Welcome back to our graduate jobs series, where we delve into a specific sector and have a closer look at some of the graduate roles available in that industry. Previously, we discussed the education sector and the charity sector; today, we are focusing on social care. Have a read below to find out some of the significant roles and paths available for graduates and early careers candidate in social care.
What is Social Care?
Social care is the sector that provides physical, emotional, and social support to children and adults of all stages, at any point in their lives where they need extra support to live an independent, safe, and meaningful life. People who work in social care work in various settings, including a person’s home, a hospital, a day centre, a school or other locations such as supported housing.
It is essential to recognise the differences and overlaps that social care has with health care. Most notably, social care supports people with their non-clinical or non-medical needs. This doesn’t mean that the people you care for don’t also have medical needs; it just means that social care workers tend not to be responsible for them. There are significant crossovers between social care and health care, and both can learn a lot from each other. It is not always clear when a person’s need is solely related to their health or whether it also involves social support.
5 Graduate Roles in Social Care
1. Personal Assistant
A personal assistant usually works in somebody’s home, helping them live the most independent life possible. They provide day to day support to people who cannot provide it for themselves; this is usually because of a physical disability rather than an imminent clinical problem. You may help around the house, support them at work and help them to dress and shower.
2. Rehabilitation Worker
Working in rehabilitation is one area of social care that has a large cross over with health care. You will most likely be supporting somebody who is recovering from an accident or illness. Your job as a rehabilitation worker will be to help them physically recover as much as possible and work towards physical independence in activities such as walking and cooking. As well as physical rehabilitation, you will support people to develop the critical life skills they will need, such as budgeting or finding appropriate housing.
3. Care Workers
This is the most general role in social care; care workers can work in various settings, including care homes, hospitals, and people’s own homes. You will be responsible for supporting their care, social and physical activities and general mobility. Most commonly, care workers look after older people, but there are many care worker roles with disabled adults or adults with mental health issues.
4. Advocacy Worker
Rather than working hands-on with the patients who need social care support, advocacy workers are responsible for giving the people they care for a voice and ensuring they can access all the support they need. Advocacy workers represent people to find housing, access financial support, get the correct medical support, and generally represent them and their rights, guaranteeing all vulnerable adults have the information they need.
5. Volunteer Coordinator
Similarly, to the role in the charity sector, a volunteer coordinator is responsible for recruiting, managing, training and supporting volunteers who work for a social care organisation and charity. Many people who work in social care do so voluntarily, so this is essential to ensure that volunteers are providing high-quality care to the people they are supporting.
