Welcome

As a local government officer, you would be responsible for putting council policies
into practice. You would also make sure that local services are delivered well.
If you are keen to be involved in your local area and want to work in an office, this job could be perfect for you.

To become a local government officer, you will need to be able to deal with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. You will need good negotiating skills. You will
also need good organisational skills.  The skills and experience that are needed will vary depending on the duties and level of responsibility, so you should check the entry requirements carefully for each job.

Entry Requirements
The skills and experience that are needed will vary depending on the duties and level of responsibility, so you should check the entry requirements carefully for each job. For some jobs, employers will ask for qualifications to degree standard, or equivalent work experience. Most councils value life experience and may accept you without the exact qualifications that they have asked for, as long as you have enough relevant experience and the skills needed for the job.  You could actually start in local government as an administrative assistant and work your way up to be a Head of Service or even a Chief Executive Officer.

Training and Development
Another option is to study for qualifications related to your own department, for example in housing, human resources or public finance. If you want to progress into senior management, you may find it useful to study for a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Skills and Knowledge
To become a local government officer, you will need to have:

• excellent written and spoken communication skills; 
• the ability to deal with people from a wide variety of backgrounds; 
• good negotiating skills; 
• good organisational skills; 
• a logical approach to solving problems; 
• accuracy and attention to detail; 
• the ability to analyse and interpret information; 
• numeracy skills, for working with statistics, invoices or budgets.