HELP!! What do you think? Customer service advisor job for local council

[bramble1998]

Hi all, I worked at a GP surgery for over 6 years, recently left to work for the PCN (Primary Care Network). The job isn’t what I thought it would be and I do miss my old job though I would never go back.

I have seen a job advertised for the local council as a customer service advisor. I believe it is a hybrid role. Can anyone share their experiences working for their local council?

I would like to find somewhere with job security, I’ve read on other threads about cuts ect

Thanks in advance

There’s a pretty high turnover where I am, so if you like it you’ll be very secure. Also lots of people who start as CSAs move up to bigger and better things in the council (my boss for example)
go for it!

it can be fine, I worked in cs for council for a why and it was looking after cs for anything they didn't have anyone else to cover. I was always pleased though I didn't cover contract waste - those guys get the utmost shit imaginable...

I could have people being made homeless the were less upset about it than someone ranting and raving about not having their bins emptied

I worked with a half decent team, the work was very varied, 60% of people are lovely

the job once in is more secure than most

the pay is liveable and the bottom rungs of the ladder are getting more raises

I work for my local council. What department is it in? Customer services in Social Services will be very different to Highways for example.

Roles can be busy and demanding but never boring! Managers are usually flexible and caring in my experience. Pay isn't great but I expect you knew that anyway!

It says corporate services!

I work in customer service for a council, it is face to face, I have been doing it for 7 years and mostly love my job, we have quite a low turnover of staff as people generally seem to be happy here. However during lockdown I was on the phones and hated it, I like to be able to see people! I work in a small town so we do get to know customers and build relationships, I guess it might be different in a city. Although they do seem to restructure the service occasionally they will always need people to deal with the public so it feels like quite a secure job.

I work for a large county council, and our customer service team is one for the whole council so you ( in our CS team) would be taking calls or answering emails from members of the public about anything to do with council services, So calls could be sign posting them to the ‘ right ‘ page on the internet for example ( eg forms to fill in) or answering queries such as when is the library opening times, where do I get a blue badge or occasionally putting people through to say HR/recruitment. It’s varied and of course you will inevitably get members of the public calling to complain about something.
Safeguarding/ child protection calls are transferred elsewhere so you don’t get those in my LA.
Our teams all get good training and support from managers. Good luck with your application.