Rugby Borough Council

The council chose the college because of its reputation as a key education and training provider in the borough. It also wanted to build more links with local businesses such as the college.

Warwickshire College worked closely with the council to understand their needs, and handled the matching process to find an appropriate apprentice through the apprenticeships.org website.

The chosen candidate, Verity Almond, started in November 2010 and has been thriving in her role ever since. Verity is studying Business Administration Level 2 NVQ.

Suzanne Turner, Human Resources Manager at Rugby Borough Council is pleased with the progress of the apprenticeship. She said, “Verity is a great ambassador for apprenticeships. She has great communication skills and has built good relationships in the workplace. It didn’t take her long to start making a contribution to the team and is now increasing her responsibilities and learning to work independently.”

Warwickshire College provides a hands-on service and on-going support and care. Suzanne said, “Warwickshire College has been very supportive. We’ve had regular meetings in our offices. They helped us all the way, and clarified everything.”

Verity has described her apprenticeship experience as follows:

“Rugby Borough Council is a brilliant place to work, as well as giving me so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the help of the Human Resources team.  I have been able to shadow many different departments and do many different activities in those departments for example, observe an interview panel, observe a Court Proceeding, sit on reception etc.

“The confidence and skills that this has given me will stay with me for a lifetime. I have learnt so much in the time that I have spent here not only about jobs and situations in the council but also the transition from school/ college life to a working life. Being here has showed me so much about working life as I am responsible for general everyday tasks (opening the post, responding to general enquiries, photocopying and filling).  I also deal with the VDU vouchers.

“One of the main parts of my job is dealing with recruitment, dealing with application forms, communicating with applicants, setting up shortlisting packs, interviews packs etc. I absolutely love my job and can’t wait to get to work in the morning. The Human Resources team has been such a lovely Team to work with, they have made me feel so welcome and are there to offer me support whenever I need it. When I am ever unsure of anything they always help me and teach me what to do and how to do it.”