Katie completed a week of work experience at Essex County Council in May, moving between different teams within the Resourcing department. She spent a week learning as much as she could about recruitment, giving us a unique insight into her experience:
Day 1 – Entry to Work Team
“I was greeted with a warm welcome and was introduced to each member of the team, who detailed what they individually do on a day-to-day basis. They gave me the opportunity to discuss my aims for the week, and what I was looking to get out of my work experience.
I joined the Entry to Work Manager and a Recruitment Consultant, where we discussed the marketing of a new recruitment campaign for Return to Social Care. This was interesting and offered me an insight into the start of a campaign and what the recruiters need to consider when advertising a role.
I finished the day with one of the other Recruitment Consultants telling me about the campaigns she oversees, for example autism internships and graduate schemes. Overall, my day was incredibly informative, and I met a team full of welcoming and passionate people.”
Day 2 – Volume Recruitment Team
“The day began with a tour around County Hall, I shadowed multiple members of the team, firstly publishing job advertisements on multiple websites, and then reviewing applicants and allocating their applications to the relevant hiring manager.
I attended a meeting regarding external recruitment and then had the opportunity to ask the team any questions about my day and the type of work they carry out. I asked what each of their routes were,
from education to recruitment, learning that many of them never even thought of recruitment as an option! I ended my day with allocated time to reflect and complete individual work.”
Day 3 – Specialist Recruitment Team
“I was introduced to each member of the specialist team, learning what each of them do and
how this differs from the other teams. I was given the task of creating a team holiday tracker on Excel, giving me the opportunity to develop my IT and problem-solving skills,
After my lunch break, I joined the team in their weekly meeting to catch up
where they discussed their progress, any new ideas they might have and again, there was time to ask any questions which helped me learn what it is like to work for the council.”
Day 4 – Employment Vetting Team
“The day began with the Employment Vetting Team who gave me an overview of the DBS process, and the current project: going through and re-checking all ECC employees who were due another DBS.
I shadowed the Employment Vetting Officers adding information to the single central record and replying to employee and client queries, which helped me to learn the general day-to-day duties of someone who works in this team.
I learnt what type of documents are eligible for DBS and how to check if these are suitable to be used. Later in the afternoon, I talked to the Resourcing Lead, whose career began in HR. My initial interest for my work experience was in the HR department, so this was incredibly helpful and gave me reassurance that I don’t have to know exactly what job I want to go into, and I can try multiple things to see what I enjoy.”
Day 5- Strategic Resourcing Partners Team
“The day began with an introduction to the team, where I learnt what they do within Resourcing. I was then given the task of mind mapping and researching Gen Z and finding out how to make my generation inclined to work for Essex Outdoors, as well as Essex County Council as a whole. I used my own personal experiences to contribute to this, as well as researching the top employers of Gen Z, and how they manage to attract younger people.
I shared my ideas with the team to hopefully give them some inspiration on how to target jobs towards my generation to continue attracting a diverse age range within the business.
In the afternoon, I met with the manager of the team and we went through some basic IT skills on Outlook to prepare me for the working world, which helped me to organise my inbox and make sure I can respond to colleagues quickly and effectively. I ended the day by learning about the executive recruitment process which is an interesting process used when the council needs to recruit someone for a very senior position.”
And just like that, my week was over!
“Overall, my week of work experience at ECC was incredibly interesting and informative and I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of doing something different each day. I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet so many people in my time there and enjoyed meeting and talking to so many friendly people.
I have learnt a lot about the recruiters at ECC, and all the work they put into finding the best candidates, whilst working collaboratively to get the best outcomes possible. This week has provided me with a vast range of transferable skills, which will be useful for any future career.”
Find out more about our entry to work pathways.
