Citizens Advice Eastbourne - Gateway Assessor

Citizens Advice Eastbourne have an exciting opportunity where we are looking for volunteers to be the first point of contact for our clients that telephone, email or call into the Bureau for help with the problems they are facing.

What will you do?

- Talk to clients over the phone, face to face, or online to explore what problems they need help with
- Find information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options by giving information and/or
signposting to help with their enquiry.
- write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken
- look out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair so that Citizens Advice can potentially try and influence government and
other organisations to make positive changes.

What’s in it for you?

- You can make a real difference to people’s lives
- You will learn about a range of issues such as benefits, debt, employment and housing
- You can build on valuable skills such as communication, listening and analysing
- You can increase your employability
- You will work with a range of different people, independently and in a team.
- You will have a positive impact in your community.

And, we’ll reimburse expenses too

How much time do you need to give?

To enable a regular service to our clients, we ask our Assessor’s to commit to a minimum of 2 sessions (6 hours) per week (Monday to Friday), plus some homework during training.
Morning sessions run from 10am-1pm and afternoon sessions from 1pm-4pm. You can choose to do 1 full day or 2 separate sessions. Please note that Citizens Advice Eastbourne currently closes on a Tuesday and Friday afternoon.
Given the investment into training, we would ask you to be willing to commit to at least 6 months service with us

What do you need to have?

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

- be friendly and approachable and have good listening skills
- be non-judgmental and respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
- have excellent verbal and written communication skills
- 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
- be willing to receive feedback on your work so that quality can be maintained in the Bureau
- be prepared to contribute towards a safe and positive working environment.

Next Steps

Once we receive the completed application form, we will request references and then contact you about an interview. We take on new Gateway Assessors approximately three times a year, so there may be some time between making your application and starting at the Bureau.

Contact details

If you are interested in this opportunity, please email administrator@eastbournecab.co.uk for further details or an application form