Programme Support Officer Review

Supporting delivery of ICMM’s work plan, through desk-top research and analysis related to environmental and social topics, and involvement in projects or other initiatives. Other involvement could be administrative assistance, planning and supporting events, or communications support like messaging documents or media tracking. As the role is ad-hoc and the type of work at ICMM varies, each day may be a mix of ongoing research work, administrative assistance, or communications tasks.

I significantly developed my technical knowledge, mainly in environment, social and economic development and sustainability reporting. Specific topic areas I developed my knowledge included community resilience, human rights, water, mine closure, biodiversity, and climate change. I gained experience and insight into how an international organisation works, including stakeholder engagement. I developed my skills on written and verbal communication, relationship management, and time and task management. I learnt how to transfer academic knowledge into real-world projects.

The responsibility on placement was within reason, the line manager works with you to ensure your workload is manageable and you are comfortable with the tasks and responsibilities you have been given. Yet there is a sense of trust in the placement student, so responsibility is always given where it is thought you are capable. This allowed me to take ownership of tasks and pieces to showcase my own work.

I had weekly catch ups with my line manager and felt I could reach out to her each day if I had any questions or wanted to talk about something. Other team members including directors and CEO were equally as supportive and provided useful advice and guidance, including career advice or explaining background to tasks. The HR team also provide schemes and policies for support more generally.

The company has set values which apply to how they work, which I felt were easily seen in peoples approach and ways of communicating, positively and collaboratively. There were regular social events for those wanting to attend. There was opportunity to be involved in other training, talks or attend external events, including networking events. As a relatively small organisation, it was nice to be able to know everyone personally.

The team at ICMM created enjoyable events, meetings and team days or exercises. Working collaboratively with the team and supporting in-person events (pre-covid) was enjoyable. The culture and way of working is flexible and provides a supportive and understanding environment. As a result of my placement year, I was offered a full time position as a Programme Officer after finishing university, which I subsequently accepted as a result of a positive placement experience.

Yes

My advice would be to express your interest in ICMM areas of work, and link that to uni modules you've done or relevant experience, and why you're personally interested. Showing skills listed on the job description by providing examples from uni work, part-time job or volunteering etcs would be great. In the interviews, be yourself, even if you feel you lack experience in some areas, that's fine and normal and we value it when you're open about it!