So I've managed to land a nice little temporary six week role as a caseworker for a local MP!
The constituency immediately north of my own changed from Conservative to Green and it's the new Green MP I'll be working for. And if yer gonna work for an MP, well a Green MP is about as local and genuinely democratic as you're going to get.
Casework basically involves responding to queries from clients and there's a good half a dozen people employed, mostly part-time, many temporary like myself working to clear the backlog that's resulted from the seat changing hands.
I got this at very short notice thanks to a good word being put in from the local Citizens Advice Manager where I've done some volunteering.
And TBH it was a good call, having had a look at some of the cases, it's very 'Citizens Advice'. So many of the queries can be dealt with using the CA model, so it's right up my street.
It's all been a bit bizarre, I had a brief phone call one evening with the MP and by the next morning I was up and running, trusted to answer queries already after a half hour briefing. They don't have to advertise temporary roles, apparently.
I'm in the office next Friday, it would have been Monday but there's no furniture in there yet, which gives you an idea of the level of chaos!
Bit of a shock ot the system....
This is a 'real job' in that I've got to put in 7 (I think it's 7, maybe it's 8 I'm not even sure of the hours!) hours work a day, solid.
I've got to be honest the way I work on my main blog and my current interviewing job don't involve anything like this many 'real hours' per day, half that maybe? And a whole lot more faffing.
I'm going to have to adapt, fast.
But I think I got this, three days a week I can do!
I've already noticed that their systems leave a lot to be desired, the record keeping isn't great for a start, with one case I was looking at there was essential information that I only got after a phone conversation with someone else, another which was closed and from what I could see there was no actual resolution to it.
All of this is GOOD for me... going into a set up where everything was TIGHT already would be much harder, when the system's in need of improvement, well, you can make yourself more useful, it's easier to carve out a role for yourself.
I mean don't get me wrong, it's all perfectly functional, but there's room for improvement for sure.
May turn into a permanent thing....?
There's a possibility this could become a permanent role, although with 3 other part-time temporary staff there's some competition, and I doubt all of us will be kept on once the backlog has cleared.
But hey, IDM, even if it is just six weeks, it's a great boon to the CV and could stand me in good stead for future casework or social policy type jobs which is what I'm aiming for, and would even help with applying for a social policy masters which is something I'm interested in too. And one can't go far wrong having an MP as a reference.
And it saves me from six weeks of driving around the country like a maniac doing interviews with travellers in the shortening days.
Actually that's one reason I'm not so keen on doing that job any more, driving around unfamiliar country lanes in the dark really isn't fun, so if this job did become permanent my car will thank me.
And working for the Green Party, well it's very decent pay and conditions, honestly I can pick my hours and working location.
Although I do wonder how I'll fit in with the crowd when I turn up to the office next Friday, we shall see, I think it'll be fine.
I get the Greens. I may even rejoin the party.