DfE Digital, Data and Technology podcast

This episode is all about recruitment into the senior Civil Service (SCS). In this episode we hear from former colleagues Emma Stace, Chief digital and technology officer, and Jack Collier, Head of digital for schools services. They share top tips for those starting in a SCS role. So if you’re considering applying, this is a great episode for you

Guest Nettie Williams shares her advice on how to get to the interview stage - and offers a unique perspective as a panel member.

In this short episode, we hear from Tom Adams who is our Head of user research about the last time he interviewed for a Civil Service role. Tom talks about how he prepares for job interviews, how he harnesses his nerves, and how recruitment is different in the public and private sector.

In this episode, our host, Adaobi Ifeachor, gets to know Vita Shapland-Howes, Recruitment and early talent team lead for DfE Digital and Technology. Vita gives us an overview of the recruitment process from start to finish. She also talks about what panel members look for in an interview, what makes a good job advert and name-blind recruitment. So plenty of tips for both candidates and employers.

’Think digital, act human’ is back for a second series. In series 2 we’ll be talking about all things recruitment in the Civil Service and in DfE Digital and Technology. To get a flavour of what we’ll be talking about, and who we’re talking to, listen to our trailer.

Here is our seventh episode of the ‘Think digital, act human’ podcast. It’s the last one in our pilot series. We asked the question can neurodiversity be a super power on a product delivery team? Content Designer Laura Croft and Lead User Researcher Simon Hurst, give us some fascinating insight about how the wiring in their brains helps them to flourish in their digital and technology roles.But it’s not always plain sailing – listen to them tell it like it is. They explain what ADHD, autism and dyslexia feel like in the workplace, and how their openness is making a big difference to others.   Transcription [music plays]    Adaobi Ifeachor Hello. Welcome to think digital act human, a podcast from the Department for Education, where we tell the everyday stories of digital specialists working on extraordinary projects. And today we have two guests joining us in the pod. We’re going to be talking to senior content designer Laura Croft and lead user researcher Simon Hurst. Hello, welcome to you both.   Simon Hurst Hi, how's it going?   Laura Croft Hi, nice to be here.   Adaobi Ifeachor I'm so excited about this topic because people for a long time now have, like employers, companies have been hearing about the importance of having different voices on their teams, like hiring in a diverse way. So having people of different genders, different races, different ages. If you need an example of what I’m talking about just Google racist soap dispensers and you will understand there's a whole struggle for black people, the struggle is real people. But today we're going to be talking about neurodiversity and how that can actually be a bit of a superpower. And the reason why I'm so kind of excited to talk about the subject is because, you know, cards on the table, I myself am neurodiverse. But we're going to go over to you, let's start with you first Simon. What is neurodiversity?   Simon Hurst So neurodiversity a concept that rather than seeing sort of things like autism or ADHD as a disability, it's more that just our brains are slightly different than what would be classed as, you know, everyone else's brain. So the term for that would be neurotypical. So I think it's just this concept that we're wired slightly differently. It does feel a bit odd to refer to yourself as disabled and I would be covered by the equality act, I would be recognised as disabled. But it's just a different way of viewing it, I think, than saying, Oh, you're disabled.     Adaobi Ifeachor So for people who are not neurodiverse and maybe they don't, really, it's kind of outside their experience. What are some of the conditions that would fall under that label? Because you mentioned, I think you mentioned autism. Laura, do you know some of the kind of conditions that if an employer like heard them, they’d go, Oh, OK, now I know what we're talking about.   Laura Croft Yeah. Simon mentioned autism and ADHD, but it's things like dyslexia. There can be other physical conditions that people can develop within their brains that can then mean that they become neurodiverse. I did a podcast with a colleague who had a particular sort of trigger in his brain that meant that he thought differently. It was a physical condition rather than one of these sort of terms that we see around ADHD and Asperger's, and those types of conditions that would perhaps be more common. With this was actually a sort of physical condition that meant that he fell under the neurodiverse category of sort of being disabled or needing some extra support.   Adaobi Ifeachor So you see, I'm neurodiverse. I didn't even know that that last category was even a thing. So this is why these kinds of conversations are so important. For me, I am dyslexic or I have dyslexia, and I've recently discovered and when I say recently, I mean, this year, people, I'm in my 30s. I discovered that I have autism too. So the reason this conversation is so important. Some people might kind of hear this off th

Here is our sixth, holiday bonus, episode of the ‘Think digital, act human’ podcast series.   In this podcast our host, Adaobi Ifeachor, speaks to Shafiqa Gunton, Programme delivery manager. This is a continuation of Shaf’s conversation from our previous Get help with technology episode. Shaf gives us an overview of what a programme delivery manager is, her career progression in government, and what made her set up an engineering academy for young people in Scarborough.

