Social Care

The sector in a snapshot

There are a wide range of jobs available in Social Care; it just depends on the area you are interested in and the service users you would like to work with.

You could choose to provide care for a specific group of people including adults, children, the elderly, families, those with mental health illnesses, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and alcohol or drug dependency.

There is often an overlap between the Healthcare and Social Care sectors but those areas combined make up the second largest sector (15.6%) of the Sheffield Labour Market which is also deemed as a growth area.

What could the sector offer you?

Jobs in this industry are likely to:

Be rewarding- it often involves building relationships with service users in need of support.
Offer collaborative work- you will work within a multi-disciplinary team with other professionals.
Have lots of development opportunities- you will need to take part in training to keep your skills up to date.
Have the best of both worlds- lots of social work careers will be both office based but also engaging with people who are at the heart of the service.
A diverse range of settings and organisations- ranging from education establishments to the local authority, hospitals, hostels, probation office, homeless shelters, job centres, care and residential homes.

Entry routes and training

Different roles have different entry routes. Whilst there are some professions which require you to study at university, there are also roles within the sector which you can enter through the apprenticeship route or progress into through employment. If you have a certain job role in mind, take the time to look at the different entry routes and decide which is best for you.

Work is experience essential to demonstrate that you have the skills and attributes to perform the roles. Due to the sensitivity of the work and the service users social care works with, it can be difficult to get direct work experience shadowing in some organisations. Volunteering with charities, schools, community settings, youth clubs or providing care support for family and friends is a good way to gain experience and build up the required skills and qualities.

More on preparing for work and volunteering

Reality check

Working with service users in difficult situations may be emotionally challenging. You may be put in a situation with people who are distressed or angry. Social work careers are often roles with a lot of responsibility on them and increasing demands on the service. It could involve working unsociable hours including evening and weekends particularly if the job is in caring, residential or community work.

You will likely need to have skills in...

Communication and interpersonal skills, compassion and empathy, patience, teamwork, collaboration, problem solving, IT

There are many different areas within Social Care:

Advice and guidance
Childcare and early years
Child protection
Community work and day care
Counselling
Fostering and adoption
Housing
Occupational therapy
Probation
Psychology
Residential care
Supporting independent living
Therapies (e.g. art, music, drama)
Youth and community work.

Some roles in the sector

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST (Between £25,654-45,838 per annum)

Occupational therapists are involved with a variety of tasks, all around helping people who have suffered an injury or change to deal with it. This can be teaching a stroke patient to do things for themselves or encouraging someone to take up a hobby or activity. They may make suggestions to employers on how to adapt a workplace for an employee or support someone with permanent disabilities on how to manage these. They will keep notes on patients and support families.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST (From £32,000 starting to £45,838)

As a clinical psychologist you would assess clients’ needs through interviews, tests and observations and make decisions about treatments that they need. They would plan programmes including therapy and counselling for groups or individuals. In some cases these clinical psychologists will be involved in further research or attend conferences for cases. In the most extreme, they will be required to work closely with other professionals and perhaps even go to court to act as expert witnesses for cases.

SOCIAL WORKER (approx £24-40,000 per annum)

This role varies depending on the age of the clients. Generally it involves offering information and counselling to individuals and creating support plans. You will keep a variety of records and case notes for each individual. You will support client safety at all time and make decisions in order to maintain this. You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, liaising with other support workers and professional. You may be involved with helping clients to maintain independence and check in to assess their progress.