Blog: Is a Career in Care for You?
A career in the care industry isn’t just hugely rewarding, there are many other benefits that students with the right kind of personality and caring attributes required to work in the care sector would find appealing, such as flexible working, continual professional development, and variety of work, to name just a few.
Let’s explore all the benefits a career in care can bring to your professional and personal development.
Diverse and Varied Work
Whichever path you choose, whether it’s health care, self-care or animal care, it’s a certainty that every day is different. If you crave variety in your day job, then a career in care might just be for you.
Flexibility
Jobs in care are well known for being flexible in terms of what days and hours you work. Meaning you can often work around childcare, other jobs and on certain days to suit your lifestyle or other commitments.
Make a difference
The majority of people who choose a career in care do it because they want to make a difference, whether that’s caring for the elderly or vulnerable, providing self-care to clients, or caring for animals in need. Being able to help someone or something in need and making their lives that little bit better. Knowing that you make a difference to their day provides a real sense of achievement that’s difficult to experience in any other role.
Career Progression
Another huge benefit of the care sector is the countless opportunities to gain additional qualifications and upskill as well as the sheer number of different professional areas you can specialise in.
Aside from the points mentioned above, like flexible working and continual professional development, common benefits of care work include financial remuneration, in the form of competitive salaries, overtime and bonus schemes, pensions, generous holiday allowances and loyalty schemes.
The Different Types of Care
What Is Self-Care?
When we talk about self-care, we’re talking about looking after yourself, this could be in many different ways, such as looking after your mind or your body. This can often take the form of things such as spa treatments, getting your hair or nails done, meditation, yoga or even just a simple neck or back massage.
In recent years, self-care has seen a huge rise. As a society, we’re much more aware of the impact that works and life, in general, can have on us, and our mental health. Studies have shown that proper self-care can aid in stress relief, which in turn improves a person’s mental health.
But what about the employees who work in the industry? Is a career in self-care or beauty therapy actually sustainable? Reports show that in 2017, the UK spent an estimated £7.6 billion on beauty treatments annually. Post Covid-19 reports show that the industry is expected to grow by almost 40% in 2022 and beyond.
Career paths in the self-care industry can also be broad, ranging from Hairdressing and Barbering to Beauty Therapists, and even professional Makeup Artist, the possibilities really are endless.
Health and Social Care
It wouldn’t be fair to talk about the care industry without also mentioning the most well-known and talked about the sector in the care industry, that being the health and social care sector. The NHS alone employs over 1.3 million staff, not to mention all the opportunities available in the private healthcare sector.
The NHS, being the biggest employer in the health and social care industry, offers a huge range of exciting and challenging opportunities for students who are passionate about wanting to make a difference. Offering over 300 different careers, there is definitely a job for you no matter what your interests, skills or qualifications.
Some of the most popular careers in the industry are Midwife, Nurse, Social Worker or Support Worker and Counsellor to name a few. All of which require very different skills despite being part of the same industry.
Caring for Animals
Finally, another sector that is not typically associated with the care industry, is that of caring for animals
Just like the self-care and health and social care industry sectors, the UK animal care sector is huge. With veterinary services alone contributing a market value of 2.1 billion pounds in 2020. The animal food market is also worth an estimated 2.9 billion pounds as of 2020. So combined make up an absolutely massive part of the UK economy.
Animal care isn’t just limited to veterinary jobs as you might think. Like many other industries, there are endless opportunities and possibilities when it comes to potential career paths. Many of our graduates have gone on to work on farms and in aquariums even as Dog Trainers with the Police. There are even some interesting career options such as training assistance dogs.
Another exciting career path students could pursue is that of working in a Zoo. Interestingly, Zookeeper roles do not require a degree level of education, however gaining a Level 3 in Animal Management and then applying for a Trainee position to allow you to continue to learn on the job.
If you’re still trying to work out whether a career in animal care is for you, there are lots of opportunities available by volunteering with an animal charity such as the RSPCA. This will give you a chance to talk to people in the industry and find out more about whether it’s the right career for you.
The Next StepÂ
There are so many reasons that people want to work with animals, after all, everyone loves animals, right? The animal care industry offers plenty of opportunities out there for people with the right skills, knowledge and dedication. Qualifications are the first step in pursuing your dream, and from there the sky’s your limit.