Degree Apprentice Policy and Research Officer Review

I am a policy and research officer so my work entails creating and researching reports for both internal and external reports. This means I attend meetings and webinars on a range of topics from climate to post pandemic work and leisure. I also work on internal policy like HR. More reactive work comes from councillors who may need certain information at any given time. I also tried to create connections across different councils as I attend meetings.

A lot! - report writing - email writing - essay writing - building rapport with colleagues - attending meetings where I don’t know anyone - booking online for webinars - presenting findings at meetings - minute taking - grasper an understanding on the local constitution and how it works in practice - writing for online articles for a specific audience - using systems like Teams or Kelio etc I have learnt many skills, or refined some skills such as my writing skills appropriate for a formal, detached settings. More specific to my work, I can use the DWP database as well as Nomis etc

I enjoy it a lot! The mixture of academic and work base learning means I refine both sides of my professional self- academic and practical. It’s interesting exploring the organisation through theory in assignments and understanding what works and critically analysing what could be improved. What I find particularly great is that at uni there are so many diff types of organisations represented from small to large and so it’s interesting seeing how things work in diff contexts

Very well especially now it’s in its 3rd/4th year The content is interesting whilst also hitting the criteria for the end point assessments. The assignments correlate well and ensure that we explore the content within our own organisation. Everything is punctually put up on BlackBoard and if things are shifted around, we are told and it is usually seamless. Obviously, Covid changed some things, but the uni adapted well and assigments were adapted to fit the new style of learning. Deadlines were extended but things were still marked fairly quickly!

They give me time to do my essays and answer Qs I have for uni assignments (or point me in the direction of someone who can help). Everyone is helpful and willing to give their time to provide resources for me. They ask regularly how things are going, but fortunately don’t over do it- they let me have the independence of completing my tasks on my own unless I ask for help. They do however ask what I’m doing in uni so they can give me work that is slightly relevant to that

A phenomenal amount. In fact I get told to ask a lot more in instances where I hadn’t, assuming that it was out of their control (ie with a laptop for work during covid homeworking) They offer to mark drafts and the mantra ‘there are no stupid questions’ is common. Content is taught well and yet, even with us being the 3-4th year running- we still are asked if we would like something to improve.

It depends on the content of that particular section. A lot is highly relevant in understand the theory of my work, and a lot will be relevant in the future in managerial roles Of course, as this course is for a wide variety of roles, there are some parts which aren’t as applicable to my role. Eg management accounting or IT systems doesn’t help as much (although IT still helped me understand some HR policy)

Some. On the intranet, colleagues might post things going on outside of work- eg boxing club hosted by a member of staff, and seasonally things like the mayors ball. But not a lot more. I think a lot of this comes down to also the HR outlook on work life balance and so there isn’t an emphasis put on events that blur the two. There are however, in work time, mental health courses to take which happen regularly on different topics as mental health is taken seriously at work. Fortunately!

Yes

First and foremost- very very friendly staff and flexible working arrangements with clocking in and clocking out allowed and leave carry over. The sick and holiday benefits (buy and sell leave etc) are good and relationships tend to be great (PDRs etc) There is a wholesome approach to seeing staff as people outside of work too and emphasis is placed on healthy boundaries for work and life. Public sector so unions are well protected and listened to there

Have experience in maybe working or having done a placement at a council previously. Understand research and have an understanding of local politics and the are your council is in generally. Give lots of examples of past experiences and skills in your interview etc. Seem open and friendly as that is important for teams and staff Have a basic understanding of some of the systems you might be using eg Nomis, or show you are able to use IT and therefore learn quickly