Alumni Stories: Ben Stagg

  26th September 2018

This series of posts looks at what our former students do after they graduate in History at the University of Gloucestershire. It will demonstrate the various types of employment they can go into, providing some useful guides for existing students, but also highlight the fascinating journeys of our graduates. The next story comes from Ben Stagg (Class of 2016).

I graduated with my History degree from the University of Gloucestershire in 2016, and very quickly found my career gathering pace. I had applied for the UK Civil Service Fast Stream whilst still at university, which gave me a head start in getting through competency-based interviews, written exams and all the other myriad apparatus of job interviews. Upon confirming my successful completion of my degree, I was offered a job in short order, and posted to the Ministry of Defence, where I currently work in staff training.

My degree in History provided me with all the skills necessary to build a firm foundation for future growth, including critical thinking, analysis, communication both written and verbal, time management and the ability to construct a firm and well-reasoned argument. The Civil Service is a great and diverse place to work, and consistently rates highly in the UK in the inclusion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) employees. Finally, London has been a big step-up from sunny Cheltenham, but I would heartily recommend anyone doing History to consider the UK Civil Service as a path for the future – you can do basically any career you want inside the Civil Service!

The main image shows Ben (right) with his twin brother Luke (left, see his Alumni Story on the blog) on a History field trip to the National Civil War Centre in Newark.

If you are an Alumni in History and you would like to contribute, please contact Christian O’Connell coconnell@glos.ac.uk