Why I love working for Citizens Advice (and you can too!)

Some institutions are practically household names. Organisations whose logo instantly pops into mind when you hear their name. Organisations that immediately conjure up a feeling or a memory, perhaps drawn from personal experience engaging with the service at some point in your life. Organisations that feel part of the fabric of British culture and tell us something about the type of society we are.

The BBC.

The NHS.

The National Trust.

...

Citizens Advice .

Yes, Citizens Advice. Historically, the Citizens Advice Bureau and fondly still referred to a CAB by pretty much EVERYONE (so much for our 2015 re-brand ??). We are a network of over 200 independent advice agencies called local Citizens Advices or LCAs for short. We are the big blue speech bubble of the charity sector. The one-stop-shop for advice and signposting support. And we've been doing it for over 80 years across England and Wales.

Since its a new year and a time to reflect on our personal values, goals and ambitions for the future, I wanted to take stock and reflect on why I love working for Citizens Advice (and why you can too).

Our aims and principles

Our network has a very simple goal: to give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem. Wow! Big statement.

Anyone?

For anything?

Well, yeah - absolutely. We are for all Citizens and I find that incredibly empowering. We are also there not just to provide people with knowledge (as most expect), but we are also about building confidence in our clients so that they are resilient to the challenges they face and, in some cases, can self-help into the future: resolving problems before they arise or knowing where to find the answers for themselves. That is one way we can change lives for the long-term.

Citizens Advice has, ostensibly, two formal aims:

1) provide the advice people need for the problems they face - what I call our reactive work because we resolve a problem that already exists; and,

2) improve the policies and practices that affect people's lives - what I call our proactive work because we seek to resolve problems as they emerge or before they arise.

One of the things I love about my job is trying to find the proactive work in our reactive work. What do our advisers see every day that we can work together to resolve tomorrow? How do we make our small but mighty corner of London just that little bit better everyday? Where can we make the biggest impact on people's everyday lives? This is one of the most technical, but interesting aspects of my work - especially in a cost of living crisis where simple solutions can feel far and few between.

Citizens Advice also has four key principles to our advice provision. We are:

Free - Our service is available without cost or expectation of payment from our clients.

Independent - Our service is independent of any outside influence or pressure, even from our funders, so that we can do what is right for our clients and nobody else.

Confidential - Nothing that we learn from our clients, including the fact they visited us, will be passed on to anyone outside the service without their express permission.

Impartial - We do not judge our clients or make assumptions about them. We try to help them find a way forward whoever they are.

I think it is incredibly rare to work for an organisation that can list such high ideals in its mission. To have its colours pinned to the mast so boldly and clearly. It can give us confidence every day that our team - both paid and voluntary - can do right and do good.

Our people

Local Citizens Advices up and down the country are a melting pot of some of the most interesting people you can meet. We have paid staff who have worked in the advice sector for decades and some others who are just starting out in their careers in advice or community work - both graduates and career changers. In our volunteers we have retirees who are looking to give back to their community or build a social network, we have students gaining their first exposure to public-facing work, and we have people in-between jobs or with caring responsibilities looking for experience or variety in their commitments. We are richly supported and challenged by our community stakeholders, funders and partners within the sector too - all pushing us to be a better version of ourselves in service of our community.

In addition to our wonderful clients, working with such a variety of people in a local Citizens Advice means that no two days are ever the same. There is always a new person with a fascinating life story to share and I am constantly challenged on my perception of the world, for the better, through the people that I get to meet. This is often shaped by our fantastic volunteers who so generously give their time and without whom our work would not be possible. They are AMAZING and INSPIRATIONAL.

With so much said for the variety of people I get to work with, one thing remains consistent amongst them all: our people are devoted to being a force for change for our clients. It is wonderful to work with people who are community-focused, who try to find answers for clients, and who make our clients feel heard.

Our opportunities

What I love - and I mean LOVE - about Citizens Advice are the opportunities you can take when working with us (this is the "you can too" bit - see our job vacancies ??). I've worked in academia and the legal sector before and while I enjoyed aspects of that work it never really felt like I could maximise creative solutions, use my initiative to its full potential or just... try something new to see if it worked.

At Citizens Advice, in the various roles I've held and at different branches, I found I've had a certain creative freedom to make the role my own. To do it my way and in my style. I've been allowed to be my authentic-self and, in that, I've been able to explore the ideas that make me enjoy work. Whether that's been in client-facing roles where I've been able to develop resources to help my clients and share them with colleagues, or in my coordination and management roles where I've been able to identify ways of developing and improving systems and building stakeholder relationships - I've always been able to see the room in which to grow into. Most recently, I developed our website, our chatbot and next I'm keen to explore the potential of using artificial intelligence (AI) to supplement our advice, reduce our administrative workload and expand our advice's reach and impact.

Similarly, working in Citizens Advice offers unparalleled peer support, training and development opportunities. As a local Citizens Advice we have access to a Citizens Advice-wide social network called Workplace where you can ask for advice and guidance from any of your Citizens Advice colleagues on anything: from client issues to technical case review issues to best practice on using data and statistics. There are colleagues at all levels and all experiences who are willing to share career advice and support each other with opportunities. We are also supported by National Citizens Advice and pan-London Citizens Advice so that we can work together at a higher level to influence regional and national policy changes - and it's really easy to get involved!

I feel lucky that my current role concerns itself with ensuring that training and development opportunities filter through to my colleagues - and confess (perhaps with a concerning degree of excitement) that I'm looking forward to working with our team to build our learning and development plan for 2024 in the coming weeks.

Summary

So there you go. Some, but of course not all, of the reasons I love working for Citizens Advice. Our aims and values, our people and our opportunities are what get me excited about work and keep me moving forward onto the next challenge.

If you are at Citizens Advice and looking for a new challenge, are working in the advice or community sector, or are working in a different sector but know you have the skills and drive to get into our area of work, then please take a look at our job opportunities at: www.citizensadvicekc.org.uk/work-with-us. If you can't see a role that suits you then why not sign up to our mailing list for job alerts? - the right role might be just around the corner!

Similarly, if you're looking to build your skills in advice or public-facing roles, or if you have valuable skills in communications, IT, or people management and want to give back to your community then please take a look at our volunteer opportunities: www.citizensadvicekc.org.uk/volunteer-with-us.