Hear from some of our current staff members and how the council has supported them on their career journeys from apprentices to leading teams and how the support and togetherness of the whole authority with its ONE TEAM culture has helped them grow.
Paige - Finance
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Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. My name's Paige, i've been at the council for 5 years now. I started off as a Financial Services Apprentice, and i've just moved in to a Trainee Accountants role.
Q. Tell us a bit more about your progression here
A. Ok so i started off as a I say a Financial Services Apprentice, and I did my AAT level 2,3 and 4 which made me a qualified AAT technician. I've just started CIPFA, that's the Charted Institute of Public Finance Accountancy to become a Chartered Accountant.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. NEDDC has supported me in progressing through the job roles whilst i've been here. They've supported me in all of my qualifications and enabled me to continue with my qualifications so from level 3 level 4 and now on to CIPFA. I've had a lot of support throughout my learning and they've ensure i've been able to complete everything i've needed to do.
Q. What do you enjoy most about working at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. What i would say I enjoy the most about working here is the supportive environment that I work in. I've got a really supportive team, they've helped me throughout my studies and they continue to give me more experience and more duties to undertake to grow my knowledge and progress my career.
Q. What additional responsibilities do you have now compared to when you first started?
A. I've gained additional responsibilities through becoming more qualified, so as i've learnt things and progressed i've gained more responsibility within my team because of that. They've been really supportive in teaching me, showing me how to do things, letting me ask questions and i've developed my knowledge through that.
Q. Tell us about some of the opportunities you’ve had during your time at North East Derbyshire District Council
A. I've been given the opportunities through my qualifications and things like that, but also in learning new job roles and taking on new responsibilities. I've been on training courses to provide me with the relevant knowledge for that. So and I've also been given opportunities in terms of doing extra things for the Council, such as like election roles and things like that.
Q. Tell us about some of the opportunities you’ve had during your time at North East Derbyshire District Council
A. One of the first training courses I went on was Introduction to Local Government Finance, which was a CIPFA training course, which is now what I'm studying, and that gave me a good overview as to what my team did and that sort of role. And then as I've taken on more responsibility, such as collection fund and things like that, I've been on collections, on courses to give me the relevant experience of my job role.
Q. What does the next few years look like?
A. What's next for me is I'm obviously currently studying in September, so I'm going to continue with that. I've done one exam so far, so I've got a couple of years left doing that and then I'll be a chartered accountant. Hopefully I want to continue my career with any DDC and hopefully I'll be given the opportunities to progress through the council.
Q. What’s been the biggest challenge during your time at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. So during my time studying my Level four, it was when the COVID pandemic hit. So obviously we all had to go to work and from home, and I was no longer able to go to college to study. But working here, they gave me all of the resources I need to be able to do that from home as well as the support I needed and all of the equipment. So I was able to continue my studies without interruption, really from home.
Q. What would you say to somebody thinking about joining North East Derbyshire District council as an apprentice?
A. So I would say if you're looking for an apprenticeship, it's definitely a brilliant place to come to work. They provide you with the support that you need and they always say when you get a job at the council, you've got a job for life. And I do actually think that that is very true. It's very supportive place to work, really nice people. And I could see myself working here for a really long time.
Dave - Communications
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Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. I'm David Vickers I'm the current comms manager at North East Derbyshire District Council. I started here seven years ago as a digital media officer, and prior to that I worked Bolsover District Council for two years as a temporary technical officer.
Q. Tell us a bit more about your progression here
A. So I started in 2013 as a technical officer with Streetscene, and that was a temporary seven month contract. From there I started to get to know the council a little bit and the kind of roles that they offered. It's a really varied place to work, so they offer a lot of different services and roles. So from that I started developing my skills in communications and that's how I got an internal vacancy for a digital media officer back in 2015. From then I worked in a comms department since there and through working with by then line manager and my assistant director and will work really closely with the understanding that I want to grow as a person and understand how the council work better, how I could develop my career. So it's been really good since then that i've finally been able to get management position in comms.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. Since starting at North East District Council I've been lucky enough to work under a few different managers actually and one in particular a real standout. Steve in Streetscene was absolutely brilliant and let me come into his office just to have a chat so he could understand me as a person and give me that motivation that I felt I could succeed with him and then he were the person that helped make these other opportunities that happen really, gave me the confidence and the knowledge to know that I could take the next step up.
Q. What are the main benefits of working for North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. So the main benefits of working here for me personally, having a young family home means the flexibility work. And it's just brilliant. With that being the hours where I could come in a little bit late afternoon to drop my have at school of working from home. You know, we tend to do hybrid working here. That means I get to be at home, see my family a little bit more than I would if it was a full five days in the office. And that that personally for me is brilliant. And then in the job properly itself, the fact that I feel like we're empowering the residents and our businesses and I'm giving back to the community, I guess, through the role, but just the fact that it's a council that does care about its residents and we are really passionate about our communities, it just really, really, I guess, empowering.
