Working with children and young people in a residential children's home inspired me to apply for a secondment in social work training supported by my employer.
Being able to get funding for the social work training is very hard, and each year there are fewer places offered and more people wanting to complete the training so it was also very useful to have the support of my manager at the time, who remains my role model in social work.
A year later I wrote an article on issues relating to social work in the media, which to my surprise earned me that all important interview and the chance to complete a diploma in social work from the Open University, rather than a new degree program, which was still being created at my local university and launched later that year.
The interview for the course was on my birthday, and I was in such a panic when they asked if I had any questions, that I asked, "did they have a birthday cake for me?" Looking back now I do not know how I got on the course, but they may have recognised that having a sense of humour is a good skill to have when working with people.
Obviously the Open University route involves distance learning but I'm glad I completed it through that route.
I found the support they provided best met my needs as an adult learner. The information and support was easy to find, and the monthly tutorials were informative and ensured that I was able to meet other students and share experiences.
Because it is not taught in the classroom, I was responsible for my own learning, which enabled me to be flexible. Having a young son at the time meant that this was essential in order to balance family time, working and then my studies.
Humour has remained with me throughout my training, and I believe that this has helped me to be a more approachable social worker. I have found that my team benefit from my approach to what they know is a difficult task. As a father and husband my humour has helped me keep a balance between what is work and what is my home time with my family. And for the young people I work with straight social work talk is sometimes the last thing they want to hear.
Instead, a relaxed style and developing a rapport means that I have been able to develop positive working relationships with some of the harder to reach young people that I work with.
Simply Social Work blogs online at How not to do social work, and tweets at @SimplySW
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