Meet Immaculate, a corporate social responsibility apprentice within our Kier Places business.
Immaculate joined us in 2025 studying a Level 4 apprenticeship in corporate social responsibility. Something which started as a gap-year exploration, soon turned into a career path that blends her curiosity about people and places, with real community impact.
In this blog, Immaculate shares how her apprenticeship has helped her grow in confidence, build new skills and build a career that suits her perfectly.
What is corporate social responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility – often referred to as CSR – is all about how companies like Kier impact society.
It puts responsibility on us to ensure that not only does the work we do cause as little disruption as possible, but that our presence in the community is adding value too.
“In my role, I focus on the social value side of corporate responsibility. I spend my days engaging with the community, meeting with local government and supporting charities with fundraising events – to give you an idea!
“I really love how much I get to speak with people day to day and just showing them what we get up to and the positive impact our project is making.”
What does a CSR apprentice do?
Immaculate works as part of the sustainability team in our Kier Places business; specifically on the Quiter Neighbour Support Scheme in partnership with Heathrow Airport Limited.
“No week is ever the same and I really like that,
“We have close contacts with the local government and talk about ways we can increase participation within the communities and school children and help them see more of the job opportunities that are available in construction,
“One of my favourite things to do at work is to organise events like volunteering days for the team or preparing how we’re going to support at school career fairs,
“It can be a real variety of volunteering too. Last year we supported a local food bank, sorting different products and sharing with individuals or families who are in need,
“And we also support with things like decorating the local communities for Christmas. We made lots of festive bows that went up on lampposts across town and it was so fun.”
What skills do you need to be a CSR apprentice?
“I would definitely say a big skill would have to be communication,
“That doesn’t mean you have to be super outgoing, but just being able to get your point across clearly – and listen to other people’s – is really important,
“We speak to so many different types of people every day, so you have to know how to adjust the way you speak and the words you use depending on the audience,
“One day you might be explaining Kier to a school student and the next you’re talking to a member of local government so it’s important you can adapt,
“And another thing that helps is to be open minded,
“Be ready to learn, hear different people’s stories and be willing to challenge your own world view so you can work collaboratively with everyone to provide really positive impacts in the local communities.”
How does an apprenticeship work?
As a Level 4 apprentice, Immaculate is working towards a Level 4 qualification in corporate social responsibility – this is a similar level as a foundation degree.
“I really like the balance of work I get with my apprenticeship,
“For four days of the week I am working, sometimes in the office, sometimes at home and sometimes I’m out and about at events or visiting different stakeholders,
“Then every Friday I go into college – it’s the perfect balance for me of learning and working and I like that I get such regular touchpoints with my tutors."
Immaculate’s apprenticeship will take about two years to complete, including her end point assessment. Throughout her apprenticeship Immaculate will be set coursework, assignments and will have to sit a few exams too.
It’s her responsibility to collate all the evidence of her formal learning she completes at college, examples of what she delivers in her role, as well as any off the job hours which could be things like webinars, volunteering days and additional training opportunities.
Then, Immaculate has to complete an end point assessment, which is essentially a process to verify that she actually has developed the knowledge and skills she needs to pass.
What support do you get as an apprentice?
One of the great things about being an apprentice is all the support you get. Not only are you supported by your manager, but you also have the support of your emerging talent team at Kier and the support staff at college/university.
“Throughout my course we have lots of different modules we have to complete through presentations, professional discussions and coursework,
“What’s really nice is if my learning coach can see I’ve not quite done enough to pass that module, she will reassign it to us with feedback so we can go back and improve,
“It’s really nice that you have the opportunity to improve, rather than just taking one exam or something and then the result being final.”
Why an apprenticeship?
“At school, I studied sociology, geography and politics and originally the plan was to go to university to study geography,
“But after really thinking about it, I decided to defer my placement for a year and take a gap year,
“I think I kind of realised I wanted time to myself to experience the world before committing to another three to four years of further education,
“So I mostly worked part-time in a supermarket and researched into different career paths to figure out what I actually wanted to do as a career,
“I felt like I was rushing into the university route and I’m so glad I took that time to figure out what I really want my career to look like,
“In my research, I found out more about CSR and it sounded like a perfect midpoint of all my A-Level subjects which I really loved,
“And I also liked the sound of an apprenticeship and that combination of learning and working,
“I saw it as a way to broaden my horizon; I felt like if I went to university, I wouldn’t have had as much experience as I already have in the past seven months working at Kier,
“I’d have definitely been more laid back if I went to university, but being to work and learn at the same time has been so beneficial to me,
“I already have so much more commercial awareness and understanding of how businesses function, so I feel like an apprenticeship is going to give me a really solid foundation for whatever direction my career goes in.”
Interested in becoming an apprentice at Kier? Take a look at our vacancies and apply!
