How volunteering for Citizens Advice helped me find work
I joined the Littlehampton Citizens Advice Bureau as a volunteer. I worked 2 days a week and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I was a little apprehensive before starting, because it had been a long time since I had worked in an office environment. The management team and the other volunteers made me feel very welcome and all offered me great support. I felt like I was part of the team from day one.
My duties involved working directly with the public, ensuring that information was available to them and keeping them at ease while they waited for a trained adviser. I was also involved in keeping all the local information files updated. This included a great deal of filing and telephoning to check that records were accurate, such as contact names and addresses. This information is vital to the advisers because they pass it on to clients.
The working environment was well organised and I felt everyone was happy to be there. I was astonished to learn when I joined that most of the people were volunteers; that each individual had given their time up for such a worthy cause.
But in fact we weren't just "giving up"our time: we were gaining in so many ways as well. In my case, this voluntary work kept me motivated to move onto a paid position.
Skills for employment
Would you like to receive free training and help your local community? We are looking for local volunteers with some spare time available.
We need your energy, ideas, skills and of course, some of your time. We don't ask for any specific skills, because we'll train you.
How many hours? That's up to you. All we ask is for a positive commitment, no matter how small.
How can it help you?
- It will make your CV stand out from the crowd.
- Boost your communications skills.
- You'll get 100% support and full training with a CAB certificate in Generalist Advice Work
- Opportunities to Open College Accreditation