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Laura Bennett

Laura Bennett

00:00:03 My name is Laura Bennett and my job title is Acting Team Manager for Human Resources Recruitment Initiatives Team. Well every day, I'm responsible for managing a team of seven people who deal with recruitment for Northeast Lincolnshire Council. In local government, we have over 600 different opportunities, different sort of job opportunities so we're talking about hundreds of different jobs really.

00:00:27 I was an average school student. I did average in my grades. I did well but I did average and I was an average C/B student. I like to be challenged, I like to read and I like to learn and I think for me that's what I liked about school the most. It wasn't the most, I don't think it ever is the best time necessarily in your life. It certainly was the time when I learnt a lot and I probably grew the most so that's what I got most out of school I think.

00:00:56 If I had the academic ability, I certainly would've gone on to do something a bit more scientific. I really did like geography and I think if I wasn't in human resources, I'd probably like to be a meteorologist. I still have hobbies in the areas that I know I'm not really going to be chasing as a career, although I might be chasing a tornado may be in ten years, you never know.

00:01:15 I do remember when I was young that I always wanted to work with children and when I was coming to leaving school, I did actually sign up to do an NNEB in child care but in the end, I decided that I realised that yes, I do like to work with children but I wouldn't want to work with them and look after them 24 hours a day.

00:01:38 University, if I'm absolutely honest, I knew wasn't going to be an option for me because I came from a parent family and we just didn't have the funds. I personally didn't want to face coming out of university with a degree with thousands and thousands of pounds worth of debt. Now that was a personal choice that I made and I decided to take the work-based learning approach instead which was doing an MBQ and aiming to gather my work experience and then look to complete a qualification whilst I was working.

00:02:09 At the time, it wasn't necessarily something that my mother was happy with. She was wanting me to go to college and, you know, progress that side of my career but I knew myself it wasn't right for me. So I took the £30 a week that it was at the time and I did my six months at £30 a week and I gained my first job.

00:02:30 I sort of spent the first year and a half of my career in...in a sales role and then I had my son and I had about a year off with my son and then after...after a year, I actually came and gained a clerical position at the Council and I've been at the Council ever since and that's ten years now.

00:02:50 I think if I could do anything in the world at all, it would probably be, I'd have to say two things. It would be to ride under the Niagara Falls and I'd love to chase a tornado.

00:03:03 There are tours and things that you can do, you know, if you are a hobby sort of storm chaser in America where you can go across and do a bit of an amateur storm chasing project so may be in ten years' time when I've got a bit more spare time on my hands, I might do that.

00:03:18 This is probably one of my favourite objects. It's a dream capture and it represents the ability for us to capture our dreams whatever they may be and turn them into reality. I don't like to let go of my dreams. I like to think if I've got something I want to do with my life, I'm going to make it happen.

00:03:37 I think my dream is to be remembered. To be remembered for making a difference I would say. I don't think I'm going to cure cancer but, you know, just if I make a difference to some people in some way, I'd be happy.

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