Careers
#WeAreCumberland

Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship with us will open a door to a career you might not even have thought of. And we'll support you to get there.

 

Our People. The Place. Your Potential.

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cumberland council staff

Reasons to choose us

A real job with real perks

You'll work in a real job alongside highly skilled and experienced staff.

Mentor support

You'll be assigned a mentor from day one, who will provide you with day-to-day support, advice and guidance.

On the job skills

You'll gain valuable and transferable on the job skills to help you in your career. An apprenticeship is a job with training to industry standards.

Home to work travel costs

You'll get your home to work travel costs paid up to a maximum of £15 per week.

Progression opportunities

Most of our apprentices go on to secure a job at the end of their apprenticeship, with some also going on to further study and education.

Supporting you

Enjoy the support of our dedicated in-house Apprenticeship Team alongside the knowledgeable and experienced staff from the service you’ll be working in.

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Darcey Adair - Customer Services Officer

Apprentice Employee Benefits

Great Holidays

Enjoy 25 days holiday (rising to 31 after 5 years) plus 8 bank holidays on top.

Better Retirement

Join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and build an inflation-linked defined-benefit pension.

Flexible Working

We’re proud to offer a range of flexible working options whether that’s through varied hours, hybrid working or flexi-time.

*flexibility is dependent on the needs of the role 

Staff Offers & Discounts

Enjoy access to a range of staff offers and discounts where you could save money off things like your mobile phone, holidays, shopping and more. 

Help For Parents

Enjoy access to a childcare voucher scheme to help discount the cost of caring for children while you work.

Support When You Need It

Enjoy access to a range of occupational health services, mental heath support, and staff engagement networks.

Family Friendly

We offer a range of family-friendly paid leave policies covering maternity, adoption, paternity, parental and special leave.

 

Learning & Development

You will be provided with the resources and equipment you need to do the job and get a minimum of 20% off-the-job training.

 

Find your future with Cumberland

Join as an apprentice with Cumberland Council and help us deliver inclusive public services that enable positive outcomes for health and wellbeing, preserve our environment, encourage our region to prosper, and fulfil the potential of our people.

Our next Apprenticeship Recruitment Campaign will go live during National Apprenticeship Week 2025

 

Our People. The Place. Your Potential.

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cumberland council staff member with council vehicle. cumberland council logo on vehicle door

Information for Aspiring Apprentices

Get the inside scoop on how to do the best application you can and prepare for your apprenticeship interview.

Application Tips

Do your homework

  • You'll need to know the role inside-out to make the best application and prepare for any possible interview.
  • Find out as much as you can about the organisation, look on the website and speak to anyone you know who works for us.
  • Think about whether the apprenticeship and the organisation is right for you, and why you would be the best person for the role.
  • Think about practical stuff like the location of the workplace (how will you get there, how long it will take to get there and the cost of travel).

Make a list of your skills, qualities and experiences

  • This will be useful when completing your application.
  • You can use it to compare and match with what we're looking for in its apprenticeship description, and make sure you think about how it will relate to the job you're applying for.
  • Ensure that you include your predicted qualifications in the free text question section to show how you meet the essential criteria for the post.

Write about yourself

  • If you're stuck, ask teachers, friends, and family to help you list your three top qualities.
  • You'll need to give examples to prove what you're talking about.
  • Please note we do not accept CV's for Apprenticeship applications and these will be removed prior to shortlisting.

Check your application

  • Good spelling, punctuation, and grammar are important.
  • Once you've finished, read through it again and then print it out as it's much easier to spot mistakes on paper.
  • Before you send it, ask your friends and family to have a look through it too.

Check your contact details

  • Are all of your details correct?
  • You should think about the methods you are using.
  • Remember to check your emails and voicemail regularly to track the progress of your application.

Final checks

  • Remember to check that you have completed all sections of the application form.
  • Attach any supporting information before you press the 'Apply' button.

Interview Tips

Prepare your answers

In interviews, recruiters look for evidence of competencies by asking candidates questions to help them understand how you would respond in certain situations or with certain tasks. This style of question requires candidates to give situational examples of times in the past when they have performed particular tasks or achieved particular outcomes using certain skills.  Competency based questions, usually start with phrases such as "tell me about a time", "give me an example of", "describe a situation when"

The best place to look when trying to think about the questions you might be asked is the role profile. The competencies and behaviors sections tell you what you will be accountable for and how your performance in the role will be measured.  This is a good place to start and gives you some idea of what the interviewers will be looking for.

Use the STAR method

Different type of models to help with answering achievements/competency based questions but we find the STAR model helps deliver a more detailed answer and we would encourage you to use this model when answering interview questions.

  • Situation - WHERE were you, WHAT were you doing, WHO was involved?
  • Task - highlight any challenges or constraints.  Give details such as deadlines, budgets, costs
  • Action - what did YOU do in this situation. What skills and behaviours did YOU apply
  • Result - what was the end result: was there an improvement made, problem resolved, did you save the company money.  

Examples:

Watch the video to see how the STAR Method (YouTube) can be used.

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aspiring apprentice image girl filling in application

Information for Parents

Inspire your children to be apprentices of tomorrow.

Take a look at our bespoke fact sheet for parents to understand the benefits of our apprenticeship scheme, see what headline pay and benefits we offer, and understand the eligibility criteria and the types of apprenticeships we support so you can help your young person find their future.

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support