Congratulations! You’ve made it through a challenging recruitment process and are officially employed as a National Management Trainee. Now what? What does a working day entail for a graduate at Waltham Forest?
In previous years graduates have worked across the council departments, in a mixture of roles.
Leadership Office
This placement involved working on supporting priority projects for the Chief Executive and Leader of the council. Tasks included:
- writing speeches
- writing letters to key stakeholders
- event planning
- lobbying research
- sitting in on and minute taking for senior leadership meetings
- event management.
Strategy and Change
- This placement provided policy development support on high-priority projects, involving strategic thinking and service engagement. This included:
- Project management on our recent corporate peer challenge
- Development of a delivery strategy for our corporate plan, Mission Waltham Forest
- Public affairs work across the council’s strategic partnerships
- Support on other priority policy projects according to business need
Regeneration
This placement involved helping to write an in-depth report about the cultural and creative sector in the Walthamstow town centre. This included:
- conducting research
- creating surveys
- engaging with businesses
- analysing data and writing up findings.
Adult Social Care
- This placement involved supporting the development and delivery of the Supported Internship Programme, which aimed to improve employment outcomes for young people with SEND. This included:
- Conducting research on best practices in supported employment
- Engaging with employers and stakeholders to secure internship placements
- Developing monitoring tools to track intern progress and workplace adjustments
- Analysing data and feedback to inform programme improvements and future strategy
Best Start Family Hubs and Youth Spaces
- This placement provided project support for government-funded Best Start Family Hub and youth space initiatives. This involved:
- Assisting in writing the project delivery plan
- Independently leading the programme’s digital workstream
- Overseeing the implementation of the Family Hubs web directory and phone line
Climate
- This placement involved leading as a project manager for the Climate Emergency Commission. As part of the placement, the graduate:
- Organised meetings and communications with Commission members, senior management, and political leaders
- Worked with the policy team to develop the Council’s climate vision
- Used financial and budgetary data to determine future Climate budgets
Housing
- This placement involved coordinating between the repairs, legal and finance departments, as well as relevant contractors, to ameliorate Waltham Forest’s disrepair process. This involved:
- Identifying areas of weakness in the disrepair service area
- writing and establishing procedures
- analysing data and monitoring service improvements
- presenting data to the Portfolio Lead Member for Housing