Jasmin Johal – Project Support Assistant - Video and audio transcripts

Hello! I'm Jasmin Johal and I was a part of the current University postgraduate consultancy scheme in the September 2021 cohort. So, what this means is, as part of my Masters I was able to take a work placement at Coventry City Council within the People and Culture department and this actually led me to get a full-time job within that same department. I was initially interested in applying for work placements because I really wanted some practical experience to match up with the knowledge that I was getting in my HR Masters and Coventry City Council specifically had projects that were really detailed and progressive and they mentioned a lot of the topics that I was really interested in. And it's because of this that kind of made it really difficult to apply for just a few um but eventually I was accepted for a work placement on the Engagement team and that was the beginning of my three-month journey. In them three months I would say that I did change quite a bit. One of the things that changed was my perception on the Council. Previously I didn't really have any knowledge on what it was like to work for the Council but as soon as I began working there I realised it was quite a modern place with new offices like Friargate and it was really friendly um environment and it was a place where they really do put the citizens of Coventry at the heart of everything that they do. Another way that say I changed was that I developed a different mindset so I began to look at every situation as an opportunity to either learn or improve um and this mindset has kind of stayed with me to this day. One of the things that I enjoyed most about my work placement is that I was able to put my hands in lots of different projects and so I was able to help with the rollout of Black History Month. Urm I also did some research for the recognition scheme and I was able to sit in on some meetings with external clients. This actually led me to get a signed book by a prominent author in HR. My work placement really helped me prepare for my current role obviously it was a great talking point in my application and my interviews because I could discuss what I'd already done at the Council but it gave me this kind of really deep insight into what it was like at the Council what the culture was like um and what they had planned for the future so with this knowledge I was kind of really able to hit the ground running when I started my current role. I really would recommend applying for a job at the Council it's a really friendly place and there are various roles so there's definitely something here for everyone.