How to Be a Civil Servant

by Martin Stanley

A complete guide to the functions and duties of the civil service. It provides comprehensive advice on: working with ministers; professional skills; the policy process; the professional environment; and recruitment and promotion.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

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Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a bit of a niche one

[Cyrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflecting back on the book, I thought it gave a good big picture view of how the civil service works, but the chapter on the European Union felt like reading a textbook.

It's a good book for new starters.

[Alex Rendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful and entertaining overview of what being a civil servant is all about.

[Samuel Hare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some useful tips, but mostly picked up after a couple of years in the civil service and some very outdated references (think the civil service pre-emails!)

[Chloé · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

So I read this as I was interested in seeing what civil servants do and how they do it and I am considering pursuing a career in the civil service in the future. I found this to be very informative and interesting. It was great to learn about the structure of departments and the ethics of civil servants.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and I learned a lot from it, I recommend this if you are interested in politics. I hope to read more political books in the future.

[Aparna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to the UK Civil Service. This is relatively quick to read, and provides a useful introduction to working with ministers, policy making, project planning and civil service culture. I’d recommend it to any new-starter in the Civil Service.