Angus Stewart, a recent entrant into the FCO through the Fast Stream describes what it is like working in the office. At the time of writing he is working in our international security directorate:

Foreign Policy magazine contains a great section titled "Think Again". Its goal is to challenge conventional wisdom on foreign affairs. I want to challenge some of the conventional wisdom on the Foreign Office. I'll also try to give you a flavour of what working here is really like. So here goes, "Think Again: Foreign & Commonwealth Office".

Like any good performance, I'll start with a big act to capture the audience's attention... I didn't study at Oxbridge, not even at a Russell Group university. That's right, the online graduate message boards have lied to you! My first degree was in business, from Staffordshire University. After that I worked in media relations, which was a lot of fun! But there is only so much flogging of your client's wares to likes of Marie Claire that a boy can handle. So I went back to university, this time to Lancaster, to do a masters in international relations. I should point out, primarily to keep our recruitment people happy, that you don't need to do an international relations degree to join the office, and not many new entrants have.

So, what about the job itself? Well, it's actually quite difficult to explain what a diplomat does - mainly because it's so varied. As I write this I'm working on sanctions in our international security directorate. This means that I'm responsible for UK sanctions policy on about a dozen countries. So on any given day I could be advising on Iraq, Sudan, North Korea... working from London, New York, Paris, Brussels... with the Home Office, Treasury, French Embassy... producing policy, press lines, negotiation strategies... relating to conflict, nuclear weapons, international terrorism…

Sound exciting? It is! Regardless of what you think of the legitimacy of sanctions, the work is undeniably interesting. It's important, too. Get it right and sanctions can in my view make a valuable contribution to conflict resolution. Get it wrong and sanctions can be harmful.  

So the policy is serious, but are the people? Well, yes, if by serious you mean dedicated, no, if by serious you mean boring. Friends from my former life like to argue that their work environment is much more dynamic, much more fun. I disagree. We might not have florescent beanbags for seats or Hello magazine on general circulation, but we have a social scene to rival any other, our directors have their door open and they'll know your name, you'll get more training and development than you can imagine, and you can work flexibly and from home. If you do well you'll get pay increases, bonuses and promotion, and every now and again you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you had something to do with the headlines on Sky News... or if you're working on American policy, Fox News. If that's not worth an application, I don't know what is...

Update:

Since writing this, I have been appointed deputy head of counter narcotics strategy in the Afghan drugs unit - a cross government unit dealing with the regional insecurity caused by the Afghan heroin trade. If you want to know more, click here http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/fco-in-action/uk-in-afghanistan/

For more information on the application process for the civil service fast stream, please visit www.faststream.gov.uk. Remember if you want to apply for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, please put the Diplomatic Service as your first choice on the application form.