How did you get into probate genealogy?

I have always had a passion for genealogy but didn’t think there was any way of doing it as a career. Once I graduated university I was struggling to figure out what to do, so I started to think about what are the things that I really enjoy doing. I started looking into what kind of jobs there are in genealogy, and came across the industry (specifically Finders)! I instantly felt like this was the job for me and applied straight away, and the rest is history!

What does a normal day look like for you?

I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a ‘normal day’ at Finders – every day is very different as there’s a wide range of tasks and each case is unique! Generally there’s lots of time spent on the phone speaking to beneficiaries, as well conducting research into new cases and drawing up family trees. I also spend a lot of time corresponding with the local authorities that we work with, discussing progress on cases and keeping everyone up to date. There’s a lot of variety in the day-to-day work at Finders, which is something I particularly enjoy.

What is your most memorable case to date?

I would say that friendly beneficiaries are some of my most memorable moments – I recently had a phone call with an elderly lady who read me a poem she’d written and then told me I’d made her day by listening!

What do you love most about working at Finders?

I love many things about working at Finders, but my top two would be a) the company culture – I find it to be a really friendly and welcoming place to work, where everyone is always happy to help each other, and b) the variety of job itself – with so many different cases that we work on, no two days are the same and there is always something new to learn and discover.

Away from genealogy, if you could do any other job in the world, what would you do and why? Dream big!

I would honestly say that genealogy is my dream job, as its been a passion of mine since I was a child! I love being able to research into family trees every single day and I don’t think there’s another job which would be the same. If I did choose another career path, I would probably work in the charity sector, as I would love to be able to contribute to helping others and making a positive impact.