Joshua - Licensing

Working as an intern within the Licensing team has allowed me to gain a real, first-hand perspective, at what it is like to work in a local authority.

During my time at the council, I got a mix of working in the office, going out on visits, as well as the flexibility to work from home. While working in the office, I would get involved in the operational aspect of licensing, this included updating documents and creating licences for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles.  

I was also given a project to update the Licensing website pages, in order to improve to accessibility and readability of the content. This was something entirely new to me and provided me with an opportunity to not only learn about something new, but to solve contemporary issues which the Licensing team face.

The intern project allowed me to connect with the interns from all other areas, to work on a collaborative piece of work. The project was split into three sections which allowed us to work on very different and unique tasks I would not have had the opportunity to do otherwise. Part of the project was aimed at capturing the changes to the staffs working practices to measure the impact working from home has had on carbon emissions. This information will then be used by the Environment team later to produce higher level data for analysis. Collectively, the interns also had to convey to the entire organisation what was being done to promote sustainability within the district. Videos and infographics used to convey this information.

Even when considering how COVID-19 has changed the way West Suffolk Council work, I have found the entire experience enjoyable and incredibly insightful to the public sector. I would recommend an internship here to anyone considering it as it has given me the opportunity to develop my skills and gain more experience in something, I would have never had the opportunity to do otherwise. It has truly been an invaluable experience which has created a lasting impact.