08 Oct Secrets of the Sectors: Public Services

As an extremely large sector, public services employs around 5.36 million people. 18.2% of all people in work in the UK work within this sector. Despite so many people working within this field, a lot of people are unsure of what public services actually means.

Public Services refers to all of the services in the UK that deliver a service to the general public; such as healthcare, law, social care, and education. The main employers in this sector are the Civil Service and the local government.

Work within the Civil Service can be found by looking into: Diplomatic Service, HM Treasury, Government Legal Service (GLS), Security Services such as the MI5, and more.

On the other hand, local government work can be found within: Trading Standards, social services, environmental health, media, community work, and more.

Points to consider

• Many jobs available throughout the UK
• Low job security
• Starting salary of £15,000 – £25,000
• Stressful roles
• Strict entry requirements
• Opportunities for continued development
• Travelling with your job
• Opportunities for flexitime, part-time, and job-share roles
• Childcare options
• Training schemes allow staff to reach their potential
• Guaranteed pension plan – roughly 14% higher than private sector pension plans

Where should I study?

Where you study very much depends on the specific aspect of public services that you want to get involved with.

• The University of Edinburgh (social work)
• The University of Glasgow (education)
• University College London (law)

Within this sector, there are many roles you can apply for without being a graduate. For example, to work in the police force or as a fire fighter, a relevant degree is not always necessary. For jobs such as these, it is often simply required that you complete various entry requirements, instead of hold a degree.

Some colleges offer public services courses, if you want to learn about various roles within the sector. For example, Kiwi Recruitment’s local college, Chichester College, offers many public service courses.

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