A career at Ofcom: Joe Duffield

Joe Duffield from Competition Policy at Ofcom, talks about his career so far and why recognising policy as a discipline would be important to him.

What is your current role in Ofcom?

Competition policy advisor.

Tell us about your career path prior to this job?

While studying law, I tried to apply to a vacation scheme. The first question was ‘why do you want to be a lawyer?’. At that point I realised I didn’t. Inevitably, I was forced to take a post-university gap year so as to work out what to do with my life, and ended up studying for a masters in legal and political theory.

During my masters, I started my somewhat illustrious career path as a multi-functional team member at Cineworld Cinemas. After two years and some thousand bags of popcorn later, I left this role to become a researcher at a boutique insurance consultancy (anything was better). This was followed by my final pre-Ofcom role as a temporary administrative assistant in the pensions department of Pearson Publishing (and what a summer it was!).

What attracted you to a role in policy?

I had an epiphany one day while sweeping up discarded Capri-Suns and nacho crumbs in screen 7 - the combination of my law degree (applying rules) and masters (interest in social values and public ethics) would be ideal for a career in policy regulation. I downed my broom and off I went and applied to Ofcom.

What advice would you give to someone considering a policy career?

Apply to the Ofcom graduate scheme. Otherwise, for a role in Competition Policy, my advice is that an A-Level in economics is more useful than one in classical civilisation.

Why would recognising policy as a discipline be important to you?

I imagine it would provide more support (e.g. training) and focused career development. It could also improve links and understanding with other Ofcom policy teams, making it easier to collaborate on projects and work across departments.

Are you interested in a career with Ofcom? Please click here.

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