Ben Jones

(Apprentice in Devon Procurement Services, Finance IT & Trading Directorate.)

When I left college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew that I did not want to go to university; I just wanted to leave education. I wanted a job, which was going to give me a great start, to help me to build a career within an organisation. When I was posted the job details for an apprenticeship at Devon County Council, from Connexions, this sounded really interesting so I applied for it.

When I went to the first stage of the interviews, I had the chance to speak to each of the line managers, of the seven job placements on offer, about what the general job tasks would entail and any other questions I had. After speaking to each of the line managers I was torn between the placement in ICT and the placement at Devon Procurement Services. For the final stage of the interview, I interviewed for the ICT placement, however I was offered the placement within Procurement, which I accepted.

I have currently been working at Devon Procurement Services for just over a year, and the opportunities which have been offered are astonishing, for example I am on the Equality Strategy Group representing young people across Devon. I was also involved in the tender process for the Devon Local Involvement Network (LINk) which was a Devon wide project to replace the Patient and Public Involvement forums (PPI’s), amongst others.

My most memorable moment of the apprenticeship scheme so far, is representing Devon at an Assembly of European Regions (AER) summer school on youth entrepreneurship, in Jämtland, Sweden. This was such a great opportunity, and such a great experience, where I learnt a lot. I have been able to use this since I have been back in Devon, by doing a project to help aspiring entrepreneurs in formal and on formal education, with my two colleagues who also attended the summer school.

The majority of these kind of opportunities are usually offered to apprentices first, to show us how Devon County Council operates on a wider scale. All of these opportunities have come along at the same time as gaining a level 2 NVQ in Business and Administration. This is completed in two parts. A technical certificate, which is completed by attending workshops every other Wednesday. These training sessions are taken by Academy of Training. The other part of the qualification is evidenced based, through pieces of work in your workplace. I am currently studying for a level 3 NVQ in Business and Administration. Also as part of the NVQ, our apprenticeship group participated in a volunteering challenge, where we designed and made a mosaic for Willowbrook School.

I would highly recommend being a Devon County Council apprentice, as the opportunities that are offered are really useful in helping you achieve qualifications and experience. You also gain a wider knowledge of how Devon County Council operates, which is very useful to build a career within Devon County Council in the future.