Careers Guide: Social care careers - Essential advice on jobs in social care

1. Life experience counts.

Social care professionals can encounter some fairly horrendous situations in the line of their work, including cases of child abuse and neglect. Ian Riley, assistant manager of Lerryn House in Stockport, a residential home offering long-term placements to looked-after children, says it's therefore useful to have "lots of life experience" and the ability to promote young people's welfare.

"It is what helps you deal with abuse and understand where it is coming from," he says.

Riley was originally taken on as a care worker by care home provider the Together Trust after being made redundant as an engineer. "I didn't have any qualifications but I had experience as a youth worker," he says.

Katie Brown, parent carer support worker at Swindon Carers' Centre, is also a great believer in life experience. "It is important," she says. "In social care, you have to work with a diverse range of people where you are often out of your comfort zone. So it helps if you have had experience of dealing with people from all walks of life."

2. Be prepared to work flexible hours.

This is particularly the case for staff working in residential care, says Ian Riley. "When I was a care worker in the home, I would be away from home up to 24 hours and you need to be aware that the job can upset your social life," he says. "I used to do weekend working and two nights away from home. You have to get used to a different bed and broken nights."

Lisa Slawig, senior social worker at Lambeth Council, advises people wanting to work regular hours to steer well clear of social work.

"It is definitely not a nine-to-five role," she says. "You have to be able to respond to any emergency."

3. Volunteer first.

"It's a great way to get a feel for things and get some experience," says Katie Brown. "It also helps you decide which area you want to go into." Brown, who has supported women who suffer domestic violence, also worked as a volunteer in community development in Mozambique. "It is very good experience doing voluntary work overseas," she adds. "It gives you a different perspective on life."

4. Keep studying.

Increasingly, it is a good idea to have a degree and a management qualification, especially if you want to progress to a more senior role, says Pat Walton, director of social care at the charity Together Trust.

She adds: "It's a very competitive environment but somebody who is experienced and has shown how good they are at management might be able to sell themselves with a management NVQ, say Level 4 or 5."

You also need to have "masses of energy, be able to think on your feet and be innovative" to work in social care management, says Walton, who worked as a social worker for various local authorities before joining the voluntary sector.

"It is important to think strategically and be able to network," she says.

5. Be willing to listen.

It can be easy to jump to conclusions about people's situations or events that have happened, but things may not necessarily be how they seem. "Listening is a skill and often people's self-esteem is low, so it is vital to make them feel they are worth the time and effort you are spending on them," says Katie Brown.

Slawig adds that you must also be willing to challenge parents but without patronising them.

"Sometimes I feel I am doing a detective job because the parents say things that just don't add up," she adds. "You also have to be able to work as part of a team as we often do joint visits and joint working."

THE SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

Big changes are under way in the children and young people's social care field. The Children's Plan includes a newly qualified status for children's social workers, induction support and quality standards for new social workers and a fast-track work-based route into children's social work aimed at older graduates.

In Building Brighter Futures: Next Steps for the Children's Workforce, the government announced plans to improve undergraduate and postgraduate training. A vital element of the document is the Integrated Qualifications Framework, which will be ready in 2010 to support the drive for a better qualified workforce. This will bring common standards to the different qualifications and qualification routes, enabling people to move into different areas of the sector more easily.