Entering the Policy Profession from underrepresented and marginalised backgrounds
/I am a policy advisor at HM Treasury, on the Graduate Development Programme. I am also severely disabled, low-income and state-schooled, and grew up as a young carer. From an early age, I was interested in politics. My first political memory is when my somewhat eccentric town elected a monkey as our mayor- H’Angus, the Hartlepool FC mascot.
Deciding to go into policy
As a child, I loved the idea of going into government, but being from an underrepresented background, I did not think it was realistic for me. My life was shaped by policies that I grew to have opinions on. I was a young carer from age 7, became severely disabled at 15, and fled to a domestic violence shelter at 16. My life had been hard, and entering sixth form, I decided that I wanted to make change. I applied to Durham University’s Supported Progression programme and was eventually awarded a scholarship to attend.
After completing my second year studying History at Durham University, I decided that I wanted to go into government. The pandemic disrupted my plans, but it meant that I completed a virtual internship on policy, provided by the New South Wales Government. After finishing it, I knew I wanted to be a policy adviser.
Using LinkedIn to go into policy
After going through the Enabling Opportunities programme at Durham, who awarded me a bursary, I created a LinkedIn account, and connected with anyone involved with policy. People were incredibly generous with their time and allowed me an insight into government careers. For these meetings, I prepared lots of questions and reviewed profiles to tailor them. It was helpful that meetings were completely virtual due to Covid, as there were no travel issues!
How I entered policy
I completed a wide range of extra-curriculars at Durham. In my final year, I also headed up a personal development programme, named SHAPED, where I organised blogs and events, including ones where civil servants spoke.
After meeting people through LinkedIn, I was invited to write a blog for the Higher Education Policy Institute, entitled “HE & ME: Higher Education and Chronic Fatigue”, which detailed my and my sister’s journeys to higher education, and discussion on admissions and disability policy. A few months later, I was named a Scottish Government Future Leader, and attended the Diversity Conference, receiving mentoring from policy advisors, and hearing from speakers, like Nicola Sturgeon.
I was also nominated for two awards at the Student Social Mobility Awards and was named one of the upReach Ten: awarded to the top 10 students who have achieved, or have the highest potential to achieve, outstanding success academically, professionally and/or personally in the academic year 2020-21. The ceremony was held at the House of Lords, which was an amazing experience. I was lucky enough to hear from Baroness Wilcox, and meet all the other nominees, which all were talented and had achieved so much.
Policy application processes
Applying for jobs is admittedly a bit of a lottery, and I applied to around 30 graduate schemes or internships. I over-prepared and over-thought so I would urge any applicants to not overthink parts of the application process or compare themselves to others: most people are going to have a unique experience. I know many on the HM Treasury graduate programme who failed the Fast Stream but sailed through HMT. I failed at the first hurdle of the NGDP local council, got to the assessment centre of the Fast Stream and then withdrew, but found HMT’s application process really enjoyable.
On the Graduate Development Programme at the Treasury, I am working in the Enterprise and Growth Unit, and attend training twice a week on policy and economics, with professors from the universities of Warwick, Westminster, and Exeter. I am currently working with some of my cohort on a policy presentation (due next week, wish us luck), on net zero and levelling up policies.
For anyone aiming to join the UK policy profession, I would urge you to look at organisations like upReach, Creative Access, and the Patchwork Foundation to see if you are eligible for their support.
Outside of the Civil Service Fast Stream, policy graduate programmes to look out for are:
HM Treasury’s Graduate Development Programme 😉
upReach’s Future Charity Leaders Programme
Scottish Government Graduate Development Programme
DHSC Health Policy Fast Track Scheme
NHS Graduate Management Training Programme (policy stream)
OFCOM’s Policy, Enforcement & Research Officer programme
National Graduate Development Programme (local councils)
Being severely disabled, whilst also from a low-income and state-schooled background, Lorna aims to make the policy profession more accessible and is involved with several organisations promoting inclusivity. After being named a Scottish Government Future Leader, Lorna led a personal development programme at Durham University, where she graduated from in 2021. She was later invited to the House of Lords and was named one of the upReach Ten.