Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council 2025 graduate opportunities

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About Hertfordshire
Home to around 1.2m residents, Hertfordshire is a large and varied county - we’re fortunate to have both our beautiful countryside and our close connections to London. The county blends thriving garden cities and post-war new towns alongside historic market towns and picturesque villages. We’re home to a range of businesses including the Harry Potter, Eastenders and Strictly studios, large retail organisations, cutting edge pharmaceutical and scientific industries that developed the Mars Lunar Rover, and we were proud to be an Olympic host county in 2012.

The County Council is the only council with responsibility for services across the whole of the county. It works with central government and other local organisations to help improve and deliver a range of local services to more than a million people, who live, work and travel in the county. Services such as local schools, libraries, support for elderly and vulnerable people and the roads and pavements are all provided by the county council.

But it's not just about services; the council is run by elected politicians. Subject to legislation enacted by Parliament, local councillors take the decisions on where money will be spent, what council taxes will be charged and how local services will be developed

We're a modern, exciting place to work.
• We deliver a broad range of services to more than 1.1 million people.
• We're close to the communities we serve, working with a wide range of partners to provide services that people need.
• We have a strong history of high quality graduates from the scheme going on to high profile roles.

About Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire - County of Opportunity
The council’s corporate plan sets out our key priorities for the county and how we intend to deliver our vision for Hertfordshire, where residents have the opportunity to:

Thrive: We want every Hertfordshire resident to have the opportunity to maximise their potential and live full lives as confident citizens.

Prosper: We want Hertfordshire’s economy to be strong, with resilient and successful businesses that offer employment opportunities to residents, helping them to maintain a high standard of living.

Be healthy and safe: We want Hertfordshire residents to have the opportunity to live as healthy lives as possible and to live safely in their communities.

Take part: We want to enable all Hertfordshire residents to make a more active contribution to their local areas, working with elected representatives and other community activists to tackle local issues and ensure that council services are more responsive to their priorities and ambitions.

Training & profiles

We want the best people. And once you're in, we'll help you stay at the top of your game with:

  • face-to-face and online courses
  • leadership programmes
  • on-the-job learning through secondments
  • in-house coaches and mentors
  • opportunities to gain professional qualifications through our apprenticeship programmes.

Application procedure

Our graduate scheme is a 2 year development programme which fast-tracks graduates towards a senior management career.

  • Work across a range of services, from frontline to back office, on the most interesting and stretching projects.
  • Great support from peers already on the scheme.
  • Spend time with our senior leaders, including our chief executive and Leader of the Council.

A great candidate...

  • has a 2:1 degree or higher
  • works with others to make a positive difference
  • is a strong and confident communicator
  • is up for tackling complex issues with strategic, analytical thinking
  • is resourceful and uses their initiative.