Family Information Service Development Worker
North East Lincolnshire County Council

Bobbie Q

00:00:03 My name’s Bobbie Q and I’m Family Information Service Outreach Development Worker. I work for Family Information Service. We give advice on child care and children’s activities. Any kind of family services from people who are pregnant right through to having children aged 19. I actually work in the community out at children centres, community groups, anywhere where families will be.

00:00:28 I enjoying working in the community. I love getting out and about and meeting people. Getting the chance to help people and give them some advice and support. It’s very rewarding.

00:00:38 When I was at school, I didn’t have much clue what I wanted to do and I just took standard subjects; maths, English. If I’m honest, I did kind of fall into this line of work but once I started working with the public, I realised it was something I really enjoyed and I’m good at. That’s then set me on the career path of how I’ve ended up here.

00:01:01 When I was very young, I wanted to be a trapeze artist and then as I got older, I realised that probably wasn’t a stable career move so I gave that one up, and beyond that, I did not have a clue. I really didn’t.

00:01:14 I left school after sixth form and I got an office junior’s job in an advertising office which I hated, if I’m honest. It was an awful office junior’s job. It really was not my sort of thing at all and I was very pleased when I left it.

00:01:34 There is no such thing as wasted experience when it comes to jobs, even the ones that you hate, you can gain positive experience from. It builds up a career picture and it allows you to progress into something that you do want to do. So you’re always going to learn from that and always get something positive from it.

00:01:53 I then got a job actually at the Job Centre. That was again clerical but from that I moved into actually dealing with the public and being on frontline services which I found I did have a knack for and I actually enjoyed doing.

00:02:05 I would definitely say that I started out without a clue of what I wanted to do at school so, yeah, I would be very reassured to know if I was younger that, you know, don’t be worried if you don’t know what you want to do. All the way through your life, you can alter your career. There can be different advancements and alterations and you can still end up doing something you really enjoy and that you’re good at.

00:02:31 I have had quite a few high points like clients who’ve perhaps had serious money worries, bailiffs arriving and threatening to repossess goods and things like that, and I’ve been able to help them. It’s nice, at the end of the day, to think yeah, I’ve actually made a difference in somebody’s life really, you know, you get that thanks and that. You get that automatic feedback that you know that it was a job well done.

00:02:57 Outside of work, I’ve got a small child and a husband and a house so that takes up a lot of my time as well. I love going to the gym and I go to a pole dancing exercise class when I get the chance to do that too and that’s a lot of fun and I end up with a lot of bruises but it’s a good laugh. It’s just a case of when I get the free time enjoying it.

00:03:22 In ten years, 15 years’ time, I’m not quite sure where I see myself. Hopefully doing more of the same and hopefully still working with the public. I have to say I’m probably still, I’m at the I don’t know really stage because I think sometimes if you set yourself too strict goals and then you don’t achieve them then you feel like you’ve let yourself down so just still be flexible and I’d just like to continue doing what I’m doing, enjoying, I think that’s the main thing and being good at what I do.

ENDS