Hi, my name is Derek and I work as an Immigration Enforcement Officer. I work in the Immigration Compliance and Enforcement North team based in Glasgow.
I joined the Home Office and Immigration Enforcement in early 2023. After taking up the post I realised that training and getting the most out of people was an important part of the job. We receive 5 weeks Immigration training with a further 2 weeks (PST) Personal Safety Training to allow us to deal with and protect ourselves from any potentially challenging situations we may be faced with.
After leaving school I joined the Inland Revenue, which later became His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. During my time there I did various roles including working in customer operations and then the Mobile Enforcement Team dealing with fuel and alcohol commodities. I initially saw the advert for Immigration Enforcement on the Civil Service Jobs website. I saw that Immigration Enforcement offered a role that was varied and would allow me to use some of my skills that I had already gained whilst learning new ones.
The application process is very thorough. There are different stages that you have to complete and be successful in before being offered the job. This includes completing an application form, sitting technical skills assessments and attending a face-to-face interview.
Every day you are tasked with different types of work. This can include Police call outs, visits to Police stations to interview people, such as for example, a person who may want to claim Asylum. We carry our enforcement visits to home and business addresses where there is the potential to arrest people. Our work also covers ferry ports and airports.
What I most enjoy about working for Immigration is knowing that every day is going to be varied. Staff morale in the office is good and, as a newer member of staff, I find that established members of the team go out their way to help you with the work and make you feel welcome.
Working for the Home Office offers good job security, with the chance to work in a variety of different teams and roles where you can learn new skills. The opportunity to apply for promotion is also there once you can prove you have got the skills to do the job.
I would recommend a career within Immigration Enforcement to anyone looking for something that is a bit different to a normal office job. It can be challenging on occasions but is also interesting and rewarding.
