Narrator>> The Houses of Parliament fast stream offers a unique opportunity at the heart of
UK democracy.
The Houses of Parliament fast stream differs from other fast stream programmes as you’ll
be working for Parliament, the legislature, as opposed to working for government as a
civil servant.
Your work will therefore centre on the scrutiny and shaping of policy and the process of passing
new legislation rather than the implementation of government policy.
As a fast streamer in the Houses of Parliament you’ll have the opportunity to work with
Peers in the House of Lords and MPs in the House of Commons to support them in their
parliamentary duties.
You could be assisting committees as they scrutinise government policy, advising on
procedure for the passage of legislation, or working to support the running of Parliament
in some other capacity.
Wherever your career takes you you’ll be part of a fascinating and dynamic institution
and be able to witness at first hand the cut and thrust of politics and the events that
shape our parliamentary history.
You’ll also gain an expert knowledge of parliamentary processes, the customs and practices
that govern proceedings and law making in both Houses.
And you’ll experience all this in the historic surroundings of the Houses of Parliament at
the very centre of Westminster.
So what does the fast stream look like in the House of Parliament?
Nicole Mason>> My name’s Nicole and I’m currently on the Lords’ fast stream.
The role that I’m in at the moment is I’m a Clerk to the sub-committee.
It’s an EU sub-committee which looks at the internal market, infrastructure and employment.
At the moment I’m working on an inquiry, that’s kind of the major project I’m doing
now, and it’s to do with youth unemployment in the EU.
So if you’re very lucky to be working on it, as a young person.
I’ve seen my friends and they are currently in the process of getting a job and accessing
the labour market so it’s been really interesting.
We’re currently at the final stages of the inquiry so I’m starting to draft the report
which will eventually be debated in the House of Lords, which is very exciting.
Lloyd Owen>> Hi, my name’s Lloyd Owen and I’m currently head of campaigns management
in Parliamentary Outreach.
I’m in my third year of the fast stream having joined in 2011.
I graduated from Sheffield University in 2007 having studied History and Archaeology.
I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself after that so I went away to do a law conversion
course.
After working for a year or two I decided that actually law wasn’t for me so I decided
to look around for a few other options and ended up applying for the fast stream process.
I wasn’t sure what I quite wanted to do at the end of that process but I decided to
plump for the House of Commons.
When I came here on an open day I decided that sounded like it was the perfect place
for me.
Wandering around the fantastic buildings that we’ve got, meeting the really interesting
people and hearing about the incredibly varied career that was on offer here.
It really seemed to me like it was the option perfectly suited to my skills.
Nicole Mason>> It’s very difficult to pinpoint sort of one exciting, surprising thing, because
I don’t think the fast stream is similar to any job I’ve ever done and you know we
work in this beautiful historic building which is completely different to anything that I
can imagine, apart from working for another parliament.
So in terms of what surprised me I’d say the amount of responsibility that I was given
from day one.
Lloyd Owen>> In terms of the interview itself, we tend to looking for skills such as quality
of written and oral communication.
You spend a lot of time here writing briefing papers for members of committees or writing
research papers for other colleagues and you often have to provide advice over the telephone
or in person to a range of MPs on a variety of different subjects.
So being able to communicate clearly and effectively is really important.
The other key thing is political impartiality.
It would be impossible to do your job here if you were an ardent supporter of one particular
party.
It’s really important to be interested and pay attention to what’s happening in the
political world but at the same time you need to stay back from the cut and thrust as it
were of day to day politics and provide your advice in an impartial and clear manner.
Nicole Mason>> I suppose one of the things I would say is that everyone is really friendly,
even the Members, which you might not necessarily think are friendly, are really friendly and
down to earth.
To say I again, there’s I suppose a perception that the House of Lords might be very old
fashioned and bureaucratic but I don’t feel that it is, it is very different to working
in the private sector but it’s…
I think bureaucratic would be the wrong way to describe it.
So for someone who’s quite dynamic and has lots of ideas coming in, I think it’s very
important to realise that if you have an idea of how things should be done, you can bring
that forward and you’re expected to make suggestions and to think about how things
should be done.