Emel’s story
Development
Meet Emel. As one of our Housing Policy Officers, she’s already enjoyed plenty of opportunities to explore ways of developing housing within Barnsley, as well as exploring the town itself. She’s also discovered opportunities to, “do a good thing for society and cater for everyone’s needs”. Hear more about Emel’s experiences of Barnsley Council and the selection process, in her own words.
I graduated last year from Sheffield University in Sociology, and I was unsure of what I wanted to do. So I looked into doing a volunteering role, and approached Barnsley Council and volunteered in the research section for three months and then got the role as Housing Policy Officer.
I found it easy to apply for the job online, and I found it useful because you could save what you’d written and come back to it at a later date to make changes. And I found the interview went well. There was a short test, which I got informed about beforehand, so I could prepare. And they let me know within a few days whether I was successful or not, and I thought that was a good amount of time.
I really enjoy working for Barnsley Council. Everyone’s really friendly and welcoming. I was really nervous at first, but they were all supportive and helpful. And I think Barnsley is a nice area itself. I always go into town every day for lunch, and I explore it all the time, because sometimes I go on site visits, so I’m getting to see more of Barnsley all the time, which is good.
My manager has sent me on training courses. I’ve been on admin courses such as minute taking and report writing, and a software course called Map Info, to develop map skills - which is vital for the role that I’m doing now.
I like the fact that I’ve got flexi time, and as long as I do my certain amount of hours a week I can come and go as I please during the day. So if I’ve got an appointment I can just take the time off rather than take it out of my leave.
I currently live in Sheffield, so drive to Barnsley daily. I find it an easy and quick route to take. Also having the flexi time works to my advantage, because I can leave before hitting the traffic, and arrive at work before hitting the traffic as well, which is useful.
The work I’ve enjoyed doing most since I started was going on a site visit with one of my colleagues, where she’d developed properties that were aimed for elderly and disabled people. And I thought that was a really good thing to do in society - to cater for everyone’s needs in the housing market.
The best thing about my role is the level of responsibility I’m being given. I’m improving my project managing skills every day, and I also like going on site visits. The colleagues in my department are friendly, welcoming, and there are some really fun characters. Everyone’s got a different point of view and if I’m ever stuck or need help they help me, they’re supportive and just really great people to work with.
When I first started working for Barnsley I went out on site a lot. As I’ve been in role for about seven weeks now I’m more computer based. So, for example, this morning I was learning some more software, Map Info and looking at stats using Excel.
I would recommend working at Barnsley Council to a friend because everyone in Barnsley is really nice. They’re friendly, welcoming and supportive. I think Barnsley is an easy place to get to from Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster. Barnsley itself is a really nice place to work and I’m really happy here.
