Mae Wilson knew from the age of 15 that she wanted a local government career. Both her parents worked for the council and she relished the chance to support and help shape the community on her doorstep: “I suppose you could say local government was almost a family business. I’d seen the opportunities my parents had, although they had different and diverse roles. What attracted me was that a local authority is about its place and its people, and the role it offered in helping to shape that place.”
Today, 26-year-old Wilson, who completed the Local Government Association’s (LGA’s) national graduate development programme in 2016, is a senior HR and organisational development officer at Doncaster council; her responsibilities include its graduate scheme and its equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. “Even in HR, I can see the impact of my work – I am supporting strategy and colleagues who are supporting the community,” she says. “And a time of limited resources creates limitless potential and opportunity – which is exciting.”
Her passion for public service is typical of today’s graduates who are looking for a career with a social purpose. Rachel Whale is programme director at Charityworks, which runs a graduate scheme. This year it placed 140 graduates with 76 organisations, including household names like the NSPCC and Unicef. She says: “One of the joys of running Charityworks is that I am amazed by the younger generation who want both a sense of progression in their career and a sense of purpose. Why should it be a binary choice?”
As on other schemes, Charityworks graduates are paid a salary. Whale says: “The sector is in a pretty tough place, coping with all types of challenges. But it has a superpower that it doesn’t make enough of – it puts social purpose at the heart of the job. Other sectors would die for that.”
Competition for public sector graduate schemes is tough, as organisations compete for the brightest graduates. Frontline, the leadership development programme for children and family social workers, now in its fifth year, originally focused on Oxbridge graduates, but now spreads its net further. Applicants from outside the Russell Group should not be deterred, according to John Batteson, its attraction manager.
“You do need a 2:1, but in terms of the university you went to, that isn’t something we factor in,” he says. “What’s important is motivation, being empathetic and having the communication skills and ability to build relationships.”
Frontline is increasing its graduate places again for 2019 and other programmes expect to at least equal the number on offer this year.
This autumn the civil service fast stream will renew its search for its next leaders of tomorrow. The breadth, pace and complexity of the work on offer sets the scheme apart, according to Rupert McNeil, the civil service’s chief people officer. “In the finance stream, for example, you will have a faster rate of experience and have a greater level of responsibility than you would have in the private sector. I think that is one of the reasons why applications are so high and people love it.”
Last year, 14,000 people applied for one of the 200 places on the NHS graduate management training scheme. Health Careers, the information service for NHS careers, advises potential applicants to complete its skills-mapping online test to discover whether the programme is for them. But how can you stand out from the crowd? Alan Simmons, an NHS careers specialist says: “Gain an insight into how the NHS functions and how it works – have an understanding of what impact managerial roles will have on patient care.”
With competition so fierce, what can graduates who miss out on a place do? The advice is: don’t despair. Acquire experience in another sector in roles with transferable skills such as HR, project management or information management. Internships and volunteering are other options and an entry-level role can often be a way into a particular field. Helen Jenkins, head of the LGA graduate scheme, says even admin roles can bring rewards: “Some can be really exciting – working for democratic services you get to know the heart of local government. Graduates come in with fresh ideas, from different backgrounds and challenge the status quo. It’s a very exciting place to be.”
