Economic Assessment Centre and the Fast Stream Assessment Centre may only defer appointment to complete a postgraduate degree in economics or to complete the Overseas Development Institute Fellowship.

Deferrals are granted for a maximum of 2 years. Candidates who do not take up appointment within this period will need to re-apply for the Economist Fast Stream Scheme. Candidates cannot defer appointment from the Diplomatic Service option or from the offer of a provisional appointment from EAC.

9. Temporary Appointments

If you are successful at the Economic Assessment Centre and you are available to start immediately, there may be the possibility of a provisional temporary appointment. Please note that temporary appointments can only be made permanent if you are successful at the Fast Stream Assessment Centre.