George Guven
"...you had lecturers doing their research and then bringing that into the classroom and so it felt very cutting edge, very new and you really felt like you hadn’t just been given a bunch of dusty old text books, it was actually something tangible and current and real, so it made it a very engaging academic experience."
Why Surrey and your course?
It was really the placement and training year that Surrey does, that I thought “actually, this looks like a great place to go”. I liked the idea of getting some experience in the industry, as well as just the general feel of the Uni, I really liked the sense of the department, the sorts of things that they covered and I also liked that they did just a straight politics course that allowed you to do different things: so some British politics, some international relations, some public policy. Because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, it was a good way to step into it and then figure it out.
Strongest memory
"The community-feel of the department, certainly when I was here in 2013, it was quite a small but perfectly formed department. There was a really strong sense of community, with all the students, the staff, the lecturers who just made it a really pleasant place to be. So you felt like you had lots of friends and you were all in it together and that was really lovely."
What was the best thing about the course?
The research-led teaching, you had lecturers doing their research and then bringing that into the classroom and so it felt very cutting edge, very new and you really felt like you hadn’t just been given a bunch of dusty old text books, it was actually something tangible and current and real, so it made it a very engaging academic experience.
What do you do now?
I currently work for the Treasury, as Private Secretary to the Director General of Financial Services. I previously worked in a Bill Team where our job was basically to take legislation through parliament behalf of the department. I do everything from briefing the minister on the debates, printing out 1,000s of page debate packs to sitting behind them in the debates, giving them the answers to all the questions they might need. And then doing logistics making sure the policy teams hit their deadline and getting the policy out in a way that works and also advising minister on how not to get defeated, how do you avoid government defeats.
What’s the most enjoyable aspect to your job?
I think it is probably the fact that it is so varied, and you get to do lots of different things. It is very fast-paced and you feel like you are working on something very exciting, people are talking about it so it’s very exhilarating sometimes. And you get lots of exposure to ministers, so it’s just a really fascinating way to look at how policy is made, and how the game of politics gets played. (So it’s not just seen how the sausage is made, it's making the sausage!) No day is the same, and that makes it really, really interesting.
How did your course help you in your role?
"...if it wasn’t for the placement – and also my lecturer at the time saying this is what you should apply for – I wouldn’t be here."
I did my placement year in the Houses of Parliament, working in the outreach and engagement service, doing tours for university students. So I had absolutely no idea that that was the thing I was interested in, but once I had that year’s experience in parliament, I thought this is the place, this is the thing I want to do. So every job I have had since then has been related to parliament. So I think if it wasn’t for the placement – and also my lecturer at the time saying this is what you should apply for – I wouldn’t be here.