Here is our fifth episode of the 'Think digital, act human' podcast series, which shines a light on the stories of the people behind our digital and technology projects. In this episode our host, Adaobi Ifeachor, gets to know Rachel Hope. Rachel led the team that sourced, bought and distributed over 1.35 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children and young people during covid.   Our podcast host Adaobi also speaks to Shafiqa Gunton, Programme Delivery Manager, about her role and what’s next for the GHwT service.   Transcription    [music plays]   Adaobi Ifeachor  Hello, welcome to Think Digital Act Human, a podcast from the Department for Education where we tell the everyday stories of digital specialists working on extraordinary projects. And today's project, when I use that label extraordinary, you know, I'm not using that lightly. This is, this is a pretty juicy one today. We're going to be talking about the Get help with technology programme that helped ensure that remote learning during the COVID lockdowns was something that could continue as best as we we could under the circumstances. We're going to be talking all about it with today's guest, Rachel Hope, who is the deputy director of teacher services here at DfE. Hey Rachel, how are you doing?    Rachel Hope  I'm good. Thank you for having me along today.    Adaobi Ifeachor So dear listeners, cast your mind back to the before times when we were kind of entering our first COVID lockdown and parents were kind of panicking. Perhaps you had a career that you could work from home. Perhaps you had a child, maybe more than one child of different ages who both needed access to the family laptop, and that wasn't possible. What on earth are you going to do? It was Rachel's job to come up with a way to make that possible. Rachel, can you tell us a bit more about Get help with tech? Like what was it designed to do and what was the kind of brief that you were given?    Rachel Hope  Let me start at the beginning, so I think it's fair to say that in any time in recent history, many of us haven't been in this place where our own destiny wasn't really of our own choosing, and we didn't really expect any of these changes to come upon us at speed and that was definitely the case for us here in the Department for Education. So it was a week before schools were closing and there was a team that were working on looking at how the curriculum could be delivered remotely if the final decision was made to, in fact, send children home. And I went across to help the team look at that, and it was a really, really, really knotty, big challenge. And so what we did was we set up a number of teams who went out and really rapidly spoke to schools and spoke to headteachers and teachers in the classroom and parents and some children about what they saw would be the challenges if we had to teach people remotely. What they do already for children who may be often, for example, long term sickness, absence and things like that, and we started to quickly formulate a set of priorities that we'd need to address, including things like safeguarding and policies on how much the curriculum should apply if we were in this world. But for my part, I was looking very much at those who wouldn't be able to interact remotely online. So there's a huge swathes of the population who wouldn't have enough or any access via a computer or laptop or tablet or the internet.    Adaobi Ifeachor  Sorry to interrupt Rachel to hold on a second, just to be completely clear here. This wasn't called Get help with tech at that point, you were just told what happens if you know, sometime in the future, schools close. What are kind of immediate problems to look at? And so I'm hearing like a massive list that like safeguarding. We we kind of had in the news how, you know, people in domestic violence situations, for example, were kind of in their worst nightmare being kind of on lockdown with potentially their abusers. A

