8 Good Reasons to Work in Social Care

We're pretty sure that working in homecare is the best job in the world! So here are 8 of the best reasons to consider a career in social care.

As people who work in social care know, the industry is often unfairly portrayed in the press. Negative stories tend to dominate the headlines, so it’s no wonder that many people have a distorted opinion of the sector as a whole. That’s why we want to redress the balance by telling you about all the positive things a career in homecare has to offer.

In our experience, the homecare industry is full of genuinely caring people who want to make a positive difference to others. And with an ever-ageing population, it’s also one of the best job sectors in which to build a lasting and rewarding career. There are so many reasons to work in social care we don’t have room for them all, but here are 8 of the best!

1. You make a difference – Every job has its merits but there’s something extra special about care work. The smallest things can make the biggest difference to someone who is struggling to cope due to ill-heath or old age. The appreciation you get from your customers and the feeling of knowing that you’ve improved someone’s life make every day worthwhile.

2. You gain useful qualifications – Care is a highly regulated industry, so you can build quite a CV when it comes to qualifications. Not only are there plenty of job roles to keep you busy, it can also act as a useful stepping stone to gain experience for a career in nursing or social work.

3. You learn new skills and build confidence – As well as getting formal qualifications, you learn on the job too. Every day, you’ll be faced with different situations, from the serious to the trivial. Learning to deal with things as they happen means care workers are an adaptable and resourceful bunch - your experiences at work will give you useful transferable life skills that can benefit your own family and wider community too.

4. The flexible working hours – People don’t just need care from 9 to 5, which means hours are available around the clock in a variety of combinations. There are live-in care opportunities for those who want to do days at a time, or longer. If you need shorter hours, daily visits or overnight care might fit into your lifestyle better. Whatever personal or family commitments you have, there are invariably hours to suit your personal schedule.

5. No day is ever the same – they say variety is the spice of life and that’s certainly true in social care. You’ll look after a wide range of individuals with differing health conditions and ever-changing needs. Every person you encounter and situation you face is unique and that’s what keeps life exciting.

6. You get to know your community – It’s amazing how caring in the community makes you feel more connected to it. Working in people’s homes means you’ll improve your own social connections, building close relationships with your customers, their family and friends. And if you’re helping people to access activities in the community, be prepared to discover, people, places and social groups you never knew existed!

7. You’re a valued part of a team – No one in social care works in isolation – as a member of a care team you’ll make friends and get support from others who share your values and goals. You’re also part of a wider network of health professionals like doctors, district nurses and social workers. Perhaps the most important group you become a part of is that of the customer’s circle of family and friends – all working together in the best interests of the person you look after.

8. It’s interesting and fun – Working with customers who each have unique personalities and life-experiences can be eye-opening and lots of fun. You’ll get new perspectives on life, hear some wonderful stories and learn about what’s important in life from people who want to pass on their wisdom. Although care work often involves helping those who are facing adversity, you’ll be inspired by the human capacity to see the positives and humour in so many situations. As life-affirming jobs go, it doesn’t get any better.

Build a career in homecare with the UK’s leading provider

At Bluebird Care Sevenoaks, we’re committed to choosing the best candidates for the job – people who care! Our philosophy is that you can’t provide the highest quality homecare services without investing in and supporting your staff. That’s why we have a generous pay and benefits package to attract and keep the best homecare workers.

If you’d like to know more about a career with Bluebird Care Sevenoaks, take a look at our job vacancies or read about some of the job roles we offer. You can also find out more about why a career in homecare is so rewarding by reading what our Care Assistants say.