Money adviser or debt counsellor Job Information | National Careers Service

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Money adviser or debt counsellor

Hours

30-40 per week
Starting salary

£20,000 + per year

If you can build good working relationships with people, and you would like helping them with their money problems, this job could suit you.

Money advisers, sometimes known as debt counsellors, help people whose debts have become too large or complex for them to handle. They offer free, impartial, and confidential advice on managing money and coping with debt, and they often also deal with creditors and courts on their clients' behalf.

In this job you will need to communicate well and negotiate with people. You will also need to be non-judgmental.

To get into a paid job you would usually need at least a year's experience as a volunteer. A background in consumer advice, welfare rights or debt recovery may also help you.

The work

As a money adviser, you could work with clients face-to-face or on a telephone helpline. Your work might include:

talking to clients about their money problems and helping them to stay calm
looking at clients’ income and outgoings
working out a realistic budget
helping clients to prioritise their debts
advising about bankruptcy and court proceedings
checking that creditors are demanding the right amount
negotiating with creditors to arrange affordable, realistic repayments for the client
advising about any welfare benefits clients may be eligible for
representing clients in court.

With experience, you could take on more complex casework, act as an intermediary (apply on someone's behalf) for a debt relief order (DRO) or become involved in social policy work.

Hours

In a full-time job you would typically work standard office hours, Monday to Friday, although some jobs may involve evening or Saturday sessions. Part-time work may be available.

You could spend your day speaking to clients in an advice centre or office, or you may visit outreach centres or clients’ homes to give advice. You may occasionally need to attend court.

Income

Full-time starting salaries are around £20,000 a year
With more experience and responsibility, earnings can rise to around £28,000 a year.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

The most common way into this career is to volunteer in an advice centre. You would often start with giving general advice, then train in money advice once you have more experience.

It usually takes at least a year as a volunteer before you would be considered to have enough experience and knowledge to apply for paid work as a money adviser.

You could also move into money advice work if you have experience in other areas such as:

consumer advice
welfare rights work
debt recovery for a bank, council, utility company or similar organisation.

Most employers will not ask for qualifications as your experience would be the most important thing, but you should have a reasonable standard of English and feel comfortable with maths.

For some jobs, it may be an advantage if you speak a minority community language.

Training and development

Your employer will provide initial training when you start work, and you will also learn on the job from experienced advisers. You would also receive ongoing training throughout your career, to learn more about specific issues and keep up to date with new laws and practice.

As a paid or volunteer adviser with a Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), you would follow their nationally-recognised training programme in general advice work, plus specialist training in money advice. Alternatively, you could follow the Money Advice Trust's 'wiseradviser' online training programme.

You may also have the chance to work towards NVQs at levels 3 and 4 in Advice and Guidance, or new NVQs at level 3 and 4 in Legal Advice.

You could also get online and short course training from the Money Advice Trust (MAT), which provides training to its member organisations, and you could join the Institute of Money Advisers (IMA), which offers training days to members on specialist areas of money and debt advice.

Skills and knowledge

To be a money adviser/debt counsellor you should have:

a genuine desire to help people
the ability to put people at ease and build trust
good communication skills (in both speech and writing) and listening skills
good negotiation skills
a non-judgemental and unbiased attitude
respect for confidentiality
the ability to relate to people from all backgrounds
confidence with numbers
good organisational and time management skills
the ability to prioritise your work and meet deadlines.

More information

Institute of Money Advisers (IMA) (Opens new window)
Stringer House
34 Lupton Street
Leeds
LS10 2QW
Tel: 0845 094 2384
www.i-m-a.org.uk

Money Advice Trust (MAT) (Opens new window)
21-26 Garlick Hill
London
EC4V 2AU
Tel: 020 7489 7796
www.moneyadvicetrust.org

Advice UK (Opens new window)
6th Floor
63 St Mary Axe
London
EC3A 8AA
Tel: 020 7469 5700
www.adviceuk.org.uk

Citizens Advice (Opens new window)
www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) (Opens new window)
www.cas.org.uk

Opportunities

Most opportunities are with Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB), advice centres run by local authorities or other voluntary organisations, and Money Advice Units/Money Advice Support Units (MASU). You could also find work with universities, colleges or trade unions.

Jobs are often fixed-term contracts of up to two years, depending on available funding. Vacancies may be advertised in the local and national press and on employer websites. Competition for paid work can be strong.

With experience, you could become a specialist caseworker, or be promoted to a team leader or management post.

You may find the following useful for job vacancies and further reading (links open in new window):

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

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