APPRENTICES, WORK EXPERIENCE & PLACEMENTS ACROSS THE DEVONSHIRE GROUP

The Devonshire Group’s Commitment to Our Shared Future

The vision of the Devonshire Group is to benefit our heritage, people and our shared future. Our commitment to a shared future extends beyond the estate, into local communities, the county, and the environment. This has lead us to devise a set of 10 goals for 10 years, which aim to preserve, restore and enhance our heritage assets for future generations, be a significant contributor to our communities, and be seen as a leader in the way we go about what we do and look after our employees and visitors.

For young people in rural communities, employment opportunities can be hard to find. Understanding the importance of decency and the value of doing the right thing, we take pride in offering young people in our communities the chance to gain their first experiences of the workplace.

As such, one of the Devonshire Group’s 10 goals for the next 10 years is to take on 250 trainees, apprentices and paid graduates, and enable 250 pre-GCSE work experience placements to take place on our estates. We are proud to work with local education and training providers to create these opportunities.

Find out more about our apprenticeship schemes, work experience and placements below.

We aim to provide our apprentices with the professional and personal skills necessary to have a long and successful career within the Devonshire Group. We are proud that over 50% of our apprentices choose to develop their long-term career with us once their apprenticeship is completed.

We take our responsibilities of the development of our apprentices seriously and are active in providing experience in as many areas as possible, whatever your academic achievements are. We pay above the statutory rates and, provided you finish your apprenticeship - a great job at the end of it.

We offer apprenticeships in many areas across our businesses including: chefs and bakers; technical trades such as plumbing and electrician; gardening and office administration among others.

If you are interested in an apprenticeship, you can see what vacancies we have available here, or contact our training team at [email protected] for more information.

The types of opportunities offered include:

• Work experience - Year 10 Work experience - short placements for school children aged 14 and 15 to shadow members of staff in their roles. These work experience placements are generally available at the end of June and July each year – to fit with your school curriculum. We have places available in most areas including: the farmyard, the garden, catering and hotels, administration, marketing, the collection, on the visitor route and events. However, these places are very popular so please put in your application early. To apply for year 10 work experience please email: [email protected] and you will be sent an application form.

• Trainee Veterinary Students – 6th form and university We also have work experience available each year for trainee veterinary students who are currently at sixth form or university. These placements involve assisting with lambing at Dunsa Farm which generally takes place in April each year. Applications for lambing work experience open after Christmas each year. For more information or to apply, please email [email protected]

The gardens team currently offer two professional training programme schemes:

• Professional Gardeners Guild - Offering the opportunity to gain practical skills in the workplace at three world class historic or botanic gardens. This is an ideal opportunity for anybody seeking a career as a professional gardener or horticulturist. To find out more visit the professional gardeners guild trainee ship.
• Historic and Botanical Garden training programme - The HBGTP provides full-time paid work as a gardener in a UK historic or botanic garden; placements last 12 months and start in September each year. To find out more visit hbgtp.org.uk.
• We accept applications for each scheme on an annual basis and are always working to improve the schemes we offer. Check our vacancies page for information on how to apply.

We also provide placements and projects for students in higher education, such as:

• Undergraduates - placements for students undertaking degrees in a wide range of fields. Departments who can host undergraduate placements include the building department, collections, farms, garden, forestry, land agents and the Chatsworth Health Club.
• PhD students - postgraduate doctoral level projects supervised by staff in the collections department. In 2018, three PhD students from the University of Sheffield completed studies on the people who lived and worked on the Chatsworth Estate in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. In collaboration with the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities, a further three studentships have been put forward for funding with the intention they will start in October 2019. The projects will investigate the North Wing at Chatsworth: how it was rebuilt in the 19th century, and how it has been used and experienced since.

If you are interested in a placement please contact: [email protected]