Company DetailsThe FCO is the UK government department responsible for protecting and promoting British interests around the world, through the FCO in London and our network of over 270 diplomatic posts in 168 countries and territories. Find out more about a career in the FCO by visiting our pages on the Civil Service Careers website. We employ a diverse range of talented people capable of delivering to a high standard, often under pressure and sometimes in difficult places. We want the modern FCO to reflect the very best of 21st century Britain and encourage applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of background or circumstances. Our Diversity and Equality Report 2016 includes data on the equality impact of the Foreign Office’s employment practices and activities. In return, we guarantee a fascinating, personally rewarding career at the centre of world events. We regularly score highly in surveys of ‘employers graduates would most like to work for’. The Civil Service has been in the top 10 of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers over the last decade and moved up to 2nd place in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2017 to 2018. Our staffThe FCO employs around 13,000 staff around the world. Roughly a third is made up of UK-based British Civil Servants whose careers typically include work in the UK and postings overseas; and around two thirds are employed locally by our British Diplomatic missions overseas (such as an Embassy, High Commission, or Consulate). Applicants for these roles should be based in that country and usually need to be able to work in the main local language. For information on our local staff vacancies, please visit the web page for the country you are interested in working in. We aim to recruit a diverse workforce - talented people, capable of delivering to a high standard, often under pressure and sometimes in challenging environments. We also offer maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid, and paternity leave of 2 weeks full pay. To learn more about our work, and what you could do, follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. To find jobs at the FCO, visit the Civil Service Jobs website. RecruitmentRecruitment into the FCO’s UK-based workforce is normally either as a generalist into the Diplomatic or Home Civil Service cadres where staff rotate between a variety of roles, including overseas, or as a specialist (taking up a specific role requiring specialist skills, such as research analysts, lawyers). All appointments to the FCO are made in strict accordance with the key recruitment principles of the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service-wide recruitment freeze introduced in May 2010 limits new appointments to frontline and business-critical jobs only. This has generally restricted FCO generalist recruitment permitted under the freeze to the Diplomatic Service Fast Stream. We also participate in a number of other Fast Stream schemes including:
In contributing to the Government’s goal of 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, the FCO is committed to developing our Apprenticeship Programme. In 2018 to 2019, we have recruited apprentices in Business Administration, Communications, Human Resources, Finance (Accountancy) and Commercial Procurement. We recruit apprentices via our own external recruitment and via the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Schemes, as well as the Government Communication Service Schemes. |
