My name is Michael and I have worked within Revenues & Benefits at Stockport Council since 2010.
I originally started working for the Council on a 6 month temporary contract through the Job Centre as a Clerical Assistant. My main duties were to provide support to the Council Tax team and Housing Benefit Assessors, whether it be enveloping and posting letters or making sure that documents were scanned correctly. It didn’t take long for me to pick this up and I was then given the opportunity to train as a Housing Benefit Assessor. By the time my original contract had ended I was already working as an assessor and awarded a scale 4 position where the continued training and coaching on the team allowed me to assess claims effectively and with confidence.
After five years of working for the Council I made the decision that my skills may be best used elsewhere. However, after only a few months I realised that for me, the grass wasn’t greener elsewhere and returned to the Revenues & Benefits Service, picking up where I left off in my scale 4 role. Upon my return, I was offered training to broaden my horizons into Council Tax processing and shortly after that, Business Rates processing. Although these areas were new to me, the excellent training and constant support provided allowed me to excel and quickly develop my confidence, in a comfortable, friendly and stress free environment.
In October 2016 a Senior Officer opportunity became available within the Revenues & Benefits team. As the successful applicant I am now a Team Leader within the department in which I first started as a Clerical Assistant. Every role I have had within the service has presented me with prospects, even now as a Team Leader I have the opportunity to complete a Level 5 Apprenticeship in Leadership & Management, which I am currently in the process of registering for.