Citizens Advice Bureau

BillieTheBot · June 2007

Has anyone here volunteered for them?

I've just received my information pack as I'm interested in volunteering with them but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to fit it all in around my job

I work 8am-3.30pm everyday you see but going by the options they have given me for when I'm available (9am-1pm and 1pm-4pm), it looks like the place is only open till 4pm? I wanted to fit in a few hours after work each day but it looks like you've got to do either 9am-1pm or 1pm-4pm.

Also, it looks like the training is a 4 week course and I can't afford to take 4 weeks off work!

Is there any other sorts of volunteering that I could do that would benefit me? I want to apply to work for the Civil Service you see so was planning on doing a bit of volunteering before applying.

Former Member · July 2007

They usually are only open office hours, and there probably wouldn't be scope to do volunteering late after work or college. The experience can be good, but a lot of CABs are fairly badly run, to be quite honest.

Former Member · July 2007

So what would you recommend?

I'm also considering doing roles within the Police Service (not as a police officer).

Basically, I need some sort of volunteering experience and obviously I need to pass my driving test before applying for proper jobs. What volunteering would you recommend?

**helen** · July 2007

Hey, have you run a search for opportunities in your area on do-it.org.uk? - you can search under interest and there's one called 'legal aid and justice'.

Former Member · July 2007

Ooo, no. Cheers Helen

Former Member · July 2007

I'd have a look around at things like do-it.org, and see what work you can do for outreach advisers and that sort of thing/

The CAB is a valuable experience, definitely, and you can pick up a lot of things, but they aren't flexible. I don't think that the CAB are really the best place for people starting out in a career, as they aren't always the best run places, and the professional advisers they have are often too busy to give enough support and guidance to help you learn. It's nothing malicious, its just that the caseload is too high for the professional advisers in an office to give the support that's needed, and even a fairly basic benefits enquiry can take half an hour or so for a professional adviser.

I think doing some legal outreach work would be a good start, depending on what you want to do in life, and it would certainly help you get other jobs. Certainly the charity I work for look for experience when they're taking on staff.

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