Home » Careers » Employee stories » Housing Officer
- Name
- Elaine McAulay
- Position
- Housing Officer
- Location
- Falkirk
When I applied to become a receptionist with Link in 1992, I must admit I knew very little about housing. If someone had told me then that I would become a housing officer working with more than 300 tenants and their families, I probably would have found it hard to believe!
After I had been with Link for some time I became part of the first Customer Services Team in Link Housing, which resulted in me becoming a housing administrator. It was a great opportunity involving a wide range of activities, like handling calls from tenants about all kinds of issues, such as rent arrears, housing allocations and repairs.
Every day is different...
With extra training and the encouragement and support of my manager, I then moved into the role of housing officer, going out onto Link's estates and visiting tenants in their homes. I now manage properties covering an area from Falkirk to Crieff, overseeing more than 300 tenants.
It's very satisfying being able to offer people houses, especially when they are often desperately in need of somewhere to live. There's a lot more to the job than just letting houses though - a lot of time is spent helping tenants who are having difficulties sustaining their tenancy. It makes a huge difference to a person's life and their future if we can help them keep their home.
In 2005 I decided to embark on a Postgraduate Diploma in Housing at Stirling University. I'll be honest and say I found the course very demanding, but Link wholeheartedly supported me and the course gave me a much more rounded knowledge of housing and more confidence doing my job. It was a proud day in November 2007 when my family turned up at the Albert Hall in Stirling to see me graduate!
In addition to my busy workload, I became a UNITE union representative in 2000. This can be a very challenging role at times but I understand the importance of union recognition within the company. It's great that Link realises the value of this too.