The Scottish Government Employee Reviews
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Informational experience
Content Assistant (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 14 November 2023
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The most useful review selected by IndeedThis was a great learning experience. I learned a lot about how large organisations manage their content, how they make it accessible, accessibility law and web best practices.
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Good Benefits, but slow/limited progression
As a permanent member of staff, the Flexi time is great and the pay is good (now), but pay was somewhat stagnant for a number of years and I probably earn far less than someone doing the equivalent job in the private sector. The holiday allowance is pretty generous with plenty public and privilege holidays. Pension contributions are very generous. If you're lower down the pay scale, don't expect any sort of rapid progression. Progression is dependent upon being able to "tick boxes", skill and talent seems to often be a secondary concern. If you're happy to stick with what you are doing, job security is pretty solid. Work can be a bit dull at times, doing the same tasks over and over with limited opportunity to truly learn something new unless you move to a different post. After working here for nearly 5 years, I think it's time for something new.
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Jobs at The Scottish Government
Supportive colleagues
Communications Manager (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 5 October 2023
SG is a great place to work if you're a generalist and looking for opportunities to try out different job roles and functions. As a specialist though, things are very different. Formal career progression is so very dependant on how well or effective your team or line manager(s) seem to be. People are in posts not because of skills or talent but because they 'tick the box'. Poor place to work for people with specialist skills who want to progress. Great place to work if you want to try out any number of different job roles that just take your fancy.
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Good team and nice culture
Statistician (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 23 August 2023
Great team to work with and plenty of room for different opportunities if you wish to explore another area. Some of their technical systems could do with updating.
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Flexi time and good pay, structure not the best
Civil Servant (Current Employee) - Galashiels - 8 August 2023
Flexi time and pay are very good. You also get a good amount of holidays throughout the year including public and privilege holidays. This means you can get a good work/life balance. However, I don't enjoy my job anymore. I feel as if I have been there too long and it's not what I want to carry on doing. If you want a office based/hybrid working role and you don't mind sitting for long periods of time then this is for you. You are given a laptop and headset etc which is also great for working with. It really could be a good place if that is the type of job you want. I am looking to leave but the pay and holidays have kept me here he last 6 years, not many places in the borders that offer this.
Pros
Good home working equipment, pay and holidays
Cons
Never ending, sitting for long periods
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Insights into The Scottish Government
What people like
- Supportive environment
- Time and location flexibility
- Fair pay for job
Areas for improvement
- Energising work tasks
- Sense of belonging
- General feeling of work happiness
Flexible hours, and friendly coworkers
Intern (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 8 August 2023
I was an intern in the Office of the Chief Researcher, everyone is very friendly and laid back. Working hours were very flexible, I could choose to work from home or in the office In St Andrew’s House, the layout looks the same on every floor, so until you’ve gotten used to the layout until it gets tricky to find your way around
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Good team, but too bureaucratic
Policy Officer (Former Employee) - Edinburgh City, City of Edinburgh - 21 June 2023
Everything here takes forever to do. The bureaucracy wears you down if you let it, and it can be hard to stay motivated when it takes two weeks to do what would take two days in most companies. Good progression options and most staff are genuinely nice though
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Worst place ever to work
Manager (Former Employee) - Scotland - 25 April 2023
Horrible and don’t care about staff. U alwyas have to just be okay and y don’t get a break to urseld it is work after work and on days off u will be called in
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Good Steady Job
Team Manager (Former Employee) - Kilwinning, North Ayrshire - 8 April 2023
Good steady employment. However, management were not supportive in the least. If your face fits, great, otherwise forget it. Money was reasonable and workload manageable.
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Flexible working hours, good rates of pay, secure working environment & terms/conditions
Administration Assistant (Current Employee) - Glasgow - 15 February 2023
Busy working day/week, flexi-time, up to date IT systems. Colleagues are mostly friendly, accommodating, helpful. Good training and possible career advancement (although not so much since Covid). Good long-term job terms and conditions, pension etc.
Pros
Flexible working hours, can build up flexi and get a day off without touching annual leave allowance
Cons
Work can be monotonous, boring at times even. Teams can be small so no-one to cover when you're off
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Interesting work
Caseworker (Current Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 3 February 2023
Good employer, interesting work with opportunity to supervise and progress. Pay is fair, pension is excellent. Very flexible working policy, excellent line managers .
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Has it's perks....a bit disorganised at times.
