If you are an advice worker or similar, PLEASE reply??

[woodpidgeons]

I would really, really love to get into this line of work. For example welfare rights, community groups.

I have only basic qualifications. Experience in care home work and retail. Which qualification would be best to get?? Preferably HNC level due to finances. If a full degree needed could I do it via the OU??

I have applied to volunteer with CAB. Need to fit it around work though when I go back.

Community Development HNC at college of any use??

Apologies for the rambling post. I've been doing a lot of thinking whilst cooped up and eager to get started on what I've long thought about doing as I near mid 30s.

I've looked online but the info on routes in pretty vague. Would love to hear from those in the job.

Thanks

CAB take people from all walks of life as volunteers, with no qualifications- they will train you as a 'generalist' in lots of strata, and if you are keen maybe in a specialised area- this then means you are "qualified" to apply for internal vacancies when they come up.

It's not always well paid work, and short contracts, sometimes bizarre subjects (energy advice anyone!?) but it is very rewarding!

I am a benefits adviser employed through citizens advice but funded by a large well known cancer charity and the advice I give is just to cancer patients. I absolutely love my work. I came from a Nursing background and have years of working with cancer patients which does help me due to the specific nature of my advice work. I would say possibly one of the best things you could do is volunteer with citizens advice, they offer good training generally and that may put you at a better chance of getting a paid position. To be honest though my manager has taken on people with no benefits advice experience ( I had none), because training is given. Good luck.

Just to add my contract is never renewed for much longer than 18 months at a time, we are only employed for as long as the funding from the charity is given. Given the current problems that a lot of charities are facing currently with losing fundraising revenue it looks especially precarious.

I worked at a CAB for about ten years, I originally volunteered as an adviser, before getting a job there in admin, than as a general adviser and then a specialist adviser. I didn’t have any qualifications beyond A levels. I enjoyed the work and found it very rewarding but due to funding I seemed to be under threat of redundancy every six months and sometimes had to re-apply for my job or work on different contracts with different targets.

I should also add my particular role is stressful at times and difficult ( a lot of clients at the end of their lives with a terminal diagnosis), pretty poorly paid and I'm having to constantly update myself with changes in the welfare system. I only do the job because it is hugely rewarding to help people to maximise their income and when people thank you because they are no longer lying awake at night wondering if they are going to lose their home whilst going through cancer treatment, then it is all worthwhile. I will be gutted if my contract ends.

Thanks all three of you

I had read about the short term contracts aspect. I am still really keen.

Yes, I love helping people. I myself have been helped so so much by citizens advice in the past, when struggling with a period of mental health crisis and subsequent financial fallout. I couldn't have done it without the advisor.

Glad to hear that qualifications aren't generally needed. Hopefully I hear back from the voluntary application.

How many hours a week do you volunteer generally?? And when training do you get paid?? I would have to juggle with work, prepared to do that if possible as my DC are older.

Citizens Advice is like a franchise - its different organisations in different areas but certain things are the same nationally.

I volunteered for CA for a year - they ask for a minimum of one day a week but allowed me to do this as two short days and do term time only. They struggled to get good volunteers and I had relevant experience from a similar role - although a long time ago. Training and support was excellent, they even paid our car parking and all travel costs. In that time I worked as effectively a first line interviewer - I would meet people at drop-in or on the phone and give basic advice and then if they needed ongoing support I would arrange for them to come back and meet a full adviser. Some advisors were then specialists in certain areas - particularly debt which needed an additional qualification. So to be a full adviser you really needed to commit to volunteering for a couple of years minimum, which I couldn't do as the plan was always to go back to paid work.

In my area paid jobs are very few. An admin job did come up but it was minimum wage and wouldn't have covered childcare costs. Its something I would definitely go back to if I was able to.

Also, just to put things in context, a local CA adviser job I just found pays £17-18k, my current admin job pays £21k. Low pay, short term contracts.

Hi, I’m an independent living adviser I’m the third sector, supporting and advising recipients of Direct Payments to recruit their own support staff, and have been in this role for almost 4 years.
I started off bu doing a level 2 diploma in counselling, and volunteered with CAB alongside this. I echo everyone else regarding this...CAB volunteers are extremely well trained in a wide variety of subjects, and this is very well regarded but potential employers. I did this for approximately 18 months, then applied for my current job. It was very definitely the CAB volunteering experience that got me the job. I also then undertook an NVQ level 3 in advice and guidance (under a funded apprenticeship scheme through my work) and last year dropped my hours to enable me to go to university (just completed my 1st year of a BSc in Mental Health and Well-being). I hope to continue in an advice capacity, although it will probably be in more mental health based role, possibly related to social prescribing.

Without doubt the most valuable part of my training/qualifications was my volunteering with CAB, so I would say go for that first, and try to gain relevant qualifications alongside. Good luck! 😊

Ps sorry for typos...I’m on my phone!!

I used to do the same job as @dietsareus! , it was a great job, meeting people from all walks of life and feeling you've made a difference. Like others I had no particularly relevant qualifications, just worked my way up in various social care jobs. As in a lot of care jobs I'd say your approach and attitude will be the most important thing.

The hardest thing for me was having to accept that people have the right to make poor decisions. You can give the best advice possible but they might ignore it (and instead do something extremely ill advised in some cases). Sometimes it really does feel like you're watching someone make a mess of their life. But that is their choice to make, you can't be judgemental or paternalistic.

Thanks all for the informative responses .

I don't really have the option of not being in paid work or education. However it is likely I could volunteer with the CAB whilst continuing to work part time around 25 hours in my job, or volunteer at CAB whilst doing a HNC in Community Development. Or would a HNC in Social Care be more relevant / broad??

I can definitely commit to at least one day a week volunteering.

Excited now!!

I work for Citizens Advice, at the moment I’m Advice Services Manager but I have done specialist welfare benefits and debt casework. I recruit all our staff and volunteers. I started as a volunteer 6 years ago, and rarely recruit someone for a paid role If they haven’t had volunteer experience, but it’s not unheard of!

I like it when volunteers tell me that their eventual aim is paid work; if I recruit a volunteer who tells me this I begin to mentor them if they show dedication and promise. It’s an exceptionally rewarding job but the stress of redundancy is always there, even if you’re not on a funded fixed term contract. I agree with PP, you quickly learn the skill of biting your tongue if a client doesn’t make a good decision (especially in debt work!).

Sorry, I’ve name changed but meant to add, when I first started volunteering/doing the counselling course, I was also working part-time, until I started working full time in my current role. I had to stop volunteering with CAB then as I had no time. So I worked, volunteered and studied at the same time - hard work but worth it. Maybe you could consider part time work, combined with part time study and one day volunteering? I did one day of volunteering a week for 18 months.