Early careers engagement and outreach across the West Midlands

Building a sustainable talent pipeline for local government is a strategic priority, embedded in both WME’s Strategic Plan and the West Midlands Region Local Government Workforce Strategy. Local government offers genuine breadth; hundreds of roles, clear progression, flexibility and the chance to make a real difference to communities.

Yet the sector faces a persistent challenge: most young people simply don’t know what councils do, or why it matters, before their career decisions are already made. Workforce pressures across the region are intensifying – an ageing workforce, growing skills gaps and increasing competition for talent. The old model of transactional recruitment is no longer sufficient.

What’s needed is a shift to relational talent development: building awareness and aspiration years before vacancies arise. No single council can achieve this alone, but working together regionally and nationally creates a multiplier effect that changes the story for the whole sector.

Regional partnerships are essential to translating national campaigns into local impact. The early careers campaign, developed in partnership with West Midlands Employers and the West Midlands Combined Authority, demonstrated how collaboration creates a greater reach and consistency." Cllr

Jane Scullion, Chair of the LGA’s Improvement Committee.

Our objective was to strengthen the early careers pipeline into local government across the West Midlands, increasing awareness among young people, equipping educators with the tools to introduce the sector confidently, and positioning the West Midlands as a leading region in early careers engagement.

This meant operating at three levels: directly with young people through events and digital outreach; with schools and educators through resources and workplace insight; and through strategic partnership with the LGA and WMCA, combining regional expertise with the reach and resource of a national campaign framework. The West Midlands was selected as the pilot region for the LGA’s national ‘Make a Difference, Work for Your Local Council’ early careers campaign, giving our regional activity a national platform and giving the national campaign authentic regional roots.

Supporting schools and educators

WME worked with councils and education partners to build stronger connections between local government and schools.

In partnership with Shropshire Council, WME supported Teacher Encounters alongside Opus People Solutions, giving teachers and careers leads first-hand insight into how councils operate and the breadth of roles available, ensuring students receive better-informed guidance.

WME also facilitated virtual work experience for students at Ormiston SWB Academy and continued to promote our ‘Exploring Careers in Local Councils: An Essential Guide,' a ready-to-use resource providing lesson plans, case studies and activities for teachers.

Launched at the close of the previous financial year, the guide has now received over 100 requests from councils and education partners across the region and beyond.


 To engage young people directly, we delivered a regional Learn Live careers broadcast in partnership with the WMCA Careers Hub in the summer, featuring contributors from councils across the region. The broadcast has now received over 27,000 views, with the recording available on demand for a further 12 months.

WME also engaged with young people directly at regional events including the WMCA Youth Summit, Telford Skills Show and Inspiring the Black Country in Wolverhampton.


LGA Early Careers Campaign – national pilot


As the pilot region, WME played a central role in shaping the LGA campaign – contributing resourcing insight, facilitating council participation and driving direct engagement with young people through WMJobs.



“Our work to promote local government careers for young people in the West Midlands has been a collaborative partnership, and it has shaped our efforts nationally. It has been great to see 79% of councils in the region engaging with the campaign toolkit, which has supported their local recruitment efforts.”

Will Oldham, Adviser – Leadership, Local Government Association

Reaching the next generation of local government talent

Our early careers activity delivered significant reach across the West Midlands, engaging thousands of young people, educators and career influencers through a coordinated mix of regional outreach and campaign activity.



In addition, the TikTok campaign surpassed every benchmark set, reaching audiences entirely new to local government recruitment. The Learn Live recordings remain available on demand for 12 months, extending their reach well beyond broadcast day.

The growing demand for the career’s education pack demonstrates a genuine appetite for practical resources, and that schools and councils are actively investing in this pipeline-building work. Most significantly, this year’s activity has established the West Midlands as a leading region for early careers engagement in local government.

Being selected as the national pilot gave WME’s regional activity a national platform, and gave the national campaign something money alone can’t buy: authentic local voices, established networks, thriving job board and on-the-ground delivery capability.

The young people reached this year are the apprentices, graduates and early career professionals councils across the region will be recruiting in three to five years’ time. The investment made now is building the pipeline they’ll depend on in the future!

‘It was great to have the support of WME and Opus People Solutions at our Teacher Encounter Event. Chloe and Jazz were able to share practical insights and resources with teachers about careers in local government, discuss a variety of entry routes, and highlight the importance of interpersonal skills for those entering the workplace.

Collectively, we raised awareness of opportunities and showcased what a great career choice local government can be! The positive impact has been felt not only within our organisation but across the local community, helping us strengthen our talent pipeline and contribute meaningfully to our workforce development’

Sam Collins-Lafferty, HR & OD Manager, Shopshire Council

Through our Early Careers work across the year we delivered over 80 hours of social value activity aligned to the ‘Promoting Skills and Employment’ theme, reflecting the direct engagement and outreach delivered through these initiatives

View the 'start your career at your local council' video below


Promote opportunities regionally

Get in touch to find out how WMJobs can help you find the right candidates.

Lucy Hall

Resourcing Consultant