I tried recruitment… I was hooked!
Following the Care Leaver Career Insight Day with Essex County Council, Aaron was keen to learn more about how the Entry to Work Team and resourcing function operate. Hear what he thought after his week’s work experience.
During my work experience I met many talented members of the team who brought me along on their day to learn how their job roles worked, and asked me if I had any considerations, feedback or ideas that may not have been considered. Everyone on the team, from senior members to trainees, were all invested in listening to, and learning from each other while valuing every perspective. It was truly eye opening.
Throughout the week I was lucky enough to sit in on a presentation between the Entry to Work Manager Johanna Smith and ACL Business Development Lead Lorretta Wiltshire. They were presenting to hiring managers to promote apprenticeships and improve the understanding of the role it could play in helping staff find suitable roles. They explained the broad availability of types of training and how important apprenticeship’s role could be in upskilling into higher positions for permanent employees, which I hadn’t even known was an option.
As I was with the team during National Apprenticeship Week, I assisted at an event to raise awareness of this pathway – we also had a sponsored rowing activity to raise money for The Trussell Trust which was open to the public. We spoke with members of the public about the various apprenticeship opportunities available within ECC.
“I started my work experience week with the aim of trying to understand where I could use my skills. By the end of the week, I came away with the hope of working in a rewarding career that provides both excellent training opportunities, and more importantly, the confidence and support to strive for career goals I didn’t consider possible.”
Aaron
I also attended meetings with Recruitment Consultants and Strategic Resourcing Partners and learnt about upcoming campaigns. I was able to help the Consultants plan the recruitment timeline which was a real insight as to the work that happens behind the scenes.
Lastly, I was taught how to post a job advert and upload it to the university job boards. For me, this was the most valuable experience I had regarding recruitment itself, as I learnt how effective one advert can be and the reach that it can have; this was amazing and showed me how effective recruitment via the internet truly is. It is easy to become jaded against online recruitment as a job seeker when you send out a lot of interest and do not hear much back, but seeing the other side of it now, I understand much better just how fierce the competition to find the perfect role has become.
At the end of the week, I had learned a lot about recruitment, and had met a lot of wonderful people who valued my opinions, and I had even found the perfect job role to apply for, so I may even get to come back with my own credentials next time as an official member of the team!
To find out more about Entry to Work pathways within ECC, click here.
