Find Your Dream Job in Adult Social Care
Looking to land your dream job in adult social work? Our expert tips and advice will guide you towards your next career move. Start your journey now.
Is there anything more fulfilling than helping others?
With adult social work, you can positively impact the people who need it most every day by giving them independence, control, and happiness.
And the good news is that getting into this line of work is straightforward with a little bit of guidance.
So, whether you’re fresh out of exams and looking for your first job or you’re an experienced worker considering a career change, discover how to land yourself a dream role in adult social work.
Why Adult Social Care Might Be the Right Career Path for You
If you’re a dedicated and conscientious individual who loves to help people, adult social work can provide a fulfilling career that goes beyond financial security and career progression.
And with almost 2 million requests for adult social work from 1.4 million new service users by local authorities in 2021-2022, the demand for new, enthusiastic individuals has never been higher.
“Adult social care stands side-by-side with individuals and communities who are most excluded. So much more than just personal care, it helps people live good lives and it enhances health and wellbeing.”
Adult social work is founded on dignity and respect with time for learning and reflection. You must work together with your colleagues under a commitment to provide quality care and support to your clients.
But before we get into the specific roles and responsibilities of health and social care workers, let’s see if you possess the correct values.
Here are three quick questions to answer that will hopefully provide you with good reasons for applying for a care job in adult social work:
- Do you want to make a positive difference in people’s lives?
- Do you want to work with a team of other professionals?
- Do you want a wide range of career choices and opportunities?
If you answered yes to all three, then you could be the perfect fit. Now, let’s see if you have the right social worker skills and qualities.
Essential Skills for Succeeding in Adult Social Care
Helping vulnerable people most excluded from society comes with a few desired capabilities. Desirable social and support worker skills and qualities include:
- Empathy
- Active listening
- Patience
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Self-care
- Cultural competence
By owning or developing these crucial skills and qualities, you can go far in an adult social care career, successfully managing the varied roles and responsibilities required from health and social care workers.
Some of these duties include:
- Supporting people with social, mental, and physical activities.
- Helping people with personal care, such as dressing or washing.
- Monitoring people’s health, such as checking body temperatures and diet.
But overall, your sole responsibility as an adult social worker is to help people live as independently as possible, so they can feel more empowered to maintain a healthy wellbeing and a dignified quality of life.
Building Your Professional Network for Career Success in Adult Social Care
With the ideal values, qualities, and skills as reasons for applying for a care job in adult social work, next is about enriching your industry insights and improving your network.
So, considering what types of adult social care exist will help you recognise the field you wish to support. Let’s begin with how local councils support adults with social needs.
Adult social care functions across the following settings:
- Care at home – Home care is where you will care for a person inside their own home.
- Care homes – You will support people inside care homes or nursing homes.
- Housing support – Providing care that helps people live independently in their community.
- Adult day care – Help people have interesting, fun, and stimulating days in various settings.
All these care settings can range across various illnesses or disabilities, including:
- Mental health support
- Learning disabilities
- Dementia and Alzheimer’s
- Activity provision
So, if you’re passionate about a particular topic in adult social work, we encourage you to pursue a career that specialises in that field.
Once you identify a care setting and field, you can start building your network for career success. The best way to begin networking within your chosen care profession is through volunteer opportunities where you can speak to professionals and develop relationships.
Volunteering can also reward you with direct adult social work experience that you can include on your CV when applying for jobs.
Secondly, there is some mandatory training that is required to work within this sector and generally the employer will offer this training as part of an induction. Training in this sector is of real benefit to learn new skills and gain some valuable knowledge. Most adult social care providers are expected to provide all the necessary training to their staff, ensuring they learn the behaviours, skills, attitudes and knowledge to deliver the highest standards of care to clients.
Consuming content can be a good source of knowledge and conducting research will help inform your ideas and fuel your passion for adult care work with a healthy stream of content.
We highly recommend:
- Reading articles on GOV.UK and ‘Social work with adults’.
- Listening to adult social work podcasts like ‘The Social Work Podcast’.
It’s worth upping your social media presence too. Building your profile up on LinkedIn as an adult social care worker by optimising your profile, engaging in content and connecting with the right professionals in your desired sector can give you added exposure.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of networking events. The Adult Social Care Conference is a prime example. In just one day, you’ll get the opportunity to meet hundreds of recruiters and decision-makers in the adult social care world.
But it’s worth noting that some employers will offer you employment even if you have no experience and are willing to learn and undertake the training required so you are competent and feel confident to fulfil your role. There is a wide range of training available within this sector and opportunities for career progression.
Crafting a Compelling CV and Cover Letter for Adult Social Care Positions
Your CV is your shop window to many employers and recruiters, so always take the time to keep it update and accurate.
The ideal care worker CV examples include all the relevant experience that displays your relevant support worker skills and qualities.
Working in a team, communication, and critical thinking are all skills most people experience, whether in school or a place of work.
If you don’t have direct care work experience, don’t panic. Communicate your qualities of empathy and patience alongside a willingness to help people within your cover letter and personal statements. Showcasing your soft skills can go a long way.
Care work relies on professionalism and a kind personality. So, it’s important to display both sides with the language you use and how you come across in person. To do this, consider the following:
- Attention to detail is everything in care, so make the first impression count. Run your CV through Grammarly before submitting it to minimise the likelihood of any grammatical errors.
- Get a friend to review your cover letter to get a new perspective on the tone. Do you sound friendly and passionate?
The key is to express that you’re a professional, honest, and caring person who can be trusted to deliver quality care to vulnerable people.
At Herefordshire Cares, our clients are always on the search for great listeners and caring personalities looking to care for others and make a positive impact in society.
We bring attention to the numerous social care job vacancies available in the Herefordshire region, from healthcare assistants to support workers and domiciliary care roles. So, if you’re interested in embarking on an exciting and fulfilling role in adult social care, visit the vacancies page or get in touch for more details. If you are interested in a social care career with the council, latest vacancies can be viewed here – Spirit of Herefordshire