A young Middlesbrough woman has told about the ‘sliding doors’ moment she saw the chance of working with the Government - and started what has turned out to be her dream job.

Born and brought up in the town, 23-year-old Evie Hodgson went to Macmillan Academy on Stockton Road before moving on to Northumbria University.

But it was an advert for the Treasury’s Graduate Development Programme - and the chance to build a career in the North East at the Darlington Economic Campus that changed her life.

Evie told us: “I had studied English Literature and History and then didn’t know what I wanted to do.

  • The BUSINESSiQ Awards are back for 2024 - nominate your business heroes HERE

“I applied for a Masters at Newcastle and did Museum Studies to fill that year while I decided what to do. And then my dad saw the advertisement for the Graduate Development Programme.

“I didn’t really think I’d meet the requirements as it’s called an economic campus and obviously my background was in English and History, but I just thought I’ll apply and see how I get on.”

Her role now involves working with the Financial Conduct Authority, and monitoring firms that are potentially failing.

The Northern Echo: Evie at the DECEvie at the DEC (Image: Newsquest)

“We create contingency plans so it doesn’t have a wider impact on the economy. There were about 12 people in the team at the time, but now there are over 60 because the Treasury really wanted to improve resilience.”

Evie is living in Newcastle now, and says the DEC opportunities in Darlington were a perfect for her.

“ I can still live where I’ve made my friends - but I’m still half an hour away from my parents. So I can do a day at the office, then go and stay at my parents or work a day from home and then go back to Newcastle.

“But it’s not only the jobs within DEC - the businesses in Darlington are thriving and I’ve never seen the town have this much potential. It’s very exciting and overdue to be completely honest.

“I’d recommend the move to anyone who was in my position - don’t presume it’s not for you, just try it.”

Overall, DEC wants to fill 1,400 roles by 2030, and they’re already about halfway there.

The Treasury says: “You don’t have to have an economics degree or relevant work experience to progress here as a Policy Adviser. We designed our Graduate Development Programme to nurture policy professionals, giving them the depth of knowledge and the breadth of experience to work across multiple policy areas.

“During your time on our three-year development programme, you’ll have two placements within the Department. You’ll spend 18 months in your first posting, establishing a detailed grounding in a particular area of policy. At the end of this first posting, we’ll move you into a second 18-month posting.”

The deadline for GDP applications is November 17th, so there are only a few days left if you want to follow Evie to the DEC.

Just go to bit.ly/treasurygraduates.