Volunteer Trainee Adviser

Purpose of the role

• To help provide an effective and efficient advice service to members of the public to move them on with their problem
• To help influence government and other organisations by informing them of the effect of their actions on the lives of clients

What will you do?

• Complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role
• Talk to clients over the phone, face to face, or online to explore what problems they’ve come for help with
• Find information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options
• Support clients to take action to resolve their problems. This might include drafting or writing letters, making phonecalls, or referring the client to another organisation
• Write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken
• Look out for problems that are common, or are unfair, and write a short report about the problem or a letter to an elected official like an MP, AM or local councillor

Some examples of what you could do: 

• help client with debts work out a reasonable amount to pay back, and make a phone call to an organisation they owe money to
• explore what benefits a client is entitled to and help them to complete a benefit application form
• help a client who has problems with their landlord to understand their housing rights

Personal skills and qualities that an Adviser needs:

• Be friendly and approachable
• Be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
• Have good listening skills
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Have good maths and IT skills
• Be able to understand information and explain it to others
• Be willing to learn about and follow the Citizens Advice aims, principles and policies, including confidentiality and data protection
• Be willing to undertake training in your role

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible role which can be done at our Letchworth Office or remotely from home
• Make a real difference to people’s lives
• Learn about a range of issues that affect our clients such as benefits, debt, employment and housing
• Build on valuable skills such as communication and listening
• Reimbursement of travel/parking expenses
• Boost your CV
• Work with a range of different people, independently and in a team
• Have a positive impact in your community

Valuing inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, people with physical or mental health conditions, LGBT+ and non-binary people, and people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.