To think care assistant job will fit in well with family life?

[Livvielo]

Posting mainly for traffic…. Is anyone here a care assistant or has been one in the past? I start a new job next week as a care assistant in the community. My hours are x 4 days a week 4pm-10pm and one weekend shift a month 6am-2pm.
The pay is low- £9.50 an hour weekdays, £10.50 an hour weekends (plus fuel allowance.)
It is less than what I get now for my 3 days a week work in a different field, but this job and these hours mean DH and I can be like a tag team- he comes home from work, as I leave for work. So no childcare issues. I tend to go to bed around midnight, so still a couple of hours when I get back from work.
But I’m under no illusion that the job itself is easy. I’m wondering what the reality of care work is like, and if it really does work well around family life. Any tips? Things you wish you had known before you worked in care?
Thanks I’m advance

*in advance

My advice would be stand firm on your availability. Otherwise just the odd shift on a different day will be every few weeks and then a regular habit. Good luck OP - so many complain about this type of work but I honestly loved it. I now manage services but did it full time for years before progressing and I still choose to do shifts every couple of weeks.

Further info- so far the job description says that the agency provides care to adults 18+ and can include leaning difficulties, physical disabilities, mental health illness/ disorders, elderly care, dementia etc - I will have my own clients and I will be lone working, not in pairs.

@GrettaGreen

My advice would be stand firm on your availability. Otherwise just the odd shift on a different day will be every few weeks and then a regular habit. Good luck OP - so many complain about this type of work but I honestly loved it. I now manage services but did it full time for years before progressing and I still choose to do shifts every couple of weeks.

Yes, they did mention there is a lot of bank work available! They said they are quite short at the moment as people are leaving / having to leave if they aren’t vaccinated. In fact, that was the first of the 3 questions I was asked at interview. The other questions were have I got any experience in care (no) and when could I start.

I did explain that I have health issues myself- cystic fibrosis. But obviously, caring for myself and caring for someone else isn’t at all comparable!

A family member did it for a year. It was really tough.
Badly paid, no real support . If she was ill the agency were totally disinterested. She was sent into some quite dodgy situations with minimal training. It’s lonely, thankless and dispiriting. She did become quite attached to some of her clients, which was the upside. It’s not for the faint hearted. There is a very high turnover for a reason.

@Washeduponthebeach

A family member did it for a year. It was really tough. Badly paid, no real support . If she was ill the agency were totally disinterested. She was sent into some quite dodgy situations with minimal training. It’s lonely, thankless and dispiriting. She did become quite attached to some of her clients, which was the upside. It’s not for the faint hearted. There is a very high turnover for a reason.

Yes the high turnover of staff definitely says a lot. In my contact, it says if I leave within the first year, I have to pay them a certain amount. I have to sign that I intend to work at least a year there.

@Washeduponthebeach

A family member did it for a year. It was really tough. Badly paid, no real support . If she was ill the agency were totally disinterested. She was sent into some quite dodgy situations with minimal training. It’s lonely, thankless and dispiriting. She did become quite attached to some of her clients, which was the upside. It’s not for the faint hearted. There is a very high turnover for a reason.

Also the training I have to do is mostly online (and paid) and I’m shadowing another carer for a week, but then I start properly. It does worry me that I will work alone. The only people I know in real life to have ever done this as a job, always worked in pairs.

Yes the high turnover of staff definitely says a lot. In my contact, it says if I leave within the first year, I have to pay them a certain amount. I have to sign that I intend to work at least a year there

That sounds like a huge red flag tbh.

@XenoBitch

Yes the high turnover of staff definitely says a lot. In my contact, it says if I leave within the first year, I have to pay them a certain amount. I have to sign that I intend to work at least a year there

That sounds like a huge red flag tbh.

I did think that, but wondered if it’s the norm in this type of work. I’ve had to pay for a criminal records check (£56) and pay for my uniform and ID badge (£25) so I really hope I like it.

@GrettaGreen

My advice would be stand firm on your availability. Otherwise just the odd shift on a different day will be every few weeks and then a regular habit. Good luck OP - so many complain about this type of work but I honestly loved it. I now manage services but did it full time for years before progressing and I still choose to do shifts every couple of weeks.

Very good advice. I did it full time for 4 months, working endless split shifts between 7am and 9:30pm, and it was tough I will be honest. It was the hours and the fact that I never seemed to have a chunk of time off. If I’d done lates OR earlies it would have been much more manageable but it seemed to be all of the shifts all of the time.

Having said that it was very rewarding and I loved the fact that my work mattered. It’s very valuable work and should be paid more! I made some great friends and learned a lot.

I’d highly recommend getting a cheap payg phone for work and NEVER answering or responding if they contact you when you’re not on shift. If you have 2 phones you can turn the work one off and then you won’t feel guilty when they contact you . Care companies are very good at guilt tripping staff into working extra hours and this is the really stressful part.

