BLOG: Looking for a green job during the pandemic

Kickstart trainee Radya Syed talks about how her role as Policy and Research Trainee at Groundwork UK helped her gain the skills, confidence and knowledge to take the next steps in her career.


Graduating in the midst of a global pandemic was something I had never imagined or prepared for. Like thousands of other graduates across the UK, I felt anxious and uncertain about my future. As a Geography graduate looking to start a career in the environmental sector, I had little hope for where my next job would lead to in my career. With thousands of people out of employment, getting a job that I’d enjoy felt impossible – especially when competing with people with years of industry experience.

Initially, I expressed my interest in working within the environmental sector with my Universal Credit work coach. As I expected, my work coach found it challenging to send me graduate job opportunities within the environmental sector. I struggled to find ‘entry-level’ roles for environmental jobs because I had no experience working within the sector. When the opportunity for a Kickstart policy and research trainee for Groundwork arose, I felt hopeful and excited about finding a role with a job specification which was realistic to someone such as myself. I thoroughly researched Groundwork prior to my job application and felt drawn to the social justice and environmental issues Groundwork tackles through its various grants and programmes. Groundwork tackles these issues from a grassroots level – enabling communities to have the power to make impactful changes. I strongly believe in this approach because community decisions should be led by the people who they affect the most.

As someone who is passionate about the environment and tackling important social issues, I felt that Groundwork’s values were similar to my own. My experiences volunteering at a non-profit organisation (Bangladesh Women’s Association) and travelling have shaped my perspectives, allowing me to see and experience things from a different lens. This influenced my decision to avoid working for companies or large corporations I feel are exploitative, to our environment and local communities. For this reason, Groundwork felt like the perfect organisation for me to grow my skills within while tackling important social and environmental issues.

Working at Groundwork 

At first, I felt nervous about working from home and meeting the rest of the team in an online environment. It felt a little daunting working remotely for the first time and meeting new people after a long period of lockdowns and little social interaction. The communications team at the UK office were friendly and welcoming – this made my experience working at Groundwork more enjoyable. Daily catch-ups with my supervisor Fay and informal chats with the communications team helped me settle In and get to know everyone better. Fay provided support throughout my placement and went above and beyond to ensure I got the best out of my experience at Groundwork. The hybrid working environment worked really well as we got to meet our team more often in a shared space. Our office in Digbeth, Birmingham, made it the perfect location for team lunches and ‘Away-days.’ This gave me a better feel for what working for Groundwork is like.

Groundwork UK staff on a tour of Digbeth during ‘Away-Day.’ 

During my placement, I co-authored a policy report Youth in a Changing Climate, for which I wrote the foreword and contributed to the literature review, survey design and writing up research findings. I also wrote a blog about the importance of climate education. Joining external discussions about young people and climate change allowed me to gain further insight into Groundwork’s key interests and gain confidence sharing my own thoughts as a young person. Being a part of this process was exciting and I loved having the opportunity to contribute my thoughts. The policy report and blog were published during COP26, which I felt grateful to be a part of in some way.

In addition to this, I assisted the rest of the communications team by writing a blog for the Local Action, Global Impact campaign about what we can learn about sustainability from Indigenous people and another calling for action on health inequalities. As well as creating social media graphics, uploading website content, recording meeting notes and producing briefings.  Recently, I provided support to the grants team in the monitoring of the Comic Relief Community Fund and co-led a session during our business planning day with our communications trainee, Alex. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in our peer network and Carbon Literacy and Community Development training. This allowed me to gain a range of skills across teams and helped me develop a better understanding of how Groundwork operates.

Working for Groundwork has been an extremely dynamic and rewarding experience. I have gained valuable transferable skills to help me pursue a career in the environmental charity sector. My experience has helped garner a deeper understanding of how a non-profit organisation operates and allowed me to share my insights in important social justice and environmental issues. I had always hoped to have a career where I can support marginalised groups and help tackle important issues. I believe this work experience will play a significant role in helping me embark on a career path I will genuinely enjoy. The communications team have been a pleasure to worth with and made my experience all the more fun!

Since finishing her placement, Radya has a new job as a Homeless Family Support Officer for Birmingham City Council.


Blog by: Radya Syed, Policy and Research Trainee, Groundwork UK