Work experience with Jonathan Walton, housing enforcement manager, Rochdale

Katie Kilgallen, Regeneration & Renewal, 12 September 2008

What has been your most beneficial career experience to date? Working as a community support officer. It wasn't one event: I enjoyed the diverse nature of the job. It was a daily problem-solving role and it is a foundation for everything I've done since. The estate we worked on had high levels of crime, debt and property turnover. I was part of a team that tried to address these problems.

What's the best advice you've ever been given? I have been fortunate to work alongside many inspiring people. I can't put my finger on one piece of advice, but I had an opportunity to watch people in ordinary situations doing extraordinary things.

What's the best training you've had? I did a Chartered Institute of Housing-approved housing diploma. That gave me a lot of the knowledge that underpins my work. It answered a lot of my questions about why we do things. But, having said that, you can't beat practical experience.

What book would you recommend? Fish! Tales: Real Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Workplace and Your Life by Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul and Philip Strand. The book is based on the experiences of the workers at a fish market in Seattle who have to work in quite cold and unpleasant conditions. It's really about looking for the positive. I found it helpful in terms of my approach to work.

What do you wish you'd know when you started out? Looking back, I wish I'd been more confident in my decision-making early on.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1998: Joins Rochdale's housing department as a development officer.

2000: Becomes a community support officer.

2002: Moves into the role of enforcement officer.

2005: Takes the position of enforcement manager within the newly created legal services and enforcement team.