Q. How did you find stepping up in to your current position given the additional responsibilities you have?
A. So as my responsibilities have increased, as I've moved up through the council, I think having that support there, through my manager, having regular one to ones, being able to just chat through the difficult times. You know, it's not always easy when you're a new manager and you feel like you don't know how to do things what you've not done before. Having that person that just ask what you may think is a silly question, but everyone has to ask at some point. And then I guess the personal satisfaction from that is, I then know that when I've got new starters to feel in the same way they've got that support from me, they can ask anything they need to. So they're performing in their role to their best of their abilities. And that to me is the biggest thing that I get from it. It's just and so is that knowing that I am empowering others to hopefully follow in my footsteps to work at a brilliant organisation like North East Derbyshire District Council.
Q. Have you undertaken additional learning since being at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. I've actually been lucky enough to have been able to take opportunities for learning when when they've presented themselves and even pushing it myself, I guess to some degree and where I feel like I wasn't particularly good in an area I would be asking to do, for example, a social media course. Our HR team have been really supportive and there is money there for training, I took that training again. I did a leadership course with the authority, which was absolutely brilliant, and the amount of learning that I got, which helped me perform my job better. And then there's also just the internal training that we have. There is regular training opportunities for us that our HR team make available to us that could be sickness management, just understanding the process of how to interview. There's opportunities there, small and large and it's just so helpful.
Q. What are your next steps on your career journey?
A. I think the next steps for me would be to continue working in the comms department and just continue to to improve as we have been. And we've turned from a department that's been kind of reactive to now working very proactively, really closely with a lot more teams across the authority. And we do a lot of work with our leisure centre's as well. And this kind of work, empowering other departments, I guess, and helping other people is really something that resonates really well with me in terms of personal career progression. I'm always looking to do more training. Am I am I being the best I can be in the role? And that is supported through my through my managers and peers. And I guess the next obvious step after that would be to want to be an assistant director within within North East Derbyshire District Council.
Q. Would you recommend North East Derbyshire District Council to somebody thinking about applying?
A. I could not recommend working for North East Derbyshire District Council enough. Be that at an entry level like I were when I started here, or at a more senior level, the support that's on offer and the career progression and the fact that you're empowered to make your own decisions and they embrace change as well. The culture here is brilliant. The 'ONE TEAM' ethos that just runs through top to bottom is just absolutely brilliant. I would absolutely recommend anybody to apply for a job here.
James - Leisure
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Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. So my name is James Hopkinson. I've been with the Council since 2007. I started as a Casual LEisure Attendant. And now i'm a Duty Officer, at Dronfield Sports Centre.
Q. Tell us a bit more about your progression here.
A. So when I started at North East I had my casual lifeguard and which I had to do my lifeguard qualification for. As I wanted to do available to the ranks, I developed some teaching. I then went on to my business management so that helped me become head attendant and then obviously helped me to become Duty Officer.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. So throughout being at North East Derbyshire, they've helped me by doing my level one and level two swimming teacher. They've helped me by doing 'Pool Plan', which is a qualification I need to become Head Attendant and Duty Officer to do after that. And they've also helped me with my level three business management. As I said previously, and I also know that the Council will provide additional training for if I ever wanted to go up the ladder any high, so Centre Manager. I need to be at my level four business management, which I hope they're looking into.
Q. What’s one of the best things about the job?
A. You know like spend, i don't know, with your work colleagues, 8 hours a day with them, you spend more time with your work colleagues, than you do with my wife at home. So you get that friendship and because you're you're never on your own in the leisure centre, you're always with someone. You bounce off them all the time and it just creates that just nice, friendly environment, obviously always working with customers and stuff, so it is nice.
Q. What are your next steps on your career journey?
A. So what's next for me is eventually I would like to become Centre Manager and I'm a Duty Officer now, which I absolutely love, but because I've only been just doing it not even a year yet, I'm still gaining experience and hopefully in the next 5 to 10 years there will be a position that becomes available, which hopefully I will get.
Q. What would you say to somebody looking to join North East Derbyshire District Council in leisure?
A. You come into a nice, friendly family environment and you can progress through the Council, especially in the leisure industry. You can go in at the entry level, which is a leisure attendant or a cafe or a gym, and if you want to work your way up the ladder and become something like me, a Duty Officer.
Madeline - Finance
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Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. I'm Madeline Fearn. I started last year as an apprentice assistant accountant. I was working at level two and now I'm level three.
Q. What qualifications have you done since starting at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. When I first started, I wasn't really sure what courses I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, but my manager she helped direct me what relevant ones with my role and the help support my main one being college, that I get a day release for.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. I've always been really fully supported by North East Derbyshire and my manager. They really help with the AAT learning side of things and the general work and picking up phone calls was something quite natural to me when I first started book. Lots of tips and tricks and just general experiences, and they're also willing to help out with home work because they've all done the same courses as well. Just advice like that.