Here is the fourth episode of our 'Think digital, act human' podcast series. In this episode our host, Adaobi Ifeachor, gets to know Jack Collier, Head of Digital for School Services in Manchester. Jack Collier talks to Adaobi Ifeachor about designing office spaces now that we return to work, and how this impacts culture as well as diversity and inclusion.   TranscriptionAdaobi Ifeachor   Hello. Welcome to Think Digital Act Human, a podcast from the Department for Education. Where we tell the everyday stories of digital specialists working on extraordinary projects. I’m Adaobi Ifeachor. Now in our previous episodes, if you’ve listened to any of our previous episodes, we've had guests from the content design world. We've had service designers, we’ve had an associate product manager, so all these kinds of digital experts talking about how they do their work. But this episode we have something very special for you. We're going to talk about where that work gets done and why that's important to even consider. So with our guest today, I have my, well I usually have a cup of coffee, but today I have a cup of soup. So it's a very special pod. We've got our guest Jack Collier. Welcome, Jack.   Jack Collier  Hello. Thank you for having me here.   Adaobi Ifeachor  Do you want to tell us what it is that you actually do? What's your official title?   Jack Collier Yeah, sure. So I look after service design and digital delivery for our services that we deliver to schools and school business professionals. So those are the people behind the scenes that make a school run perfectly. And obviously we want our services that we deliver to those people to run as easily and as quickly as possible.   Adaobi Ifeachor So when I first started, you were my deputy director. Is that still your official title? Or have you moved to something else?   Jack Collier I'm still a deputy director. That's me. DD, JC (laughs)   Adaobi Ifeachor That sounds great. Except I'm getting DD Jesus Christ.   Jack Collier Oh God. (Laughs) definitely not that.   Adaobi Ifeachor Never mind, let’s move on. Right so what was really nice, what I I kind of liked about you, Jack, was that when I first started, it feels like every episode I'm say when I first started less than a year ago, but seriously, when I first started less than a year ago you were one of the first people to contact me and you said that you know you were deputy director and you set up a meeting to meet with me and I'm thinking, wow. The deputy director of the Department for Education wants to have a meeting with me and then I find out that there are actually quite a few deputy directors.   Jack Collier There are tons of us.     Adaobi Ifeachor What is it that you're all doing? How come there are so many deputy directors?   Jack Collier So it's a good question. There are a few of us. Basically, we look after different parts of our operations within the DfE that we deliver to users. So I'm looking after, as I said, the services that we deliver to school business professionals. I've got deputy directors that are looking after services that we deliver to teachers or services that we deliver to vulnerable families. So it's a huge set of things that we're delivering, which is why there's so many of us.   Adaobi Ifeachor OK, so something that you have been working on relatively recently is the future ways of working for digital and technology, which is like the part of the department that we work for, what does future ways of working mean exactly? What is its remit?   Jack Collier I mean, future ways of working is very much present ways of working now, to be honest with you. But really, what we mean by that phrase, future ways of working, is how the ways in which we're working are changing in this new context. So I think we in the workplace across every sector are kind of standing on a bit of a precipice, a doorway into a whole different future in terms of how offices function, how we use physical space,

Here is the third episode of our – 'Think digital, act human' – podcast series which shines a light on the stories of the people behind our digital and technology projects. Host, Adaobi Ifeachor, gets to know Jen Staves, Head of Content design. You’ll learn about content design, co-design and why communities of practice are important for delivery teams, and the part Jen plays in this space.    Transcription  [Music plays]   Adaobi Ifeachor Hello, welcome to Think Digital act Human, a podcast where we tell the everyday stories of digital specialists working on extraordinary projects.  So every day millions of pupils, teachers, frontline workers and educational  professionals are affected by the work we're doing in the background here at DfE, that's the Department for Education, specifically DfE Digital and technology. That's where we work. And our work is centred around these users. But who are the people making it all happen and what drives them to do it? What are the stories behind the user stories? Well, this series will shine a light on the human stories behind our digital projects and stories behind transformational work and the skills and attitudes our people bring to and take from their work. So I am so excited to introduce our guest today. I have my cup of coffee. I hope you do, too.  So our guest today is Jen Staves.   Adaobi Ifeachor Jen, welcome.   Jen Staves Hi.   Adaobi Ifeachor Do you want to introduce your job title, what it is that you do at DfE?   Jen Staves Absolutely. So I am head of content design in the Digital and Technology Directorate at DfE Department for Education. That's a head of professions role.  So that's kind of a strange thing. People might not have heard about it as such, but it means I look after the content design profession across all of DfE and EFA, which is the educational skills and funding agency, which is an arm's length body of DfE and we work really closely. It means I need to look across all of the different teams and portfolios to make sure that content design is being its best.   Adaobi Ifeachor Now, some of our listeners who have followed our blog will have like a general understanding of what content design is for people who are complete newbies. What is content design?   Jen Staves Content design is so much Adaobi. So I think some times people think content design is just words. And I suppose that's the first thing I have to say is it is not just words. It is so much more than words.   It is about structure. It's about information architecture. It's about designing how your content is there so that it best meets user needs. And so it's first and foremost, you know, it's part of user centred design, along with interaction design, along with user research, along with service design. And so it's there to make sure that the user has the easiest, best path to achieving whatever they want to achieve.   Adaobi Ifeachor OK, good description. So, as head of content design, I've been looking into your kind of background a little bit, seeing what sort of stuff you've been up to Jen.   And what I've noticed is a bit of a pattern here. Almost everybody that I speak to is relatively new to DfE. What is going on with this recruitment wave? Is it true to say that you would consider yourself relatively new as well? I mean I mean, I certainly do. I came in November 2020 and I think that was about the same sort of time as you.   Jen Staves It is. It is. We are both November 20, 20ers. I've been here less than a year. In some ways it feels like I've always been here, but it takes a little bit of time to feel like that. So, yeah, I'm relatively new. It's not my first civil service job, though. Before this, I was at the Department of International Trade, but then before that I was outside the civil service.  Adaobi Ifeachor And I think I'm right in saying that it's not a British accent. I'm hearing where's that coming from.   Jen Staves Well, if you asked an American, they'd probably thin

