Has anyone volunteered for the Citizens Advice Bureau?

[ParrotMug]

I've recently applied to volunteer for the Citizens Advice Bureau, preferably I'd like to help with advising, but open to anything at the moment.

Has anyone worked/volunteered with them? Can I ask how the training went? And how you found the experience generally?

Thanks!

Watching as have applied to volunteer too.

I did, just out of post grad legal studies and before getting my first 'career job'.
The training was pretty straightforward - the bureau I was at had a training manager who produced booklets of general questions for each topic, which we did in classroom based sessions.

I found the experience generally good. I found I was appreciated as a volunteer by the cabx staff, got on well with the other volunteers from all backgrounds. I learnt a lot, had my first dealings with the public in terms of interviewing service users etc.

I stayed there roughly a year, but after a few months as a volunteer, I was taken on for a paid role for a few days per week in an admin capacity, but still did general advice other days as a volunteer.

Overall an excellent time and was certainly looked on favourably by an interviewer I had for my next job and first full time job in law.

I worked there for a whilst and left. The one I worked in wasn't great and didn't seem to help many people at all. Lasted a few months before moving on.

I wasn't a volunteer but I worked at Head Office in a paid role for a few years in the early part of my career about 30 years ago.

Ye gods, you wouldn't believe the office politics there, just mad, and very difficult to work around.

Sorry, totally missing the point of the thread, but it brought back so many memories.

I volunteer for them now. I have been doing it for over a year.

I see Clients face to face at my local branch.
It is really interesting and challenging.
I have dealt with some particularly vulnerable people.
But you do really feel that you are helping people.
Feel free to ask me anything.
There are some negatives and general frustrations. I will update further as I'm just heading off to bed.

I had 2 interviews before I was offered the role of volunteer.
I attended 2 sessions of classroom based training and then I trained remotely due to Covid.

I did some phone work and after a few sessions I was placed in the from office dealing with the general public face to face.

I enjoy the job but I don't like the structure. I was given a mentor to guide me but they have barely said a word to me in the last year.

I also find that the staff that are paid tend to spend their day on their phones, playing games and online shopping. I find this particularly annoying.

When you need a referral they do put their phone or tablet down but the culture is very slack. They are over staffed by paid employees who do very little whilst the volunteers are literally slogging it.

There are a couple in my branch that are lovely and they really know their stuff. But you get to know who they are and tend to refer to them more if needed.

There is always free food. Plenty of biscuits and cake which is great

I can't speak for all branches and some will be better than others. Mine is in a particularly deprived area of the south

I tried to volunteer but covid hit. Post covid lockdown they did a bit of a recruitment drive, there was an online zoom meeting laying out what was expected…

But they wanted you to commit to multiple days per week for AT LEAST TWO YEARS.

I said I was studying and had free time for at least a year but I wasn’t sure after that, in terms of whether I’d be working full time. So it was a straight up, ‘no thanks’ from them. I think it’s a lot to requirement a commitment of two years (I think it was 2/3 days per week but I’m not 100%).

I do one day a week. In my branch more volunteers do 2.