Suggestions for next steps after care work?

[chocolateisavegetable]

Has anyone got any experience of moving into a different type of job after doing care work? If relevant - experience is working with children with disabilities, and have level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A levels) in Health & Social Care as well as broader (non job-specific) subjects. Thanks you for any suggestions

Hi @chocolateisavegetable
I have not got experience moving from care work, but I have gone through a career change myself and I work with people who are going through this now. I was wondering what your thoughts are at the moment. Have you thought about what you would like to have as part of a new role or do you have some industries that interest you? Are there elements from your current / previous roles that you would like to keep and what are the things you are trying to move away from? It can be really useful to get suggestions from others, but on the other hand everyone is different, so what’s a great change for one person is awful for someone else. Your training / experience so far would be a great stepping stone into many health and social care roles if you want stay in that general field. The NHS has a good careers website with lots of job profiles you can explore www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/
Are you open to doing more training, like an apprenticeship (lots available in health roles, including up to degree level and of course paid), evening courses or even fulltime education, or would you only consider options you could move straight into? I would start with really thinking about what you want and don’t want in a new role. A good exercise is keeping a list for a few days and writing down all the elements you like in your work at the moment (or outside work) and all the elements that you really hate and want to avoid as much as possible in the future. You can also add things you have experience in the past of course, not just in your current role. Then really think about what your ideal work would look like (in general terms). What would be your ideal hours, pay, commute, things like contact with people etc? Then work out your non-negotiables like minimum pay you need to make even a dream job work, maximum hours, travel etc. All this takes a little time but it gives you a good framework to evaluate ideas and opportunities further down the line.
I like this free personality test as a starting point for self-reflection. There are a couple of sections that link to work, so could also be a nice starting point. www.16personalities.com/

I hope this gives you a starting point.

Theresa