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Helping you find a career in the social care industry

Social care is primarily concerned with looking after others, so if you feel fulfilled by dedicating your time toward helping others live a better quality life, social care may just be the career for you.

With social care you will be providing support in all different areas to enable people to live to their fullest potential. All different people, from children to adults, could require extra support at some point in their lives and could therefore benefit from social care.

There are numerous options for specialisation within social care. For example, you could choose focus on support for drug and alcohol misuse, refugees and immigrants, disability, or mental health.

Each of these vulnerable groups has different needs and requires different services, so specialising can enable you to provide a better and more dedicated overall service.

You could also work on the political side of social care through community work in local government. This may involve more strategising and project planning than working with individuals, but you will still be making a significant impact on the community and the quality of life for groups of potentially vulnerable people.

There are a selection of employers within social care, but there will be far more in the public and charity sectors than the private sectors. The biggest employers include local authorities and the NHS, who can also offer the highest levels of job security.

Social care is an incredibly rewarding career that allows you to be paid for helping others. It can give immense feelings of satisfaction and you will be making a tangible difference to the quality of people's lives.

N Written by Navdeep

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Skills & interests required for a career in Social care

It perhaps goes without saying that to work in social care you must be concerned with the wellbeing of others and must be ultimately a caring person.

Your communication skills must be excellent and you need to be able to build relationships with people from all different walks of life. Tact and sensitivity is essential.

Social care can be a stressful job as you can be faced with emotionally difficult situations. Learning to cope with this and not let it interfere with your personal life or mental health is a skill that you have to develop.

There will also be technical skills and knowledge that you will have to gain depending on which role you go into. For example, if you go into mental health work you may have to learn about different kinds of therapies and a deeper understanding of the conditions that you will be working with.

Other skills that will benefit you within social care include:

Graduate schemes & other typical career progression routes in Social care

The NHS is one of the biggest employers within social care and if your degree is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) then you can practise as a social worker. From here, you could progress into a senior role before specialising in a specific area of social care.

There is also a selection of graduate programmes available to accelerate your career progression within social care. The NHS graduate management programme is structured to give graduates a fast track to management through a 12 month programme. As long as you have the right values and commitment it doesn't matter what discipline your degree is in.

As people progress into the political side of social care they may take postgraduate courses to enable them to move into policy-making.

Tips for getting into the field

Remain up to date on the industry through reading publications such as Community Care, and get involved with the conversations that are happening.

Showing an interest for the care of others or the community will also help your chances. There are numerous opportunities to get involved with the local community through volunteer work - try youth groups, local theatres, women's groups or community projects.

How much can graduates earn in Social care?

Social workers who are employed by the NHS usually start between £20,000-£26,000. As you progress into senior positions with more responsibility, this could increase to around £30,000-£35,000.

The wide range of roles mean that the pay also varies widely, but here are some typical salaries for roles within social care: Youth worker - £20,000

Community support worker - £17,000 Residential support worker - £17,500

Commissioning managers within local authorities can earn between £40,000 and £42,000.

What qualifications do I need for a career in Social care?

With a degree there are more avenues open to you within social care and also more opportunities for progression. As long as the degree that you studied is recognised by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) you are able to register and then practice as a social worker.

If your degree is in an unrelated discipline, then you will have to take a two-year postgraduate qualification in social care. Alternatively, you could apply for on-the-job training through programmes such as Frontline or Step Up to Social Work.

For other roles in social care your degree will not need to be recognised by the HCPC, but there are various other requirements that are job-specific. To progress from a youth support worker to professional youth worker, for example, you will need a BA in this area.

For those who wish to eventually progress into government and the policy side of social care, postgraduate study may be required.

Read more about the Social care industry

Health and Care Professions Council National Care Association Care Council For Wales Scottish Social Services Council
SkillsforCare Community Care Frontline

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