Finance Manager (Current Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 26 January 2023
Peaks and troughs of work pressure per most politically driven institutions. Needs urgently to modernise systems (ERP). There are opportunities here for generalists...
Pros
Very understanding towards work life balance if you are prepared to offer the same back.
Cons
Management not always clear and feels reactive at times.
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Wonderful place to work
Assistant Private Secretary (Former Employee) - Edinburgh City, City of Edinburgh - 12 January 2023
Great people to work with, fast paced and flexi time is good. Training is great and chance to progress. There is a lot of red tape however, so processes can be slow
Pros
Flexi time
Cons
Red tape
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Easy to work with colleagues
Security Officer (Former Employee) - Edinburgh - 13 December 2022
I liked working there, colleagues were friendly and knew what they were doing. Easy enough job to do but boredom might set in unless you are ok with waiting about for things to do.
Pros
decent shifts
Cons
pay not great but ok
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Supportive and motivational
Business Support Administrator (Current Employee) - Glasgow, Glasgow - 29 September 2022
The working environment at SG is very supportive and motivational. Management are open to new ideas and are very good at sharing feedback on your work. There is scope for development throughout the organisation.
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Good security but difficult progression depending on role
Higher agricultural officer (Current Employee) - Edinburgh - 23 July 2022
Good place to work overall. Can be slow paced and progression can be difficult due to the nature of the promotion process. Must submit essential criteria which can be quite rigid in what they’re asking.
Pros
Security, some learning courses available
Cons
Reluctant to put your through professional training
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Ok
Administrator (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 11 March 2022
Ok company should pay more for the current cost of living. Public sector pay freeze needs to end. The cost of living prices of living isn’t being taken into account
Pros
Giverment
Cons
Long hours
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Fun place to work
Finance Assistant (Former Employee) - Annan, Dumfries and Galloway - 11 February 2022
Fun place to work. Feel really valued as an employee. Great opportunities for progression. Hybrid working arrangements. Long lunch break. Friendly and approachable senior management.
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Decent place to work with plenty of scope for moving sideways/upwards
Operational Manager (Current Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 12 January 2022
Generally a pleasant place to work with a lot of flexibility and freedom to choose what you do. As expected this is sometimes hampered by bureaucracy leading to slow decision making.
Pros
Flexible working hours Good career progression
Cons
Slow to react Manager ability can vary drastically
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Productive and fun place to work in
Drafting of responses to official and ministerial correspondence (Current Employee) - Remote - 21 May 2021
Productive and fun workplace where help and advice is always available. You feel, after the initial acquiring of how their system operates, that you are valued as an individual.
Pros
Friendly and helpful colleagues
Cons
None
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Bullying in management
Senior Officer (Former Employee) - Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh - 3 November 2020
Work subject interesting at times but work output dumbed down. Lack of free speech. Some competent staff and other career public servants; some good but some much less so and just protecting their positions and keeping seats warm. Managers protect long standing staff, some of whom do very little. If you are good at your job and perceived to be a threat you may experience bullying/being pigeon holed. Certainly some managers are very controlling in pointless matters to demonstrate their seniority. SG want to appear forward thinking but unfortunately quite the opposite. Could do with a complete overhaul. Many staff would have difficulty being employed elsewhere. Poor management/people skills from low level staff to ministers. Toxic environment. Could be a good place to work but management are blinkered. One day we hope there will be a shake up of staff.
Pros
Nice building, some aspects of flexi working subject to line management
Cons
Toxic, Micromanagement, career civil servants who do very little, lack of free speech
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Ask a question about working or interviewing at The Scottish Government. Our community is ready to answer.Ask a QuestionOverall rating
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Ratings by category
4.2 out of 5 stars for Work/Life Balance
3.8 out of 5 stars for Salary/Benefits
3.5 out of 5 stars for Job security/advancement
3.4 out of 5 stars for Management
3.7 out of 5 stars for Culture
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Questions about The Scottish Government
- What is the work-from-home policy at The Scottish Government?3 people answered
- How often do you get a pay rise at The Scottish Government?3 people answered
- What is a typical day like for you at the company?2 people answered
- What is the best part of working at the company?2 people answered
- What is the promotion process like at The Scottish Government?2 people answered
- Does The Scottish Government allow for flexible working hours? Or are the hours set?2 people answered
- How should you prepare for an interview at The Scottish Government?2 people answered
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- How long do you have to work at The Scottish Government before you can go on maternity leave?One person answered
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