Government Social Research
A report by Sarah Miller, a new recruit, on how the day went
Around twenty new recruits to social research in the Scottish Executive attended the Friday afternoon seminar, which as you may have guessed from its title, is based on the popular game show from the 1990s! The event provided us with an opportunity to reflect on our induction into the Executive, share experiences and ask any unanswered questions in a relaxed environment.
Before the event began, we were treated to a nice lunch in the hotel attended by the Chief Researcher, Diana Wilkinson, and the Head of Analytical Services Group, Ian Sanderson, which allowed us to meet Ian and Diana on an informal basis. The lunch was also a good opportunity to talk informally to fellow new recruits. I learned that the length of time people have been in their new posts ranges from a couple of months to around nine months so it was interesting to see the variety of experiences, and gain insight from those who have been here longer than me. At lunch, we also got the opportunity to meet, if we hadn't already, the organisers of Going for Gold, who were Luke Cavanagh (Education Analytical Services), Keira Oliver (Office of the Chief Researcher) and Julia Murphy (Justice Analytical Services), who have all worked as B band researchers in the Executive for 1-3 years. As the day progressed, our organisers proved to be just as, and if not more, entertaining than the original host, Henry Kelly!
The first half of the seminar began with a 'Who Am I?' question and answer session which helped us understand the grade system and management structure within the Scottish Executive. Personally, this part was really useful in thinking about career opportunities, and how to 'go for gold'. We then moved on to the 'quiz' element whereby in groups, we attempted to answers questions on 'Where do we fit?'. This gave us an opportunity to think about our role as a government social researcher, an analyst, a Scottish Executive civil servant, a UK civil servant, and the way in which we can possess multiple identities, rather than choosing between them. To demonstrate, the organisers used a hat, scarf and glove analogy that went down well! We also had a quiz on the policy cycle which was useful to familiarise ourselves with this process and the influence that we as researchers have on this.
After we had been provided with tasty refreshments and shortbread, we reconvened into different groups for the second half of the seminar, to which I took my prize (chocolate) for being part of the winning team in the quiz.
This began with an overview of the professional development programme which highlighted the importance of taking part in the programme and gave us an opportunity to show our interest in joining Social Research Working Groups. Julia, as a Training Liaison Officer (TLO), explained the role of TLOs and outlined the importance of professional training and development and how we could find out more. Although we are informed of this information as part of our induction, it was helpful to reiterate the information as the induction period involves taking in a lot of information.
To end the day, we had some guest speakers. Firstly, Linda Hunter, a Policy Trainer, came along to do a policy making exercise with us. By drawing diagrams of links between policy and evidence, policy makers and researchers, the exercise really got us to think in our groups about policy needs. Secondly, Jenny Foreman from Library Information Services came along to explain what services are on offer from the library and how we can access them. Again, it was really helpful to be reminded of this information. It was also nice to be encouraged to use the library staff for any literature searches, and I would certainly be likely to utilise this resource in the future.
So to summarise, the afternoon provided a really useful overview of the original induction and gave us an opportunity to learn even more. The organisers made the day very friendly and light-hearted, and as a result, I felt that everyone was very comfortable about asking previously unanswered questions. The day highlighted the benefit of informally meeting other researchers and the importance of cross-research relations.