Supporting Foundation Apprentices to build their skills and create a diverse workforce

Did you know that there are all kinds of jobs in the civil service?

We need staff from various roles and backgrounds to help us raise awareness of our benefits, take applications, and ensure our day to day operations go smoothly so that we can make robust decisions and process payments as quickly as possible to the best possible standard.

These roles include everything from communications, and marketing, to roles in IT, as well as positions in finance and human resources. Our apprentice opportunities help us to support and deliver all of these important functions.

Although we are reaching the end of a period of significant organisational growth, these kind of roles will continue to appear as people progress in their careers within Social Security Scotland, the Scottish Government, wider civil service or elsewhere.

As part of our efforts to ensure that our organisation continues to innovate and attracts talent from across many walks of life, we want to make sure that we create connections and work with partners to support the development of the skills we may need in the future.

We also want to make sure that we continue to cultivate a diverse workforce. To do this, we actively develop multiple roles and routes for people to come and work with us. This is why we continue to offer Foundation Apprentices to college students across Scotland.

Last year we supported students from Kelvin College, and Dundee and Angus College.

One of our Foundation Apprentices from our 2021-22 intake, Cameron, said:

“I have loved this work placement. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like and wasn't sure what to expect, but I have loved it. I managed to see the real working life and get a taste of what it is like.

“This course allowed me to use my writing skills and develop my creative skills. This course has taught me a lot and it has been great so far.”

We are currently working with Glasgow Clyde College to provide students studying creative and digital media subjects the chance to join us for work experience and develop their practical skills in a professional environment. This year, students were given a campaign brief and asked to design posters and social media posts to help raise awareness of and promote Young Carer Grant.

Frankie Stewart, a student from Glasgow Clyde College, said:

"It's been a great experience as a creative person to get the experience of working with Social Security Scotland and learning how to read and use the information from briefs to create our own art for the client exercises!"

Reiss McLeod, a lecturer at Glasgow Clyde College said:

"Working with Social Security Scotland has been a great experience for both the students and me. We had been given a brief to create both a social media post and a poster that showcases a young carers grant.

“This allowed the students to learn more about Social Security Scotland and get quality feedback from the clients. Having Miranda from the communications team at Social Security Scotland, and William from Skills Development Scotland, in class for the students to share their designs with was a brilliant opportunity and they have both been very supportive of the work.

“It's great to see the students' creations and how hard they have been working on this project, I'm looking forward to more opportunities to team up with Social Security Scotland in the future!"

You can find more information about Foundation Apprenticeships via Skills Development Scotland and view current vacancies via the Social Security Scotland website.