The home care industry is rapidly growing and demand for qualified carers is only expected to rise. Working in social care offers various opportunities for professional growth and career advancement, regardless of your starting role or current position.
Here we explore ways to advance your career in social care and discover the different senior job roles available. We also provide useful information on the necessary qualifications and training required to reach your desired position.
WHAT DO I NEED TO PROGRESS MY CAREER?
The social care field offers numerous opportunities to progress through your career path, gain qualifications and reach your potential as a care worker. Even if it’s your first time working as a professional carer, you will have the potential to advance your career in various directions.
Career advancement will depend on the practical knowledge and skills you have gained as a care worker or on your transferable skills, like adaptability, organisational abilities and people skills.
These are some of the skills and qualifications that could help you progress in your career:
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
Mandatory training is often required in any carer role, such as moving and handling, health and safety, food hygiene, fire safety, or courses that are specific to certain medical conditions. Your workplace should offer additional training opportunities, which could include classroom-based training, e-learning, or on-the-job training.
You may also wish to pursue training outside of work to enhance your skills. There are numerous online learning resources available, or you might consider enrolling in a course at a local college.
In order to advance your career in the care industry, it is important that your employer is receptive to providing opportunities for training, development, and career advancement. When deciding on a care provider to work for, it is recommended that you enquire about their training programs and ongoing options for career progression.
NEW QUALIFICATIONS
Additional education or qualifications may be required for certain careers, like nursing or certain management positions. If you’re considering pursuing further studies, you should decide whether to study while working or take a break for full time education. While it’s possible to acquire many qualifications while working, the process may take a bit longer.
There are over 50 vocational qualifications in social care available at various levels. These qualifications are tailored to social care and teach practical skills and knowledge that are applicable to your current or desired position.
If you want to progress, you could also consider an apprenticeship, which is available to both new and existing staff of all ages. Your employer may cover the cost of the apprenticeship, or you could apply for a Government-funded Advanced Learner Loan, which could make qualifications and training more affordable.
Skills for Care is a great resource for learning more about the various qualifications available to care workers.
WHAT SENIOR ROLES COULD I PROGRESS TO?
SPECIALISING IN A SPECIFIC AREA OF CARE
One way that you can progress in your career is to specialise in a specific area of care. Through further education and training, you can become a specialist in a particular area of care such as working with older adults, disability care, mental health care or paediatric care.
For instance, if you have a passion for assisting people with autism or dementia, you may pursue roles that focus on these conditions. Alternatively, if helping clients towards the end of their lives brings you satisfaction, you may explore roles in hospice or palliative care.
LEADERSHIP OR MANAGEMENT
As a care worker, you can advance to a lead or advanced practitioner role, such as a care coordinator, care manager or area care manager. These roles entail greater responsibilities and require specialised knowledge and skills, such as policy implementation, problem-solving, and modelling best practices.
There are several ways to develop such skills, such as taking up new managerial tasks, training and developing other staff and representing your organisation at external events and meetings.
Additionally, you can acquire management skills through programs such as ‘Lead to Succeed’ learning programme, completing Manager Induction Standards, or obtaining a Level 4 Certificate in Principles of Leadership.
CARE COORDINATOR
The role of care coordinators is primarily based in an office setting and involves tasks such as creating care schedules, maintaining the continuity of care when possible and ensuring compliance with regulations. If you possess excellent organisational skills, flexibility, and the ability to motivate your colleagues, this position could be an ideal fit for you.
NURSING & NURSING ASSISTANTS
Although working as a care worker is vastly different from nursing, it is an excellent career path for advancement.
As a successful care worker, you likely have many transferable skills, including compassion and the ability to perform well under pressure, both of which are essential traits of a good nurse. Furthermore, you may have gained a great deal of insight into the role of nurses through your interactions with them during your career.
If you are already working as a carer and you wish to take on more technical or clinical duties, you might be interested in the new NHS-created role of Nursing Associate. A Nursing Associate provides carers with the expertise and knowledge required to undertake additional clinical responsibilities, such as performing venepuncture and ECGs and performing and recording clinical observations.
As you gain more experience and receive additional training, you could advance to a senior healthcare assistant role. From there, you could pursue training as an assistant practitioner or nursing associate. With the necessary qualifications and academic aptitude, you could aspire to become a degree-level healthcare professional such as a nurse, podiatrist, midwife or occupational therapist.
A CAREER WHERE YOU CAN GROW
Looking for a rewarding career with plenty of opportunities for career progression? Consider joining our award-winning team at Prestige Nursing & Care.
Prestige Nursing & Care provides high-quality, personalised and expert home care services for every stage of life. If you’re dedicated to providing outstanding care and support to our clients, we’ll support your career every step of the way.
Our in-depth online training programme, which you will be required to complete before you start working with us, will give you all the tools you need to start a successful care career with us. We also offer ongoing training and development for those who wish to acquire more qualifications and skills to advance their careers.
We look after you by offering:
- Hourly rates that are often higher than other agencies
- A flexible way to work locally – the hours you want when you want them
- Working with a local team at a local branch
- A variety of work matched to your skills and interests
- Ongoing training and development
- A Member Advantages programme offering retail discounts
APPLY FOR A CARER JOB WITH US
Are you interested in a rewarding and meaningful career with Prestige Nursing & Care?
Whatever your skills or experience, applying for a role is simple. You can learn more about our home care job requirements and our recruitment process in our carer jobs section.
Contact our friendly recruitment team or explore our current carer jobs to see what’s currently available.
