After I finished my A-levels, I was not sure what I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to go to university. I spent a year searching for apprenticeships so I could continue learning while earning money and having job stability. When I saw a Home Office campaign, I thought this was an area I would be interested in. I joined the department in January 2020 as an apprentice. After my final assessments in August 2021, I applied for promotion. I now manage a team of caseworkers.
My day-to-day work is never the same and varies as our business area is driven by calls and applications. I find the job challenging but I get a lot of job satisfaction working in a fast-paced environment and helping develop skills of my team members as well as myself, I enjoy coaching and managing workloads.
I enjoy helping the public when they need our support, as well as building relationships with them and my colleagues. Often people we assist can be vulnerable such as victims of trafficking and abuse. We also support a lot of families and work with local authorities such as the police and social services. I enjoy developing skills in management, leadership and customer service. I have had opportunities to build rapport with stakeholders across Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.
I particularly enjoy the flexibility and scope for development in my role. There are often opportunities to shadow other work at different levels. I volunteer when opportunities arise, and this has allowed me to develop my skillset and train colleagues on specialist topics.
I would encourage anyone who wants to build transferrable skills to apply for a job in the Home Office.
