Social care is changing and there’s a greater focus on supporting people to live independently, often at home, and improving links. As a result, organisations in the sector are working in new ways, creating lots of exciting job roles.
Skills for Care’s new toolkit, Social care: a rewarding career, explores the opportunities in the sector and how you can build a successful career in it.
Here are some tips to help you get ahead.
Say yes to qualifications
There are more than 50 vocational qualifications at different levels in social care. They’re specific to the sector and teach you the practical skills and knowledge you need now, and in the future.
There’s also the option of an apprenticeship to help you climb the career ladder – they’re available for people of any age who are new to social care or already working in the field.
Your employer might pay for you to do the qualifications you need, or you can apply for a government backed Advanced Learner Loan, which can make qualifications and training more affordable.
Don’t shy away from training
In any role, you’ll have to do some mandatory training. These courses can cover everything from moving and handling of people, and health and safety to food hygiene, fire safety and condition specific awareness.
As well as mandatory training, there should be plenty of opportunities for you to complete additional training at work. This can be in the form of classroom-based training, e-learning or on-the-job training.
You can also choose to do some training outside of work to develop your skills. You can often find learning resources online, or you may want to enrol on a course at your local college.
Sally Gibbons works for Hft, a charity which supports people with learning disabilities. She first started working in social care as a care assistant and took every training opportunity offered, including courses in crisis intervention, deaf awareness, sex, sexuality and HIV, and autism.
The training helped her get a job working with children who have complex needs such as autism and challenging behaviour. Her experience enabled her to secure a job as a learning support assistant at a college for students with complex support needs. She was keen to develop her expertise in this area of work and funded herself to complete a diploma in teaching in the lifelong learning sector.
This helped her move into a new role as a tutor for a groundbreaking communications and advocacy course, and equipped her to take on social care management roles.
Gibbons says: “It’s important to take advantage of education and training opportunities to progress in your career. Sometimes it makes sense to take a sideways move in order to move forward as this can increase your career prospects.”
Click here to read more about her career journey.
Be passionate
It’s important that you show the right attitude and make the most of any learning opportunities you get.
Mike Maden started his social care career as a support worker, now he’s a team manager.
He says: “If you sit back and just do what it says on the job description, you’ll never get noticed. If you want to progress, you need to prove that you’re motivated, show you want to go forward, learn new things and are passionate about your job – then you’ll get noticed.”
Click here to read more about how he made the switch from support worker to team manager.
Find an organisation committed to training staff
It’s also important that you find the right employer, committed to staff training and professional development.
Emma Stowell is a care supervisor with Bluebird Care, supporting vulnerable adults to live independently in their own home. She started working as a care assistant and has advanced to her current position thanks to her employer offering her the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities and complete qualifications.
Stowell says: “When applying for jobs look for companies that offer good support – including ongoing training.”
Click here to read more about her journey from care assistant to care supervisor.
Read Social care: a rewarding career to find out how you can develop your career.
Content on this page is produced and controlled by Skills for Care, sponsor of the Guardian Social Care Network leadership, learning and development hub
