Apprenticeships are an essential part of our future educational and employment opportunities for young people, and I'm delighted with the support the City Corporation give to them. So I share here the experience of one of our apprentices as his words say it better than I can -
Maxim Hudson: An Apprentice’s experience…
For the past half a year I have been Apprentice Operational Support Officer with the City of London. I currently work in the Operational Support Team; assisting other teams such as Commercial (Food and Health & Safety) and Trading Standards, where I've been praised for lowering the average age in the office! When reflecting on my time at the Corporation so far, I would say that it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me.
When I joined the Corporation I didn’t know what to expect, however I was pleasantly surprised when I walked through the door on my first day. Everyone in my department is extremely supportive and happy to help in any way possible. I feel that the Corporation is behind me and supporting me every step of the way, which is reassuring.
Over the past six months I have done a great deal, which has helped both my personal and career development. I understand more about the Corporation’s and Port Health & Public Protection’s operations and the amazing work they do for the public, and also my own role. I have been involved with various pieces of work for many teams. For example, I am providing intelligence for Trading Standards Officers partaking in Operation Broadway (which is an operation to stop investment fraud occurring all around the capital), and accompanying Environmental Health Officers on Cooling Tower and Food Premises Inspection visits, understanding how the teams operate on a day to day basis, and helping the officers carry out their inspections.
Currently, I have been given the opportunity to work with the Coroner’s officers doing admin work, which has allowed me understand the role of the Coroner and the important work the service carries out. I am also attending inquests that the Coroner holds, which are incredibly interesting. You see how the Senior Coroner does her job and how the inquest process works.
The Corporation, and especially my Department, has been promoting and developing use of mobile working technology, including iPhones, for carrying out and recording inspections and audits. I have been working with officers to create inspection/audit templates which will hopefully allow the teams to be more productive and flexible in their roles, which is what the initiative aims to achieve.
Overall, this experience has been overwhelmingly positive for me, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store.