Apprentice, Trainee & Graduate Opportunities

•Health, Social Care & Social Work

•Education, and Early Years Play and Youth Work 

•Project Management and Business Analysis 

•Economic Development, Tourism & Parks

•Design, Marketing, Communications & Social Media 

•Digital, ICT, Software and Hardware Engineering.

•Specialist Community Advice Services, Housing, Benefits, and Homelessness support.

•Customer Services and Business Support

…. and much more

•Accountancy, Risk Management & Insurance

•Human Resources and Law

•City Planning, Environmental Services, Sustainability and Transport

•Architecture, Town Planning and Graphic Design

•Engineering, Traditional Trades, Horticulture and HGV Driving

•Social Policy

•Democratic and Electoral Services

Apprentice, Trainee and Graduate Opportunities.

We are committed to increasing opportunities for young people to join our workforce including creating apprentice, trainee and graduate entry routes. 

•Are you interested in public service and in helping us support local communities?

•Are you keen to develop your knowledge, skills and experience and help our teams respond to new challenges?

Yes? Then Cardiff Council has a lot to offer you. 

Working for Cardiff will give you skills, knowledge and expertise to develop your career.

What is the pay?

Pay rates for any role with us will depend on the job grade shown on the job advert. We are proud to be a Living Wage Employer, and this means that we guarantee employees will receive at least the equivalent of the Real Living Wage including in our apprentice and trainee roles. This is higher than the minimum wage rates set by UK Government. For more information on the Living Wage or to check the current rate visit www.livingwage.org.uk.

If you are a young person living in Cardiff, there are even more opportunities to join us! 

We want more young people in Cardiff to join our workforce. So, in addition to our general vacancies which are open to all candidates, each year we advertise our Corporate Apprentice and Trainee Scheme opportunities to encourage more residents living in our local communities to apply. As full training will be provided, these roles are also suitable for those without prior work experience or certain qualifications. There is no upper age limit to apply, and some roles are also open to graduates living in Cardiff. Scheme roles vary each year and are advertised on our Career Site from October. 

Join Us!

Whether you are a resident or live outside of Cardiff, our ‘general vacancy’ recruitment provides the widest range of opportunities to join us, as an apprentice, trainee, graduate or a more experienced candidate. So, if you are looking to join a large public sector organisation delivering public services in the capital of Wales, we look forward to receiving your application. 

To find out more about what we do, follow us on social media or visit our website at www.cardiff.gov.uk, and don’t forget to sign up for a job alert at www.jobscardiffcouncil.co.uk 

General Vacancies and How to Apply.

We advertise our general vacancies permanent and fixed term roles, including Apprentice, Trainee and Graduate roles, on our online career site www.jobscardiffcouncil.co.uk. As roles and career paths differ, so do the entry requirements, so each job vacancy is advertised separately. This means you control the roles we consider you for, as you decide which roles to apply for based on your interest or career goals. There is no limit to the number of job roles you can apply for, but you must apply online.

Job adverts

Each job advert will give a short summary of the role and the work of the team, job location, grade and salary. It will also include a link to important documents including the Job Description and Person Specification, which lists the essential and desirable skills, knowledge and behaviours needed for the role. To increase your chance of being invited to an interview, you must give examples to demonstrate how you meet all the listed Essential Criteria and as many of the Desirable Criteria as possible.

Your Criteria examples will go in the Supporting Information section of the online application form. You can also upload them into your application as a separate document but take care not to upload a CV as we cannot consider CV applications.

1. List each of the Essential and Desirable criteria as a side heading and write your example underneath 

2. Use the STAR method to describe the Situation, Task, Action and Result of what you did in your example.

What age can you apply to work at Cardiff? 

Our roles are open to all ages from 16 years up, but occasionally roles may have a minimum age of 18 due to the tasks involved in that position. If an age restriction applies to a role, it will be stated on the job advert, job description and person specification. There is no upper age limit to apply.

Anonymised Applications

To ensure a fair and equitable recruitment process, we anonymise applications. This means that each time you apply online for a job at Cardiff, your name and other personal identifying details are hidden. The manager will shortlist applications for interview anonymously, based on how closely the examples, and other information provided, matches the Essential and Desirable Criteria shown on the Person Specification. Those with the best match are invited to interview. Our digital system will then automatically decrypt the personal contact details of those invited to interview. 

This means the manager can’t see your name or other personal details until you are invited to interview. It also means that that a recruiting manager for one role cannot access any other applications you make for other roles in different teams. 

We encourage you to apply for all roles you are interested in and where you feel you meet all the Essential Criteria and as many of the Desirable Criteria as possible.

What happens after applying?

Once you apply, you will receive emails about the progress of your application. Occasionally your email provider may place these in your Spam folder. If you are waiting to hear about the outcome of a job application, we recommend you check your Spam folder regularly.

Our digital system will release your anonymised application to the recruiting manager the day after the job advert closing date. Although managers are keen to recruit, they are also responsible for managing large service teams, so it could take them a week or two to consider the applications and decide which to shortlist for interview. 

All applicants will be contacted by email to let them know the outcome of their application, whether successful and invited to interview, or unsuccessful this time around. 

If you’re not successful with one application to Cardiff, don’t be put off from applying again. We encourage you to apply for other roles with us where you can demonstrate all Essential Criteria and as many of the Desirable Criteria as possible. If you live in Cardiff, you can get help to apply for jobs, including jobs with us, from our Into Work Team at www.intowork.org.uk

Employee Training and Development 

When you join Cardiff Council in any role, your manager will support your training and development so you can gain the knowledge and skills to support your future career and reach your full potential.

You will also have access to our Cardiff Academy ILM Accredited Training Team courses, to support you to develop as a local government officer at Cardiff. 

All apprentices study for an apprenticeship qualification on the job, matched to their role. Details of this will be on the job advert when you apply. 

We encourage all eligible employees, irrespective of role type or grade, to access our funded apprenticeship qualifications to support their development and progression at Foundation, Higher or Degree Apprenticeship Level across a wide range of specialisms linked to their role.

Apprentices, trainees and graduate trainees are also provided with a service mentor to help to them settle into the role.

Delivering for Cardiff

As an equal opportunities’ employer, we value diversity. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals: aged under 25; not in employment, education or training; from our local communities including in particular disabled individuals, carers and those from the Cardiff BAME and LGBT+ communities, or; are able to communicate fluently in Welsh and/or other community languages.

Cardiff thrives on diversity. We are a Stonewall Gold Champion and a Disability Confident Employer. We have a range of Equality Networks Employees can join or be an ally of including our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network, LGBT+, Disability, Women’s and Carers Equality Networks. 

For more reasons to join us and a list of benefits visit our www.jobscardiffcouncil.co.uk