Local government officer

The work you'll do will depend on the department that you work in and your level of responsibility.

As a local government officer, you could:

• manage and evaluate projects
•  keep records, write reports and prepare briefing papers
•  answer enquiries over the phone, online, in writing or in person
•  present information at meetings
•  supervise administrative work and manage clerical staff
•  prepare and manage contracts
•  deal with other agencies
•  manage budgets and funding

• customer service skills
• administration skills
• excellent verbal communication skills
• business management skills 
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role
• applying directly
• a graduate training scheme

With experience, you could:

• move to different local authority departments
•  progress into management
•  work for other public sector organisations, like the NHS
•  work in areas like the voluntary sector