Hear from our staff in Early Career roles

Monika Sunda was 15 years old and waiting for her GCSE results, when she interviewed for an apprenticeship with Bedford Borough Council.

Two years later she is a Democratic and Electoral Services Officer at Borough Hall, and she shared her experiences of growing up in the workplace.

“I had just turned 16 when I started, the youngest person in Borough Hall,” she said. “From the first day I’ve had so much support, and feel I’ve done a lot of growing up.

“That’s one of the best things about doing an apprenticeship in a professional environment; you meet different people every day, in different roles and different departments. You don’t just learn directly from them, you’re also influenced by seeing how they work. One of the biggest influences has been Pishminder Kumari, who has been so good at showing me how to learn from every experience and helping me accept that sometimes you learn by making mistakes.”

Monika added; “I have friends of my age who have just finished their A Levels, but a lot of them wonder if they should have taken the route I did rather than go to college or sixth form. Going straight into an apprenticeship is one of the best things I’ve ever done, I get real satisfaction from my work every day. I used to be very shy, I wouldn’t talk to people unless they spoke to me first. But managers like Catherine Cole and Lesley Blue have had confidence in me every day and it’s changed me into a more confident person.”

As part of the Democratic Services team Monika played a key role in multiple elections this year, including for the Police and Crime Commissioner, the general election, and by-elections in Riverfield and Wyboston wards.

Monika said; “When it’s election time there’s a lot of tasks that come at you all at once, so it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s one of the things I enjoy about this team – we all work together to stay on top of things, and make sure that we get everything done.

“There were some long days, including working 18 hours on election day. I was on the phones answering the calls during the daytime. People had all sorts of queries, from ‘Where is my polling station?’ to ‘Can I vote tomorrow instead?’ We didn’t finish until 5.30am, but we were all still smiling at the end. We were tired – but still smiling!”

I was 16 years old and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. It was by chance I came across an advert for an apprenticeship in libraries and knew that would be perfect for me, having loved visiting the library as a child and being an avid reader. 

I started as an apprentice and learnt everything I know about libraries and customer service from working with the library service. I then stepped into my role as a Library Officer at the Central library, where I supervised staff and ensured the smooth running of day to day tasks. After about 4 years as a Library Officer, the opportunity for a Senior Library Officer arose and this has given me the chance to broaden my knowledge and experience even more.

The most rewarding part of my role is the customers, knowing that a simple conversation means the world to some of them. We meet people from all walks of life and knowing that you’ve been able to help someone or even just chat to them, ask them how their day is going is so rewarding. It’s also great to have the regular customers popping in to say hello, it’s a lovely community. 

Also, it’s a joy to be part of creating those core memories for our younger customers, such as fun at rhyme times or coming in to join the Summer Reading Challenge, knowing they’ll remember those times as they grow up is a real achievement.

My team are a close-knit group who support each other in any way we can to ensure our lovely libraries thrive, we’re always there to go above and beyond to help each other.

“I enjoyed learning new things; I started knowing nothing and left having learnt so much! It was brilliant having this experience and finding out more about the Council. I would recommend having a work experience placement with Bedford Borough Council. It was an amazing opportunity - the team was so lovely and made me feel so welcome.” Student from a Bedford Borough school.

"We are looking forward to welcoming a work experience student in Human Resources this summer, guiding them through key areas such as data protection, diversity and inclusion, and apprenticeship programmes. This placement will not only enhance their work-related skills, but also provide them with a valuable insight into the various career paths within HR and an overview of the essential functions of local government." Team Leader, People.