Telephone Assessor

What will you do?  

Assessors are one of the first points of contact that our clients interact with. 

The Telephone Assessor will talk to clients on the telephone to fully explore the issue or issues that they have.

The issues we deal with are varied: 

• It could be a problem at work with their employer, for example be facing dismissal or redundancy
• It could be a Housing issue– they may be having difficulty with their landlord.
• They may want to understand if they are entitled to any Benefits as they are struggling making ends meet.
• They may have debts that they need help with.
• They may have a problem with a neighbour.  

Once they fully understand the issue, the assessor will research information relating to the problem and provide information to help the client clarify their issues and inform any action they may take.

• They will research using our public website and other trusted sources such as gov.uk
• They will summarise the case and detail information given to the client onto our database.
• They will signpost clients to other organisations for further help and support.
• They may make a further appointment for the Client to see or speak to one of our Advisors for specific or detailed advice.
  
  

What’s in it for you?  

• make a real difference to people’s lives
• learn about a range of issues such as benefits, debt, employment and housing
• build on valuable skills such as communication, digital skills and explaining complex information
• increase your employability
• work with a range of different people, independently and in a team.
• have a positive impact in your community. 

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

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.

Skills

You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:

• 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 and good spelling or willingness to use spell checker
• have good 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

Ideally, we ask for a minimum of 7 hours per week, which can be over one day or spread over two days, for at least 6 months.

We can be flexible about the time spent and how often you volunteer so come and talk to us.