28 August 2025 

Guest Writer: Natalia Mallon

Like most teens I had no idea what I wanted to do or be. I liked the idea of learning about different subjects & obtained an HND in Social Science. I secured a place at university to continue my learning & worked part time in Tesco. Although I enjoyed social sciences I wondered where I could go with it for a career. I applied to the council for a job as a Clerical Assistant within the Trading Standards Consumer & Money Advice Service. I had no idea what it meant but I went for the interview anyway. They asked if I could audio type to which I replied no, however, I would give it a good go which I did. I was told later that was what swung it to be offered to me.  

In the middle of my split shift in the shop my mum came to tell me someone had called from the council & asked for a callback in relation to my interview for me to reply to her “I’m not sure I even want it”. It felt a very grown up role working for the council & I felt a bit out of my depth but I accepted the job with the view it would get me working full time over the summer, cash & some experience. The rest is history!

I loved it! I quickly learned to audio type & I found the world of Consumer & Money Advice very interesting. I decided uni wasn’t for me & took every opportunity to shadow members of the team to learn their roles. (I also did the most boring jobs like filing consumer complaints into a filing cabinet, oh, the days of paper files) I had a brief stint at a Fair-Trading Officer role to cover a period of maternity leave however, I quickly discovered this wasn’t for me. I felt it was dealing with a lot of complaints which couldn’t always be resolved. I felt a bit deflated as I knew I wanted to help people & make a difference to people’s lives. I knew Money & budgeting is an imperative part of life & I wanted to help people in my area who for whatever their circumstances were struggling with money worries.

I started the Money Advice Scotland Yellow route training & just as I got a date to start a temporary Debt Advisor role came up. I jumped at the chance & a year later I was offered a Debt counsellor role. This was temporary funding to support a particular client group of families who lived in the local area. I loved helping people who were struggling with their finances, supporting them throughout the process & being part of a team that supports people to access employment opportunities or get back to work. People, who felt they couldn’t do this, due to barriers they felt they had  such as debt, lack of childcare, employment opportunities etc. I also felt I was giving back into to my local community as I both lived & worked there. This was very fulfilling. Part of an early project I worked on was I meeting & educating local health practitioners regarding the links of someone’s financial situation & their wellbeing. This created understanding & opened channels of communication to create referral paths within the area.

I had a 5 year break from Money Advice working in another supportive role with a charity but my love for Money Advice wasn’t far away, I came back to it & I’m still here. The role is challenging, every case being different certainly keeps it interesting, it never gets boring & I love how you can still learn something new. There is no greater feeling than supporting someone with their money advice journey. Educating them on options & supporting them to access. Seeing the relief, they may feel after speaking to you & the worry off their chest once they have accessed a solution is the best feeling. Knowing that you have helped that person with 1 aspect of their possibly already chaotic life & taken one of the stresses away is why I do & will continue to work in this sector.