Apprenticeships, work experience and volunteering

Every year we offer a variety of opportunities to gain voluntary work experience with our services.

Our placement lengths vary according to the needs and interests of the individual applicant, as well as the resources and workload of the department hosting the placement.

We are a ‘Disability Confident’ employer committed to providing work experience wherever possible.

Careers in local government

Take a closer look at careers and opportunities you can find in local government and see why it's a great place to work.

Find out more about careers in local government

Armed Forces Work Placement/Job Shadowing Scheme

We are working with Career Transition Partnership (CTP) Assist, offering work placement/job shadowing opportunities for those who are likely to be medically discharged from the Armed Forces as well as the wounded, injured and sick.

These work placements are to support their resettlement into the civilian workplace. They could be anything from 1 to 4 weeks, to give experience of a job type or environment.

We are working with Walking with the Wounded to offer work placement/job shadowing opportunities to support veterans with mental health difficulties back into employment (and Help for Heroes who support those affected by their military service).

Phoenix Heroes also support veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including support back into employment.

Work experience placements

Popular placements include:

General Clerical
Customer Services
Environmental Health
Park Ranger
Events Management
Communications and Marketing
Crematorium and Cemetery
Human Resources
Strategic Research
Regeneration and Architecture

If you are interested in an area not covered by the above list, contact us and tell us why you want to gain experience in your preferred area and what skills you will bring to the role. We will contact the relevant manager on your behalf and attempt to secure a placement.

Apply for work experience

To apply for a work experience placement, send the following details to hrservicecentre@colchester.gov.uk:

an up-to-date CV with your full contact details
what career and/or service area you want to gain experience in and the reasons for this
why you would particularly like to work in local government
what you hope to gain from the placement
timescales for your proposed placement

We receive many enquiries about work experience/placements. We consider each request on its own merits and offer opportunities to people where we can, but it is not possible to do so in every case.