Since becoming the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire in 2010, I have employed an Apprentice Caseworker each year from one of our local secondary schools. I am delighted that Emily Hall, a recent school leaver from Sponne, has taken on this role within my team in September. We said farewell to Zac Lever last month, who is now studying at the University of Bristol after joining us from Magdalen College School, and I wanted to share Zac’s reflections on his year as part of #TeamLeadsom:

“The role of Apprentice Caseworker has been such an experience and will certainly benefit me in further work. I have learned not only much more about the inner workings of national politics, but how to work with other people outside of the team, whether that be from another department or a constituent. For example, I have become much more confident dealing with strangers face-to-face and improved my communication when talking with the public on the telephone and on Village Action Days within the Constituency. With the support from the team, I was able to get out to give out literature and hear the concerns of the public.

The most beneficial experiences that I have taken from this job have been the simple and incredibly applicable skills, for example confidently formatting letters and emails. Prior to my apprenticeship, I rarely sent letters or emails without at least one person checking it beforehand. Presently, I have the confidence and knowledge to construct eloquent letters and emails which is infinitely beneficial in all fields of work.

The qualification has also been really beneficial. An NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration is obviously highly applicable in a host of subjects and career options, so to take part in it is very rewarding. The main benefits of the course include:

• In depth research of working environments.
• Practical question and answer formats, genuinely helping in real life contexts.
• Questions are relatively easy to follow, with clear guidelines as to how they’re to be answered.
• Work content is distributed at a steady pace. Unexpected or unwanted work is rare.
• The timescale of work is easy to process. The work is challenging and informative, but nothing that can’t be handled.

The point of a qualification or course is to learn more than when you started, and this has happened! I have a much greater understanding of working in a business environment as a whole, as well as finance management, workplace “politics” and employee management, to name but a few. I can officially say that I would recommend this course to another young person (18 +) who is looking to broaden their understanding of the workplace and make themselves more employable.”

I will be advertising for my 2018/19 Apprentice after Christmas, and you can find more information, including on how to apply, here.