Fingers crossed for you OP.

I've never done care work, but I worked similar hours when my DC were younger in emergency services. It was good to begin with, but it does get hard after a few years. I did it for 3 years and was exhausted by the time I finished.

I liked being home all day with my kids, but it was a long day. When they started school, I liked being able to rest but I missed spending time with the kids! My marriage also went shit for a while because DH and I hardly had any time together just the two of us.

I would do it again out of necessity but never out of choice.

Sorry you had to pay for your own criminal check and uniform???

I did it for a bit after I graduated. I’m so glad I did as it was a real eye-opener as to my own level of privilege (in terms of my health, my housing, my opportunities, my education etc etc etc). I got on really well with some of the people I visited and enjoyed spending time with them. I liked the lack of worrying about whether my work was useful you get with less obviously helpful jobs. I would never not ever do it again. Pay was awful and you get put into impossible situations (not enough time to do what actually needs done, so having to half-arse it in a short visit knowing it’s not good enough. Having to do jobs you’re not trained/qualified to do, at risk to you both, because just leaving it is not an option and you’re the only person available to cover that shift. Trying to move an 18 stone immobile patient in the shower because the previous person overdid their enema and you’re half their size and can’t really operate the hoist properly and now everyone is soapy, slippery, and covered in liquid shit which is too runny to pick up but too thick to wash down the drain and you’re still trying to give the poor guy a bit of dignity.)

Op you have to pay your employer money if you leave within the first year? And have paid upfront for a criminal records check and uniform? This is a huge red flag to me. I wouldn't be working for this employer.

I did think that, but wondered if it’s the norm in this type of work. I’ve had to pay for a criminal records check (£56) and pay for my uniform and ID badge (£25) so I really hope I like it. confused

Sorry, even that sounds dodgy. I have volunteered for charities and they always paid for DBS checks, and uniform if relevant.
I trained as an HCP with it funded by NHS and with a bursary too. I left before I finished and did not pay anything back. If I had finished and straight away up and left for New Zealand or something, or went into the private sector... I would not have been expected to pay anything back at all.

Care work is long hours for rubbish pay usually, but I loved making a difference to people's lives. Doing a job that really made an impact on the quality of someones life. I've had to pay a dbs check for a small company before as they said so many staff leave quickly it wasn't worth paying. Never had to pay for a uniform though

@XenoBitch

Yes the high turnover of staff definitely says a lot. In my contact, it says if I leave within the first year, I have to pay them a certain amount. I have to sign that I intend to work at least a year there

That sounds like a huge red flag tbh.

This is illegal.

@CorianderAndCream

Sorry you had to pay for your own criminal check and uniform???

Having to pay for DBS is normal for lots of public sector employers such as local government.

Bloody hell.

They asked you:

• can you take on more shifts?
• do you have any experience? (You said No)
• when can you start?

Then you paid them for your uniform and DBS check and signed yourself up for a year.

After some online training and a week of shadowing someone you’re on your own with 18+ clients boasting a whole range of mental and physical disabilities??

Good luck to you and to your clients. You sound positive and can-do and I’m not having a go at you personally but this thread really demonstrates what is wrong with the care sector. I really do hope you can make this work OP.

I’ll find it and type out exactly what it says. There are different amounts depending if you leave within the first 3 months, 6 months or before the year is up!

@Bloose

I would hope it is! That sounds dodgy as hell.

I'm a lone working carer for an agency.
The trick is to gradually work it round until you are going just to people you click with, and with the hours that suit you.
Have a list of excuses at the ready when they phone to ask if you could "just pop" to someone else.
It's normal for most agencies to expect you to fund your debts and other bits and bobs.
Mine were free, but my rate of pay is less than you.

@Szyz2020

Bloody hell.

They asked you:

• can you take on more shifts?
• do you have any experience? (You said No)
• when can you start?

Then you paid them for your uniform and DBS check and signed yourself up for a year.

After some online training and a week of shadowing someone you’re on your own with 18+ clients boasting a whole range of mental and physical disabilities??

Good luck to you and to your clients. You sound positive and can-do and I’m not having a go at you personally but this thread really demonstrates what is wrong with the care sector. I really do hope you can make this work OP.

When you put it like that, it’s like my inner voice telling me this isn’t normal. I’ve seen other job advertisements in care that state the DBS check and uniform are free. This job advert said there is a paid Christmas party.

@Livvielo

I’ll find it and type out exactly what it says. There are different amounts depending if you leave within the first 3 months, 6 months or before the year is up!

That does not sound good at all.

What if you start and find you can not cope at all? With Zoom only training for a role which is very much hands on, and just a week of shadowing, I would not be surprised if anyone struggled when they were let loose on clients... and the clients are the ones who will be suffering if it goes wrong. Yet, you are expected to pay for holding your hands up and saying no more. That does sound really suspicious.