My first week in Delivery Support

Last week was my first week as Delivery Support Officer in the Digital Practice team.

As we are all aware, the first day in any new job generates an extremely surreal feeling. A swirling cauldron of thoughts, ranging from pure excitement to total anxiety. If I spent 10 seconds pondering the question, “did I make the right move?”, then it was 10 seconds too long! I have never experienced such a welcome to a new area, across ONS, like what I received from colleagues in the Digital Services and Technology directorate (DST). I was swiftly met with a true enthusiastic buzz for the projects being delivered and received countless well-wishes and welcomes. I instantly felt relaxed and was filled with excitement for what the future holds for me, in DST.

After a quick “welcome to the team” with my manager, it was down to some work! My resource was quickly plunged into the recruitment drive for fixed-term appointments, working on the 2021 Census. We are advertising a wide range of exciting and challenging roles. I was tasked with co-ordinating the new ‘success profile’ and ‘WCN application tracking system’ training for the entire interview panel. A nice task to begin my week, as it involved working with lots of our internal stakeholders, allowing me the opportunity to engage with colleagues across the wider directorate as well as those within recruitment.

I came to this role with a fully open mind and promised myself that I’d ‘jump in the deep end’ with anything thrown my way. This really has been the case within delivery support, where I’ve taken on activities ranging from writing a blog post on flexible working, to agreeing to man a stall at a student fayre in March 2019, showcasing the new job opportunities that are available, relating to the 2021 Census. Such a diverse range of tasks, but equally enjoyable!

I feel the future is going to be bright, working in DST! There is conscious drive on career progression and skills development, which has really incentivised me to grow my skills in this new role, deliver on all projects and push personal boundaries that I am yet to reach out to. DST is a great area, filled with great people. If you are thinking of applying for a post, don’t think twice!