Volunteer Telephone Assessor

Volunteer Telephone Assessor

What will you do?

Not everyone can come for advice in person. Our volunteers also help clients who

need advice over the phone.

By exploring clients' problems, finding relevant information and helping them understand
their options, you could:

  Make a real difference to people's lives
  Learn about a range of issues surrounding benefits, debt, housing and employment
  Develop your communication, listening and analysing skills
  Boost your employability
  Work with a range of different people
  Have a positive impact on your community

What will you do?

talk to clients over the phone to explore what problems they’ve come for help with
find information about the clients’ problems and help them to understand their options

●  complete an introduction to Citizens Advice and training for your role
●
●
●  write a summary of the clients’ problems and what action you’ve taken
●

look out for problems’ that are common, or are unfair for our Research & Campaign
team to investigate

Some examples of what you could do:

●

find the information online that explains how to apply for Housing Benefit in a client’s
local area and explain it to them
identify what steps a client can take to resolve their problem with a second hand car

●
●  help a client find and understand what steps they can take to deal with their rent
arrears

What’s in it for you?

●  gain and build on valuable skills and experience such as communication, admin, IT

skills and working in a team

1

increase your employability

●
●  contribute to the smooth running of the advice service which makes a real difference

to peoples’ lives

●  work with a range of different people, independently and in a team.

And we’ll reimburse expenses too.

What do you need to have?
You don’t need specific qualifications or skills but you’ll need to:

respect views, values and cultures that are different to your own
●
●  have good IT skills including use of Microsoft Office applications
●  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
●  Work independently as well as part of a team
●  Have excellent communication skills, written and verbal
●  Have the ability to multitask and work to deadlines
●  Be friendly, professional and flexible

How much time do you need to give?

We can be flexible about the time spent and how often you volunteer so come and
talk to us.
We ask for you to cover a minimum of 2 x 3 hour sessions per week, which can be
over one day or spread over two days, totalling 6 hours per week for at least 6
months.

Valuing inclusion

Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and we particularly welcome applications
from racially minoritised people/people of colour, disabled people, people with physical or
mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer telephone assessor and would like to discuss
flexibility around time, ‘what you will do’ and how we can support you please contact us.

Contact details

For more information and to arrange an informal chat, please email

volunteering@haveringcab.org.uk

2