Work Experience
Work experience is a great opportunity to find out what it's like to work for the council and develop your employability skills.
WHAT IS WORK EXPERIENCE?
- Work experience is an ideal way to help you gain an understanding about working life.
- You’ll get hands-on experience in an area of work that you are interested in.
- Anyone aged 14 and above can apply*, whether you are at school, college, university, returning to work or looking for a career change.
- There’s lots of opportunities to choose from - work experience placements exist across nearly all areas of the council.
- Placements can vary from a one-off taster days up to 148 hours.
* Some placements are only suitable for candidates aged 16+ or carrying out certain studies.
BENEFITS OF WORK EXPERIENCE
- Gain practical experience in a job role you are interested in.
- A valuable opportunity to develop a range of skills and knowledge to help you in your future.
- Gain insight into jobs and careers in local government.
- Sharpen your skills and enhance your CV.
- Build your confidence and readiness for the workplace.
- Help discover what career path suits you best.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE?
We offer work experience placements across most of our service areas, from communications to planning; leisure to catering; and from highway maintenance to planning.
Here’s a few examples of the placements on offer:
- streetscene enforcement officer
- ICT officer
- leisure assistant
- museum assistant
- zoo assistant
- tourist information advisor
- public health officer
- customer service assistant
- planning officer
- care worker.
HOW DO I APPLY?
It’s easy to apply for a work experience placement! Simply follow the guidance in the placement advert. You can filter your search by location and the job category that you are interested in to take a look at the available opportunities.
Here’s a few things to bear in mind:
- Some work experience placements are only suitable for candidates aged 16+ or carrying out certain studies, and may require a DBS check. This will be made clear on the advert.
- Once you’ve selected a placement you’d like to apply for, you’ll be asked to provide some contact details and information about yourself.
- You’ll also be asked to tell us a bit about why you are interested in that area of work and why you might be suitable for a work experience placement.
- Please be aware that applying for work experience does not guarantee that we will be able to offer you a placement.
If you haven’t got much experience filling out application forms, you can seek assistance here: guidance on writing supporting statements - not all of it will apply to work experience placements, but it should give you useful hints about how to present your application in the best possible way.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once you’ve submitted your application, you’ll receive an acknowledgment email with a reference number on it. Your application will be considered by the placement supervisor who will aim to respond to you within 14 days. You’ll receive an email confirming whether a placement can be offered.
If the placement that you have applied for requires a DBS check, The placement supervisor will contact you directly to discuss this if they are able to offer you a work experience role.
If you are offered a work experience placement, you’ll receive further instructions confirming dates, locations, further details about the role and the contact details of who you should report to.
It will be up to you to contact the supervisor to introduce yourself before your first day and discuss the work you’ll be doing. The supervisor will be responsible for your programme of work and deal with any queries or worries you may have.
ANY QUESTIONS?
Get in touch, we’ll be happy to help. Contact us
You can also find out more about adult learning and developing your employability skills on the adult learning and employability webpages.