I joined the Home Office in November 2018. I wanted a career in a place where I could advance and there were lots of opportunities to develop.
As a caseworker in Returns Preparation within Immigration Enforcement, there is a lot of variety in the work that I do, and it is challenging but rewarding. In my time with the Home Office, I have been involved in several different areas of work. I began as a human rights caseworker. Then I was a caseworker working within a specific reporting centre, and now I work on asylum submissions and urgent safeguarding cases.
What I enjoy most about the job is completing work on asylum cases. I enjoy conducting research into the political and economic situations in the country of origin of each applicant and then applying that information to my decisions.
There are a lot of opportunities for development at the Home Office, including optional training sessions and opportunities to discuss ways in which your unit can improve with senior management. My line manager has often highlighted training opportunities to me that are specific to my development goals, which is also really useful as I progress in my career.
We are also encouraged to discuss how we can make our working environment a better place, which was not something I had encountered before I joined the department.
If you were considering applying for one of the caseworker roles, I would say ‘Go for it’. It is a good working environment and in my experience my colleagues have been very supportive and provided assistance whenever required.
