Burst the Bubble was set up to highlight and develop cross-departmental job shadowing opportunities in the South West and Wales.
Are you curious about other Civil Service departments and eager to find out what your colleagues do there? Are you interested in changing job and want to get inside information before you apply?
We give you the opportunity to visit a colleague in a department of your choice to find out more. Shadowing someone from a different civil service department or of a different grade increases your overall knowledge of the bigger picture. Make the most of your 5 annual Learning and Development days.
Benefits to the shadower:
- Create working partnerships through improved communication between colleagues and departments.
- Benefit from cross collaboration and share best practices
- Develop yourself and your wider knowledge of the Civil Service
Benefits to the host:
- Improved communication between colleagues and departments
- Sharing of best practice and experiences amongst colleagues
- An opportunity to see the work of other government departments
- A chance to ‘see the bigger picture’ of the Civil Service’s roles
- A chance to see how others work and to learn from colleagues
Read our case study:
Job shadowing – host experience
I work for Crown Commercial Service running procurements for many different Government departments. I hosted two colleagues from DWP and Natural England who signed up for a Burst The Bubble experience. They visited to shadow me to learn about my job and the department.
Although my job did not directly relate to my colleagues day-to-day roles, it was opportunity for them to see our processes and what my job entails. We shared ideas on such areas as Employee Services and procurement processes, which meant that they could take these ideas back to their own places of work and discuss with their own teams how to make improvements within their teams and departments.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience as it allowed me to analyse what I do on a day-to-day basis and how my role impacts other Government departments. This was a real positive as it made me more aware that the savings made through the procurements for the Government departments means additional spending power for the public.
I would definitely recommend the experience to others. It is a useful and fun way to use our 5 Learning and Development days and to meet colleagues outside of your own areas and learn what other departments do.
Next steps
If you are interested in signing up as a job-shadowing host please email Edel for more information.
To arrange your job shadowing experience please check out this list of colleagues willing to be shadowed. Then email Edel for a short application form to complete.
You will need to seek authorisation from your line manager before expressing an interest in job shadowing. Your home department must meet any travel and subsistence costs.
Civil Service Local is committed to ensuring that wherever possible our events are accessible to all participants. If you have any specific requirements that will enable you to fully participate, please let us know and we will endeavour to make any reasonable adjustments.
Once you have shadowed or been shadowed and have found the experience insightful, spread the word among your colleagues! We welcome more feedback.