, Kent Graduate Programme at Kent County Council

The following is a Graduate Review for Kent County Council.

Kent County Council scores 3.8/5 based on 118 reviews.

All reviews are based exclusively on results of feedback from employees from Kent County Council. Employees are asked to rate Kent County Council on a wide range of work place topics, which is broken down through star ratings on the right hand side.

To find out how your Graduates can leave reviews of your company, please contact our Brand Manager Grant on 01825 725291.

What are the Best and Worst things about your job?

Best

I have already been able to work in areas that really interest me, that I didn't know interested me before I got the job.

The other graduates become almost like a support unit, you are all going through the same new experiences and you are likely to gain some good friends. Compared to other graduate schemes, the graduates tend to treat each other as friendly peers rather than competition, this creates a good working environment.

The graduates are treated with a lot of respect within the organisation. Everybody is aware of the scheme and the talent it has produced in the past and are likely to be interested in talking to you.

You will be introduced to as many senior leaders as possible, you can set up your own opportunities to shadow directors. Unlike a normal job, if you are interested in other roles in the organisation, senior leaders are usually happy for you to go along and meet people outside of your current role and will allow you to attend meetings that might not be completely relevant to your work but fit an interest you have.

Worst

I have been lucky so far however, you do not get to choose your placements, your first placement is chosen for you, then after that you can submit preferences but this doesn't guarantee you will get one you want. If you already have a good idea of what area you want to work in, this may not be the right choice for you, as your desired area may not even request a graduate role, and even if they do, there is no guarantee you would get that placement.

What is the annual salary for this role?

Starting salary: £23,000 - £25,000

Current salary: £25,000 - £27,000

What hours do you actually work, on average?

Start: 08:30

Finish: 04:30

What advice would you give to someone applying to this role?

Be honest with the personality testing. They're not looking for one type of person, they just want to know what individual characteristics you offer compared to others, and you will be asked questions in the interview based on what your personality test results are.

Focus on the skills and traits you can offer rather than what degree you did. Although it is a requirement to have a degree, doing the job well is more about what kind of worker you are. They look out for people are self-driven, confident and motivated rather than people with the most prestigious qualifications.

Don't let the English and Maths tests scare you off. They are deliberately hard and most people struggle with them. Even if you think you did terribly (like I did) you still have a chance.

Make sure you back up everything you say about yourself with relevant experience. It doesn't have to be work experience. I used the fact that I moved far away from home to go to university as an example of a time I've taken a big risk.

Give yourself plenty of time to complete the application form, it is quite long and requires a lot of thought.

Do you have any interview tips?

Have at least 2 extra questions prepared to ask the interviewers to make yourself stand out.

Don't pretend to be perfect, the role is for a graduate looking to be trained and moulded. Instead make it clear that you are ready to be taught, committed to the training qualifications and will push yourself to develop your skills.

They are looking for a candidate who will eventually make a good project manager. Think about the skills that requires and think up examples of when you have shown these skills.

You may be interviewed by a previous graduate, think of questions that you could ask them while you have the chance. This will also make it appear as though you have paid attention to the people you are interviewing with.