Home » Careers » Employee stories » Part-time Receptionist and Support Worker
- Name
- Julie Brown
- Position
- Part-time Receptionist and Support Worker
- Location
- Link Head Office in Edinburgh and the LinkLiving Midlothian Service
I joined Link in February 2007 as a morning receptionist. This involves answering the phone, greeting visitors to the office and carrying out a wide range of additional administration duties.
I really enjoy the customer service aspect of the job as I like working with people. The hours I work are ideal too, because they allow me to spend quality time with my 10-year-old daughter - the job fits well around my lifestyle.
Thanks to Link's flexibility I can develop my career
Before coming to Link I did a counselling skills course so knew a bit about the type of person-centred support that LinkLiving offers. By chatting to colleagues, I learned more about LinkLiving's work and became more interested. After discussions with HR and my line manager, I was offered the chance to do a six-month work experience placement with the support services in Edinburgh and Midlothian. I loved it!
Support is aimed at helping to build service users' confidence and self esteem - usually through helping them with day to day activities that many of us would take for granted - such as cooking, paying bills, filling out forms and so on but which can be much more challenging for others who need support.
My placement resulted in a formal contract with LinkLiving and I'm now a support worker two evenings a week and at weekends. I'm still working as a receptionist in the mornings.
The two jobs are like night and day but I really enjoy the variety and I can still spend lots of time with my daughter. The great thing is that my role with LinkLiving will give me the experience I need to get a place on a counselling diploma course - a career in counselling is what I'm ultimately aiming for.
Thanks to Link's flexibility I have been given the opportunity to develop my skills and career while keeping an ideal balance between my working life and family committments.