Two young apprentices in Bristol are currently taking advantage of the career progression available at Public Health England
Public Health England (PHE) utilises a cross-government apprenticeship scheme in public relations at level 4.
The Government Communication Service offers this wonderful apprenticeship in which participants can learn and develop the skills needed to begin a career in communications as well as the opportunity to pass the course with a level 4 qualification in PR and communications.
There are currently two apprentices within the communications team at PHE, Ellie Jones and Amelia Holgate. They both joined PHE in 2019 and have been working towards their final assessment in early 2021.
Ellie said: “It has been an amazing experience working for a government department such as PHE at such a crazy time. I have received non-stop support and encouragement from all of my colleagues which has allowed me to push myself and participate in tasks and campaigns that I could have only dreamed of before working here. I knew that university was never going to be a path I would want to pursue so the GCS apprenticeship is an amazing alternative where I can learn on the job and build up my skills and experience ready for future positions.”
“What makes this even better is the range of teams I am able to work with. PHE has gone above and beyond to ensure myself and Amelia have had maximum exposure to the breadth of comms since beginning our roles here. We have been a part of internal communications, strategic communications, the content team, the events team and the press office—all of which have allowed me to build up extremely useful experience and knowledge.”
“Aside from this, I have also attended networking socials with other apprentices as well as events, such as the launch of ‘Every Mind Matters’ in 2019, where I was able to build my social network and talk to other comms professionals. All in all, my apprenticeship has helped immensely to kickstart my career in communications.”
Amelia said: “Working as an apprentice at PHE has been a challenging but highly rewarding job. I found the apprenticeship by searching the Civil Service Jobs website and came across the GCS apprenticeship. I never knew exactly what I wanted to do professionally, so I considered a range of professions when applying, but after reading the GCS description, I instantly knew this was the job for me. Since working in communications, which I would have never considered without my apprenticeship, I now know that I would like to pursue this career in the future.”
“Working in the Civil Service is an excellent way to build relationships and work with a range of people from all different professional backgrounds. I have had endless support from my colleagues and that has allowed me to work on my apprenticeship as well as gain invaluable experience in PHE. My level 4 qualification that I am working towards can help me pursue other jobs both in the civil service and other sectors and I am looking forward to what my future holds.”
“The GCS apprenticeship involves working in a government department full time, while also completing assignments and attending monthly workshops taught by an apprenticeship delivery service. The assignments that are set need to be linked to the work you do every day and require real life examples. This encourages you to note down examples of all that you have learnt during your time at work which is useful for your apprenticeship but also the future.”
For further information, please contact apprenticecships@phe.gov.uk. For information about the Government Communications Service apprenticeship scheme, visit gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/career/progress-your-career/apprenticeship
