Want to find out what a real job is like?
These opportunities will let you step into the workplace, meet friendly professionals, and see what different careers are really all about. It's a great way to build confidence, explore your interests, and get inspired about your future.
Short placement days - Shadowing days
Vehicle maintenance with the Fire and Rescue Service
Go behind the scenes and see how skilled engineers keep emergency vehicles ready to respond. Shadowing vehicle maintenance engineers in the workshop.
County Hall: Property and assets
Find out what it takes to keep a busy workplace running, from preparing rooms to supporting day-to-day operations. Shadowing and supporting the facilities team - incoming post, room preparation.
County Hall: Customer Services
Get a feel for a fast-paced front desk and see how staff help residents every day. Shadowing and supporting the Customer Service Centre, including reception at County Hall.
Children's and Adult Services – Social Work practice learning
Discover how social work apprentices learn important skills to support Adults and children, young people, and families. Shadow a practice learning session with current social work apprentices, meet the apprentice cohort, hear about the opportunities available, and gain an insight into what a typical day looks like for a social work apprentice.
Longer placements for four plus weeks
Innovation Centre
At Innovate Oxfordshire, you'll get the chance to see how new ideas and technology can make a real difference in local government and public services. This placement will help you understand how teams work together to solve real problems, improve services, and support local communities.
You’ll take part in practical activities, learn about digital innovation and data, and see how the council works with universities, businesses, and other organisations to create better outcomes for residents.
Location: County Hall
Business Improvement Team
Join the Business Improvement Team and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the council makes services better for the people of Oxfordshire. During this placement, you'll help with real improvement projects by gathering information, supporting workshops, taking notes, mapping how processes work, creating simple documents or presentation slides, and researching how other councils do things.
You'll build confidence, learn how teams solve problems and make changes, and develop useful workplace skills such as organisation, communication, teamwork and taking responsibility for your own tasks.
Location: County Hall
Customer Service Centre
Get a real taste of working in a busy customer service team, where you’ll see how staff help residents, businesses and visitors across Oxfordshire by phone, email and face to face.
You’ll build confidence, learn how to communicate with different people, and develop useful skills in organisation, problem-solving, time management and customer service that can help you in any future career.
Location: County Hall
Community Support Service
In this role, you would help support adults to live full and meaningful lives by focusing on what matters most to them. You will see how staff work with people and their carers, helping them stay active, build confidence, make friendships, and feel part of their community through activities such as wellbeing groups, local events, volunteering, cooking, and arts and crafts.
This placement would give you an insight into how support services help people stay independent and live at home for longer.
Location: Day centres in Abingdon, Bicester, Headington and Witney
Property and Assets, Facilities Management – Engineering
Are you interested in finding out what it's like to work in engineering and help keep important council buildings running safely?
This placement is based within the Hard Facilities Management team in Property Services. You will get the chance to see how engineers help maintain council buildings, respond to repairs, check safety requirements and support improvements across different sites.
Location: Bicester
Commercial and Procurement
This placement in Commercial and Procurement at Oxfordshire County Council is all about understanding how important decisions are made and how services are delivered behind the scenes. It's designed to give you a supportive introduction to the world of work, while helping you build confidence and develop skills that will support your future.
During your placement, you'll spend time exploring how the Council buys the goods, services and works it needs to support local communities. You'll learn how commercial decisions are made, how contracts are managed, and how different teams work together to make sure services deliver value for residents.
You'll have the opportunity to get involved in a range of activities, which might include supporting research tasks, helping with project work, or learning how procurement processes work in practice. You'll also gain insight into areas such as market engagement, policy development and how sustainability and social value are considered in decision-making.