Welcome to Early Careers at the Government Finance Function From Tara Smith - Transcript

I'm Tara Smith, and I'm the Joint-Head of the Government Finance Function. I've been in the Civil Service for 20 years. I left school at the age of 17.

Starting as an apprentice was just the best start to my career. I got so much experience in such a short space of time, where I was really supported both through my exams, but also that on-the-job work experience as well.

The Government Finance Function is a community of finance professionals, all over the country, working across all the government departments, arms-length bodies.

We are the people who are the stewards of all of that taxpayers' money, and helping make sure that that is spent in the most value-for-money way to make a difference to everybody in the country.

We have training, we have networks, we have availability to technology, and we're really thinking about how do we get ourselves fit for the future as well, because things are changing really quickly around. So it's just a brilliant community of really dedicated finance professionals, and it's great fun.

To join as a new entrant, you get the ability to genuinely see and be at the heart of how government works. You don't get that anywhere else. It genuinely is a place where you can thrive. It's a place where you can have a fantastic career. And the reason I say that is because I know how much support we have available to people through mentoring, through coaching, through training, and I'm really proud of just how many opportunities we have for people. Genuinely, the sky's the limit for people who are joining us. And the variation, I think, is there. You can never get bored,

because there's always different opportunities to think about where do you go next.

A different department, a different role, a different job family.

I would say the Government Finance Function is a great place to start your career because I don't think there's anywhere else where you could really have an impact so quickly and really get that sense of purpose.