Q. How have you found your apprenticeship to be so far?
A. Yes, it's not been easy. Sometimes I've been caught between different teams, so sometimes I'll work in the creditor section, sometimes I do accountancy work and the ledger. But definitely through managers and experience things like that, they've really taught me how to prioritise different parts of my week for different jobs.
Q. What other learning opportunities have you had?
Well you get learning opportunities in your day to day work life and answering the phones and working in an office, there's a lot of learning. And you also get in the classroom and college. And I was also recently given the chance to do a first aid course, which I think is a really valuable skill for life in general, as well as at work.
Q. What are your next steps on your career journey?
A. What's next for me is finishing my level three Diploma in Accounting as i recently started that, possibly moving to level four and do my professional qualification and then becoming a fully qualified chartered accountant.
Q. What would you say to somebody thinking about applying for an apprenticeship at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. Yeah, I think apprenticeships are really good because you get your hands on experience while you get paid and you get to be in work environment with people with lots of experience. People have been here 30 plus years, so they have lots of different things to tell me. And they have a saying that, 'there's no question that's a stupid one', and they are very open about things.
Ricky - Streetscene
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Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. My name's Ricky. I've been at The Council now for 13 years. I started off as a vehicle mechanic and now I'm the Transport Supervisor.
Q. Tell us about some of the training you’ve received during your time with us.
A. So I started at NEDDC, and training wise I did the MOT training course when I first started to become a MOT tester. I also did my CPC training, I've done forklift truck training, and then when I became Transport Supervisor, NEDDC put me through my MOT Managers course, and hopefully transport managers course.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. NEDDC staff are fantastic, any queries, any problems struggling with work.. There's always someone to help you. Yeah. regards training. They pay for all the training, plus you get paid as well, which is a bonus! So yeah, my time at NEDDC has been brilliant. You'll never hear me ever say hate my hate my job. I never thought that i'd ever be where I am now. I just thought i'd be a vehicle mechanic and that's it. But the opportunities and the courses, and the progression that you can go through, with the training provided, basically whatever you want that will help your job. If you put that on your training matrix that'll improve your job then NEDDC will do it for you.
Q. What’s the best thing about your job?
A. So the most is probably the camaraderie within my team. I'm in a small knit team - Transport. Everybody gets on, everybody has a laugh. There's a time and a place, so work and obviously enjoying your work as that's key to me. If you enjoy your work, you work harder. So yeah, probably the camaraderie.
Q. How have you managed that additional responsibility during your time at NEDDC?
A. I've managed the responsibility by being a relief supervisor first, before I became the main supervisor, which stood me in good stead before I became the main supervisor. So basically learning the job before I was in it helped a lot.
Q. What are your next steps on your career journey?
A. Next for me, hopefully will be Transport Manager. Whether that will come or not, I don't know. I'm always willing to do the training, put the effort in and hard work, and hopefully that'll come.
Abi - Environmental Health
Q. What is your name and job here at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. My name is Abi and I have been with the council for 5 years in Dec’23. I started as a temporary technical support assistant, and I am now a Graduate Environmental Health officer.
Q. Tell us a bit more about your progression here
A. I started in December 2018 as a Temporary Technical Support Assistant as maternity Cover. I became a Trainee Environmental Health Officer in September 2020. I completed a part-time Masters degree in Environmental Health at Leeds Beckett university over two years. I am now a Graduate Environmental Health Officer in the commercial team and have progressed onto my professional portfolio pathway. I am hoping to gain my CIEH accreditation in the next few months.
Q. How have North East Derbyshire District Council supported you during your time with them?
A. NEDDC has been brilliant with supporting me, from allowing me time to undertake my studies to allowing me to shadow the different roles within the teams in the service. I was guided through the real day to day job and was able to see the comparison with the studies I was doing, which made it easier to do my assignments and learn along the way.
Q. What are the main benefits of working for North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. Constant support and amazing ethos. My department is always so welcoming and comes together to support each individual as a Team.
Q. How did you find stepping up in to your current position given the additional responsibilities you have?
A. I relished the opportunity to develop my skills wherever possible. From starting as a technical assistant with very little on the job experience, I was able to build a foundation of knowledge and experience which made new responsibilities easier challenges. Through my new responsibilities I have found a passion for dealing with private water supplies in our district (risk assessments, sampling and enforcement). I hope one day to be trained up to be accredited and become the private water supply lead officer within my team.
Q. Have you undertaken additional learning since being at North East Derbyshire District Council?
A. Other than my MSc., I have undertaken several CPD training courses and have been able to attend UKHSA Sampling training (UK Health Security Agency).
Q. What are your next steps on your career journey?
A. My next steps are to complete my professional portfolio and to undertake my professional discussion to become a fully qualified Environmental Health Officer.
Q. Would you recommend North East Derbyshire District Council to somebody thinking about applying?
A. Definitely! It’s been hands down the best career move I could have made. Not only has my career benefited, but I have found a work family I didn’t know I needed! The friends and colleagues I have made are some of the ones I cherish the most. 100% recommend to anyone thinking about applying!