The second episode of our 'Think digital, act human' podcast which shines a light on the stories of the people behind our digital and technology projects. Hosted by Product Manager, Adaobi Ifeachor, in this episode we’re celebrating the work of 3 Black digital and technology experts in DfE. Keisha Herbert, Virginia Brown and Courtney Allen explain the critical part they play in designing, building and running services.     Transcription  [Music plays]   Adaobi Ifeachor Hello, welcome to Think Digital Act Human, a podcast where we tell the everyday stories of digital specialists working on extraordinary projects.  I’m Adaobi Ifeachor, a product manager here at the Department for Education. OK, so today is a particularly special episode because we have not one, not two, but three digital and tech experts from DfE. So in a second, I'm going to introduce you to them. But for now, just grab yourself a cup of coffee. We'll wait for you. We're excited, but we will wait. And now I'm going to introduce you. So we've got Keisha Herbert, a senior user researcher from Teachers Services. Courtney Allen, an associate product manager from Get Help Buying for Schools, and Virginia Brown, a content design lead from the apprenticeship service. Adaobi Ifeachor Welcome, everybody.    Virginia Brown Hello    Courtney Allen Hello     Keisha Herbert Hi    Adaobi Ifeachor So this is a special episode for another reason, if you’re someone just listening to our dulcet tones, you probably wouldn't have noticed anything. But I'm going to tell you, we're all black, digital and tech specialists. I wanted to put something positive out into the universe, I guess. I think, this is really to all my guests as well, like the last 18 months, say, has been pretty kind of miserable for everybody on the planet.   We've had a pandemic. We've had lockdowns. We've had missed occasions with family and friends and things like that. But recently, if you are a member of the black diaspora, we've had some extra things happening as well. So everybody knows about George Floyd's murder. And recently with the Euros, we've had abuse happening towards players who really did nothing wrong at all except play whilst black, I guess. So I just thought, you know what? You had all that kind of negativity. Let's have a space where it's just positivity. We're hearing about the great things that black people are doing in their careers, how they moved into this world of digital and tech. I want to know your stories. I'm going to kind of come to you one by one and just find out a little bit about what you actually do. So if I come to you, Keisha first, so senior user researcher Teacher Services. There are people who will be listening who have no idea what a senior researcher is. When your mum asks you, what do you say?   Keisha Herbert She does still ask me quite a lot. So I still have to keep telling her what I do. Senior user researcher is basically understanding the user needs. So if you're designing a service, developing a service, you have to understand what the user needs to ensure that that service is built for them and built to really meet those needs. So that's what I do. I go out and speak to people within Teacher Services I'm speaking to potential teachers because I work on the Get into Teaching website. So that's all about inspiring, informing and reassuring people that want to get into teaching. So I go out and speak to them and understand what can we do better? How can we improve the website to ensure that they have all the information they need and they understand what to expect when they're going along their journey to becoming a teacher. That's ultimately what I do.   Adaobi Ifeachor Awesome, thanks Keisha. Let’s come to you next Courtney. And this is a bit awkward. Like when I was first looking for who I might invite to be on this panel of guests, I was like, Courtney Allen, Courtney Allen, that name seems so familiar. And then, of course, I remembered I was one

In this episode product manager, Adaobi Ifeachor, meets our chief digital technology officer Emma Stace to reflect on quite a year, discuss topical issues and look forward to what’s next for DfE Digital and Technology