Goodbye cliché - From lateral entry into the civil service

Tia:

I trained as a travel agent and worked in the tourism industry for 20 years. Corona has really hit the travel business hard and that was the trigger for me to look for a completely different job - a job with a secure future. At first, I thought that I wouldn't have a chance with the city without administrative training, but I gave it a try anyway - and got the job. I've been working as a customer advisor since January 2022, providing Offenbach residents with everything related to housing registration, passports and ID cards and vehicle registrations.

Bashar:

I trained as a bank clerk in my home country of Syria and then went on to train as a business administrator. My professional experience includes working at various airports in passenger services and flight management. My girlfriend had seen the job advertisement for the Citizens' Office in 2019 and encouraged me to apply. I was initially unsure whether they would even take someone like me, but my application was successful. We have colleagues with very different professional backgrounds in the Citizens' Office. Real administrative staff make up around 50% of the team. The rest are commercially trained. One colleague even used to work as an optician. So we are a very diverse team.

Tia:

I was warmly welcomed into the team and enjoyed a very good induction. Experienced colleagues familiarized me with the legal basics in theoretical training sessions and showed me how to read and understand laws, ordinances and administrative regulations. That was sometimes exhausting, but in combination with practical work with customers, I was able to build up my know-how and I really enjoy my work.

Bashar:

We are very experienced here at the Citizens' Office with imparting knowledge and training new employees. I've been a customer advisor at the Citizens' Advice Bureau for 3 years now and I've also been training people in the meantime. It's challenging, but it also makes the job at the city really interesting and varied.

Tia:

Before I started working here, I didn't really know what was being done. Many people have a very banal idea of how easy the services are to provide. Once you get inside, you realize how demanding and complex the tasks are and what you need to know in order to provide correct services.

Bashar:

I have great respect for the team's performance. Our customers come to us with a wide variety of wishes and needs and with every new contact you never know what to expect. We work with a lot of other authorities. For example, I'm on the phone to the immigration office or the registry office almost every day to clarify complicated issues that affect us all and find solutions for our customers. I myself need to have knowledge of immigration law, civil status law and I need to know how the official experts in the field of vehicle registration and driving license law work and what we need from each other in order to do our jobs correctly.

Tia:

The customers who come to us are very different. Treating everyone equally and without prejudice is our most important maxim. Whether someone is rich or poor, young or old, speaks German or not, has a high or low level of education doesn't matter to us. We adapt to different people and everyone is entitled to friendly and competent treatment. Treating everyone fairly is a matter of course for me and my colleagues.

Bashar:

I completely agree with Tia. Everyone can rely on us to help wherever possible and find good solutions. I remember from my previous jobs that certain products or services had to be sold preferentially because it was in the interests of the company and they had to make a profit. I am glad that I am now free of this and can concentrate on what is best for the customer. That makes me very happy. And people appreciate that, we often get that as feedback.

Tia:

If you still have somewhat dusty ideas about working in the public sector, I invite you to visit us at the Citizens' Office. We have a modern, bright and friendly location in Kaiserstrasse that has nothing to hide. We are technically very well equipped and almost everything is paperless and digital. We are absolutely up to date. Many customers are pleasantly surprised when they visit us for the first time.

Bashar:

And I definitely want to mention the flexibility with which we can work today. Once I've served my customers, I can take a longer lunch break, meet up with my girlfriend for dinner and then do all the background work in my home office, which many people don't even know we do. There are inquiries from other authorities to deal with, complex notifications on difficult issues to prepare or the large number of customer inquiries that we receive by email every day to answer. Our office manager gives us a lot of freedom in terms of time and trusts us very much. This motivates me and allows me to reconcile my professional and private interests.

Tia:

I've never been bored here. The tasks are varied and diverse and things are constantly changing. New laws, new software, digital offerings for customers - you have to adapt to them and keep expanding and updating your skills. It's a lot of fun as a team and we spur each other on and pull each other along when things get tough. In the end, we are successful together.

Bashar:

The Citizens' Office offers us our own little career ladder. There are three promotions between starting from scratch and completing training in all departments. Everyone can progress step by step. And in addition to professional qualifications, we at the office also value the fact that employees can help shape various projects, which is challenging and fun. For example, I am a member of the editorial team that maintains our knowledge database. This allows me to make an important contribution to the team.

Tia:

As already mentioned, I come from the travel industry and have experienced how difficult it is when my employer gets into a crisis. That's when I realize how much security the city gives me as an employer. I don't want to go back, even though I've already received an offer from my old employer.

Bashar:

It's the same for me. My old company also wanted to bring me back, but I thankfully declined. I wouldn't trade the team here and the very meaningful work for the people of Offenbach for anything else. I'm happy with my job.