Work in social care and early years services
Employers need to encourage over 90,000 new workers into social care and children’s services each year for the foreseeable future. Yet many people have a negative perception of what it’s like to work in care or are unaware of the range of careers available.
Two new resources are available to help explore work in care with students.
Students interact with short films
A Question of Care: a Career for You is a free interactive online tool exploring whether students are potentially suited to careers in care.
Students watch short films representing situations in different care settings and are asked to make judgments about what they see. This informs online feedback and generates an automatic personal profile describing the extent to which their answers suggest they have the values needed for care work.
The challenge can be completed alone or used as the basis of one-to-one or group discussions. It takes about 20 minutes to complete individually or 45 minutes as a group. Visit the challenge at www.aquestionofcare.org.uk
Care workers share their experiences
Ambassadors are enthusiastic individuals currently working in social care or early years settings. They are specially trained and available to share their experiences with students at schools, colleges, job centres, or careers fairs.
Ambassadors might lead a discussion, show a presentation or facilitate specially designed games or challenges to help students explore the world of care work. They may talk about different entry routes such as Apprenticeships or how to turn a job into a career. Search for the right ambassador to talk to your students.
The UK sector skills council, Skills for Care and Development has developed both resources with co-investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) through the Employer Investment Fund. For more information contact sscinfo@skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk