Progressing in your career is partly your responsibility and partly your employers. However, there are some things you can do to support your career progression.
Qualifications
There are over 50 vocational qualifications at different levels in social care. They're specific to social care and teach you the practical skills and knowledge you need for your role or the role you want to progress into.
You could also do an apprenticeship to help you progress; they’re available for new and existing staff of any age.
Your employer might pay for you to do one, or you could apply for a Government-backed Advanced Learner Loan which can make qualifications and training more affordable.
Training
In any role you’ll have to do some mandatory training; this might include moving and handling, health and safety, food hygiene, fire safety or a condition specific awareness course.
There should be plenty of opportunities to do additional training at work and this could include classroom based training, e-learning or on the job training.
You might also want to do some training outside of work to develop your own skills. You can often find learning resources online, or you might want to enrol on a course at your local college.
A lot of roles, such as care assistant or support worker, require you to do a Level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care. Once you’ve achieved this qualification, there are lots of opportunities to step up into more senior roles.
These usually involved more responsibility like becoming a team leader or supervisor, or you might choose to specialise in a particular aspect of work such as an activity coordinator or rehabilitation worker.
A Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care might be useful to help you step up, or there may be qualifications or training for specific topics such as activity provision, dementia, autism, end of life care or diabetes.
From these roles you can get on into a lead or advanced practitioner role such as a counsellor, a role that coordinates activity across an area such as a care coordinator or a role that requires more leadership and management such as a deputy manager, team manager or manager.
Progressing to more advanced roles requires more responsibility or greater specialist knowledge and skills, for example you might be expected to implement policies and procedures, problem solve and model best practice.
There are lots of ways to develop such skills, including undertaking new managerial tasks, training and developing other staff and representing your organisation at external events and meetings.
Management skills can also be developed using the 'Lead to succeed' learning programme, completing the Manager Induction Standards or Level 4 Certificate in Principles of Leadership.
If you’ve progressed to a lead or advanced practitioner role, you can go further into a more advanced management or professional role with greater responsibility, leadership or influence.
These roles can be very specialised such as a social worker or occupational therapist, or involve management and being responsible for ensuring your organisation meets legal requirements, for example a registered manager or CEO.
These roles can often require a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care or a professional qualification or a degree.