Happy new year!
Poster from earlier. PSD has this mentorship programme, sign up for it but YMMV - no guarantee it works. I had a
PSC OMS Ivy League tier US university to PSLP (Sectoral) high flier for a mentor in my first agency's mentorship programme (not PSD's one), but he was pretty useless and advised me to be patient for promotions, saying that people generally only get differentiated at 35 years old.
[Side note: Easy for him to say, since promotions have always gone quickly for him with his high CEP from
PSC OMS and then PSLP (Sectoral). For farmers, it's far easier for CEP to rise when younger: If management and HR were given a choice between i) bumping up your CEP at 35 years old (and risking themselves by indirectly admitting that they made mistakes in gauging your CEP for the past decade) or ii) taking the easy way out by leaving your CEP as it is (and risking you leave the agency), which one would you think they would choose? Never wait. If you are worth it, you are worth it now, not years later, because it's far more difficult to move when older.]
Apart from the PSD mentorship programme, you could try other "CCAs" like clubs, societies, volunteering, etc. However, while this would be useful for certain soft skills like communication and teamwork, it may not help for others like strategic planning and managing high-level stakeholders. Best is still apply for the boss, not the job - I actually heard about my current boss from a friend before I applied.