I graduated in July 2017 with a Criminology BA from the University of Northampton with a 2:2. In university I did two research placements at youth offending services and from there realised that this is what I wanted a career in.

I applied for a job in the Youth Offending Service with little belief that I could get the job. However I was offered the job and started working from September. As it nears to my first year being completed I have reflected on the transition from student to professional.
The past year has been a rollercoaster and I have a steep learning curve through this. University life especially all the deadlines and time management required only scratched the surface for what awaited me in the world of work.

One thing I wasn’t fully prepared for was the difficulties faced as a young professional. particularly when you’re the youngest member of staff by around 8 years. Many people do not take you seriously when you first start and it takes a while to ‘prove yourself’ as a professional to colleagues, other agencies and to the service users. I have even been mistaken for a young person when out on reparation (like community service) so it has been hard overcoming these barriers.

A positive is working with young people and I am enjoying this immensely. My job role means I work with low level offenders and prevention work with young people and this seems to be successful for most young people to avoid the criminal justice system. However I support those on higher orders as well as assisting on Reparation; so doing things like gardening, painting and decorating, to indirectly repair the harm caused. It’s great fun!

Restorative justice, something I learnt about at university, is something that as a youth offending service we try to incorporate with every young person we work with. Restorative justice is not at the forefront of all professionals however I’ve seen the benefits it can bring to both offender, victim and those indirectly affected by this.

I think the main points I’ve learnt over this past year is even after university you are constantly learning and that education doesn’t finish once you graduate. Alongside this is to go for it… no matter whether you think you will achieve it or not, we all have to start somewhere.