Customer Service Practitioner (Administrative) L2 - v4 Review

Item: Customer Service Practitioner (Administrative) L2 - v4 at South Cambridge District Council
Rating: 3.3
Author: Anonymous

at South Cambridge District Council

Level 2 Apprenticeship

Finance

Camborne

Review Submitted: April 2024

Overall Rating

3.3 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

2/5 - Overview of Role

4/5 - Skills Development

3.4/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

2/5

I am the admin for the revenues and benefits department at South Cambs. I help run all the admin for the council tax team, domestic rates, rents and sundry debtors team. I sort all their referencing and post, and process refunds and cheques for these departments. I sort all emails as well and reply to those that I can.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

2/5

I am being totally honest here I have wanted to quit for months but I believe in finishing what I have started well so am doing my best to finish it. My manager has been so helpful and kind throughout it all though and has kept me going, she is so lovely. I just realised that admin wasn't the role for me and not something I want to do long term, I stopped learning new things about 4 or 5 months into my apprenticeship, and just kept doing the same things daily and I love learning so for me to stop learning, it just quickly became boring and something that didn't interest me, so its been really tough on my end, but have tried my best to continue.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

4/5

I have developed my admin skills. I have probably learnt new skills in terms of how to process refunds using their system pay 360, and have learnt how to use their remote software for cheques. I have also learnt how to use Civica which is their software in which they respond to all emails from customers.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

4/5

I will be honest with the apprenticeship stuff it is better now - my tutor kept changing for the first 7 months and that just made things more challenging on my end. However, it is structured well, I just had to be organised because at the time I didn't have a tutor that was so I did all the work and started unset work just so I could keep at it or I probably would've missed out on doing any work for three months as I had no tutor during this time. I am rating 9 purely because of the tutor I have now, she is proficient and very helpful.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

5/5

A lot

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

3/5

I will do 7 purely because of my experience before the training provider I have now. The lady I have now is great, definitely a 10/10 but because of my experience over the year I will give a 7.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

4/5

I'd say it helps yes

Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

1/5

unfortunately not, this would've been nice as i have been very isolated for a year so would've been nice to have met more people and built up strong friendships. I don't feel like ive walked away gaining a friend for life as they say which is a shame but it is what it is

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend South Cambridge District Council to a friend?

Yes

Why?

I would if it was their kind of job role - if it wasn't I wouldn't at all. The hours are good and the four day week helps greatly in terms of mental health etc. Some of the staff are really lovely, its just hard to build friendships if you work from home etc. But its still a good company to work for- I would however only refer it lightly as I personally want to move on from here.

What tips or advice would you give to others applying to South Cambridge District Council?

Be in mind that if you're working from home a lot its very isolating - even in the office at times because most people just get on with their work and don't like to talk. You get the odd few who talk which is really lovely but if you want a job that is sociable, I unfortunately wouldn't recommend the council. But it has many great benefits and I would happily stay if my job role was different and I did work I was passionate about, I think because I wasn't passionate about my work I haven't enjoyed it - I think things would be different if I wasn't as isolated because my staff are very friendly when I do talk to them, it just isn't often. However, things might be different depending on the department you work for - I know for a fact the Contact centre are lovely and very chatty and sociable so perhaps it depends what department you work in.

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