>Your Colleague - Julie

Julie - Graduate Management Trainee

"GCHQ fulfils the things you're genuinely interested in".

"The Graduate Management Trainee scheme works like this: you spend the first two years on 6-monthly placements - working at the coal face, learning how things get done. Then, once you've got a good overview, you start to get real management responsibility. The total programme's about 5 years long.

My first placement was in intelligence production - the workhorse of the agency - analysing intelligence. I was amazed how much contact I had with senior people both within GCHQ and Whitehall. Here I was, a graduate, straight out of university - and I got the opportunity early on to see the bigger picture - and talk to important and senior people. When you think about what happens in most companies, the opportunity is unprecedented.

I studied Physics at university, then moved on to teach English in Japan. I applied for GCHQ before I left. The job I have now enables me to combine my interest in science with an interest in language.

What I love is the excitement of seeing what happens in current affairs before the general public. Or you might see something reported on TV and think: "That's not quite right". Or see a senior minister talking about a problem, and you think: "I know where that piece of information comes from".

I know people get out of University and think they want to earn as much money as possible. It's what they think they should want. I guess I'd say to them, GCHQ fulfils the things you're genuinely interested in. Not the things you think you should want.

It's challenging. There's a strong public service ethos. It's not just about making money. You go to work and help people. You can help fight drug cartels. You can help prevent terrorism. To be part of a team dedicated to this can't help but be exciting!"

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