Younger staff want to make a difference to local communities
Six months ago, we joined the National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP), the LGA’s flagship graduate scheme.
We would like to share our insights and experiences of the programme and of local government as a sector.
Marshall
As a university student, I found it tricky to find a career path that provided a challenge and professional progression while also having a positive impact on others and their communities.
After noticing an advert for the NGDP, I became hugely interested in local government, and the value it brings to society.
Fortunately, because of the flexible and dynamic nature of the programme, I now have the opportunity to use my ideas and experiences to create positive change in many different areas.
Currently, I am working in the LGA’s Building Safety Team, lobbying central government to ensure that new legislation makes residents safer, but also gives councils enough financial support to make England’s building stock safe in the long term.
For graduates such as me, the NGDP provides a sense of responsibility and allows us to positively engage in the governance of local communities.
Aurora
I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do when I graduated, but I knew I wanted to be somewhere I could make an impact. The rotational nature of the NGDP scheme really attracted me; it seemed like no other sector offered such a variety of opportunity – from policy, planning and housing, to digital and social media.
For my first placement, I am in the LGA’s Workforce Team, where we support the local government workforce and help it adapt and respond to changes.
Just 4.7 per cent of people aged under 25 are working for local government, so a large focus in my placement has been on developing resources to attract young people to the sector.
I have promoted the benefits of young employee networks in the LGA’s early careers toolkit, which is designed to help councils attract and retain young people.
In partnership with Youth Employment UK, a not-for-profit social enterprise, I have also developed a careers hub to promote local government as a pathway. In addition, I have helped with the LGA’s T Level support programme, which helps councils offer industry placements to young people in their area.
A unique opportunity I have had is developing the LGA’s commercial offers, such as the Employer Link workforce subscription service, and our Emergenetics psychometric profiling workshops, in which a handful of teams, including Warwickshire County Council, participated in our pilot session.
Networking opportunities
Following on from Warwickshire County Council’s Emergenetics session, we both had the opportunity to visit the council.
We learned about the work Warwickshire is doing and the challenges it is facing, and we met its third cohort of NGDP graduate trainees, who then later came to London to visit the LGA.
The NGDP offers excellent networking opportunities, and we have both joined networks that graduates have created themselves, such as the policy, gender equality and London graduates’ networks.
Reflecting on our experiences on the scheme so far, we feel that the programme has offered us a great opportunity to gain skills and experiences, and network with fellow graduates.
We feel incredibly proud of the impact that our generation is having in the local government sector.