Apprenticeships at Surrey County Council: Sophie’s insight!

We have some amazing apprenticeship roles available here at Surrey County Council!

Sophie, our Head of Resourcing within the Recruitment team, reflects on the value that apprenticeships bring to Surrey - not only for the individual but for our teams as a whole!

Have a read below and explore our exciting apprenticeship opportunities here: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/jobs/search?keywords=apprenticeship

?? Hello, my name is Sophie Thornton and I’m Head of Resourcing and work within People & Change.

I joined Surrey about 7 years ago and feel lucky to not only have personally done an apprenticeship (ILM Level 3) myself but to have had the pleasure of supporting apprentices as their line manager.

Apprenticeships are a fantastic opportunity for anyone of any age wanting to learn a new skill in their career whether that’s those new to their career journey or someone looking for a change. This is what I value most is that as an employer we’re able to support people to gain knowledge and skills at the same time no matter their age or experience to date.

Recruiting apprentices is a no brainer for me. The foundations of our team are built up on apprentices who have been new to recruitment, have qualified in their apprenticeship and then gone on to succeed in promotions; this offering us a fantastic pipeline of talent but a great career pathway also for the individuals.

We have managers who joined Surrey on apprenticeships years ago who have progressed to then manage apprentices of their own which is always a lovely full circle moment to appreciate.

My advice to any manager of an apprentice or even to apprentices themselves is to not feel too boxed in by an apprenticeship. The qualification will allow you to explore the theory and learning and the experience of putting that into practice, but I know we can learn from you too. I have personally learnt so much through our apprentices but also upon reflection have realised they often have talents or skills to add to a team already whether these be from prior experience, self-taught or just areas of passions and interests. Exploring these as a manager and allowing space for the team member to showcase these will only bring benefits to you and your team.

I look forward to continuing watching the career paths of those we initially hired as apprentices as I know the council has ample opportunities to help them continue to grow in their professions or to apply their transferable skills to.

We wouldn’t be the team we are today without our apprentices and I’m grateful for each of them and what they’ve taught us.