Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategy and police advice to senior mangers and councillors
• Lead the development of corporate strategies e.g. the Borough’s Integration and Community Cohesion Strategy
• Lead the council’s work under the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder
• Support business planning and corporate planning
• Support strategic planning across the borough through the Local Strategic Partnership
• Brief senior managers and councillors on key policy announcements by central government and key national agencies/bodies

Why did you join the Public Sector?

• Wanted to undertake work that would benefit the wider community
• Wanted to undertake work that would improve people’s quality of life
• Did not find any career path in the private sector that appealed – felt that the work would be too narrow and not challenging

What do you consider to be the most significant challenges in your organisation?

• Constantly improving public services/quality of services with ever diminishing resources
• Balancing the needs/desires of our very diverse communities – within Ealing over 55% of our residents are not white British

What words would you chose to describe the Public Sector?

• Dedicated
• Hard-working (I don’t know anyone that works a 9-5 day)
• Focused on meeting public needs
• Inclusive
• Tolerant
• Forward thinking
• Challenging
• Rewarding

What are the benefits of a Public Sector Career?

• Rewarding and challenging work – the projects are varied and interesting
• Good benefits – e.g. holiday and pension
• Good pay – although not in your first job
• Satisfaction that the work you do is aimed at tackling problems and improving people’s quality of life
• Challenging work – everything you undertake has to satisfy many stakeholders (public, government, partner organisations, councillors etc etc). This is much more difficult than the private sector where you ultimately are trying to satisfy your shareholders

What advice do you have for anyone considering a career within the sector?

• Look into the national graduate development scheme – this started after I joined local government in 2002. But it looks like a great scheme – which provides more training and a great breath of experience through placements
• Don’t expect £35K straight away! You’re first job is likely to not be on a great salary – but if you work hard you can quickly progress
• Be ready to re-locate. If you want to move up the career ladder fast you need to be prepared to move to where the jobs are. The last three jobs (including this one) have all involved 100 mile relocations. But each job has been worth it!
• Be ready to start work you have never done before. The best part of local government is being given entirely new pieces of work you have no experience in and being asked to take them forward
• Don’t pigeon hole yourself too quickly. Unless you have a very clear idea the field you wish to work in (community safety, education etc) – try to get jobs in Corporate Policy. These enable you to learn more about all areas of the council and specialise at a later date
• Don’t expect to work 9-5. If you want to get on in local government you need to put the hours in – just like any other career