If you want to make a difference to others’ lives, then a career in social work or social care might be the way to do it…
Social work and social care is really about making people’s lives easier. Social work is about acting as an adviser, advocate, counsellor and listener all rolled into one. This could mean helping an offender find work in their community, assisting someone with HIV/AIDS, helping older people with health, housing and benefits, or working with people with mental health difficulties. You can also choose to work with children and young people, by giving advice to families, working in children’s homes, managing adoption and foster care processes, supporting young people at risk or in trouble with the law, or helping kids with problems at school or home. A social worker needs to know how the law works and be fully up to speed with the social welfare system. Part of the job includes liaising with other professionals such as teachers, doctors, nurses, police and lawyers. Social workers and social work students can join the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), which campaigns for social work issues, provides support and information, and advertises social work jobs.
Social Care is about providing practical support for people with physical or psychological challenges. It might involve helping residents in a care home with daily tasks like washing and getting dressed, supporting the parents of children with severe health and behavioural problems, or organising activities for residents at day care centres. There’s a huge variety of roles so you can find one to suit you and your skills, and the flexible hours make it ideal for students or parents.
You need to know that this is not an easy career path to walk, though: you’ll be confronted with unpleasant, possibly upsetting situations, which you’ll need training and a certain type of personality to deal with. It’s certainly not for everyone, but we figure if you’ve come this far – you’ll be willing to come a little further.
Challenges and Rewards
Social Work can be an immensely rewarding career, as your focus is on improving people’s wellbeing. Whoever you work with, you will be making a massive difference to their lives. In terms of your own career, you will have a professional qualification in a growing sector that offers plenty of scope to choose the setting you work in. You will receive ongoing training and support to develop your skills, and there is a good pension and other benefits attached to the job.
Social Care can be either a worthwhile job or a rewarding career, depending on the type of work you are looking for. Demand for social care services is constantly growing, so there are plenty of job opportunities. A lot of care jobs offer flexible hours rather than a rigid 9-5 schedule, which makes caring an ideal job while you’re studying. You can also gain qualifications and experience as you go along, and make the job into a career.
The challenges of both roles are that you’ll be working with difficult and emotional issues, so you need to know that you can handle any situation that comes up, and detach yourself from the lives of your clients while still remaining caring. Social workers may find their job frustrating at times as they can come across a lot of red tape and slow-moving legal issues.
To do either job you’ll need to be mature, responsible, patient and dedicated – and a sense of humour will help get you through the hard stuff.
Getting Qualified
Another big difference between social care and social work is the level of qualification needed. Social workers must gain an honours or postgraduate degree in social work that involves course work and a minimum of 200 days spent in practice settings. For carers, your people skills, enthusiasm and dedication to the job are initially more important than academic qualifications, but you can develop your skills as you go along with on-the-job training and courses (you might want to go on to take NVQs, or even a degree in social work, for example).
Support for Students
You can apply for a non-means tested bursary to support you financially while you’re studying for a social work degree (subject to residency criteria – for more info see the Social Work careers website, listed below). The other bonus about training as a social worker is you can use your skills to get hold of some much-needed cash during the holidays. Possible roles include being a social work assistant to help qualified social workers, a residential carer to work evenings and weekends in care homes, or a support worker to help an individual in their home, college or residential unit.
Doing the job
Litisha Williams is a student at UCE. She’s worked as a support worker in a children’s home, has a national diploma in care and has taken courses in drug awareness, victim support and youth offending.
Why did you get into social work?
I wanted to help disadvantaged children, to make a difference to society and to give back to the community. I also wanted to go to work and feel proud about what I do.
What’s your favourite thing about the course?
Social work gives you a great sense of achievement.
What skills are required for social work?
You have to be patient but assertive. You also have to be tolerant, and treat every person as an individual.
What’s unique about social work?
Social work is such a broad profession. You’re not restricted to one career pathway and every day is different.
Why would you encourage others to choose social work over other ethical careers?
You’re able to really affect a person’s life, build up a rapport with them and form a relationship that you hope will be beneficial.
What do you think about the trend towards people wanting to give back to society?
It shows that money can’t compensate for real job satisfaction!
Next steps
If you think a career in social work or care is for you, ask yourself some questions about the job that would suit you best before you start looking for roles. Take your existing experience and skills into consideration, then ask:
Once you have your answers, try contacting some of the people in our ‘More info’ box. You might like to think about talking to a careers teacher or Connexions adviser, getting some work experience, or talking to people who do the job (and we have a handy case study to help with that) to find out what it’s really like. Now go make a difference!
More info
Social Work and Care Careers:
www.socialworkandcare.co.uk / 0845 6046404
General Social Care Council (GSCC)
www.gscc.org.uk / 020 7397 5800
British Association of Social Workers (BASW)
www.basw.co.uk / 0121 622 3911
Skills for Care
www.skillsforcare.org.uk
Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC)
www.cwdcouncil.org.uk
Visit www.ukhca.co.uk/jobs to find out about local home care employers. Also try Jobseeker Direct: 0845 60 60 234 / www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
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