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Social, Caring and Advisory Services
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see”. (Mark Twain)
 You have to be a real ‘people person’ to work in this career area. In most jobs you would work with clients and their families, often over a long period of time.
You might be:
- giving advice and information – about welfare rights, education, money, careers or jobs – to people who ask you for it
- working with small children in playgroups, nurseries or their own homes
- running a community education centre, involving local people of all ages in different learning activities
- counselling people to help them sort out problems in their lives – to do this you must develop a trusting relationship with your client
- working in social work or social care, supporting and helping vulnerable people – children, old people, disabled people, recovering drug addicts – in the community or in residential homes.
To succeed in this area, you should be able to build up a good relationship with your clients. You need to be friendly, caring, calm, patient and willing to listen.
It can be quite difficult to get a job in advisory and counselling services, although there are lots of voluntary opportunities.
Counsellors work in advice centres, doctors’ surgeries and for charities. Some work on helplines. Jobs for paid counsellors are increasing but some still do voluntary work to gain experience first.
Community learning and development work includes adult learning, youth work and a wide range of other community support and development jobs. There are around 2,500 to 3,000 full time and part time workers in this sector in Scotland. Part time and temporary work is common.
The number of social workers has also grown, there are around 7,000 social workers in Scotland. Back in 1971 there were just 780!
The social services workforce has grown by a massive 44% in the last ten years. There are now around 163,000 people working in social services in Scotland. This includes workers in four sub-sectors:- care homes for the elderly
- care homes for children and young people
- early education and child care
- support services.
They work in the public, private and voluntary sectors - and in a wide range of jobs, from child care to support services for asylum seekers. Most of the workforce, 80%, is female.
Job prospects are good and likely to stay that way. People are living longer, the number of people aged over 65 will increase by 66% in the next twenty years - leading to a huge increase in demand for social care, and health, services.
Another trend has been the growth of the private and voluntary sectors in social services, as local authorities contract out care services. The private and voluntary sectors now employ almost 60% of those working in social services.
Scotland's childcare workforce has also been growing, there are now 25,470 paid staff working directly with children in childcare centres. Most childcare workers (96%) are female, only 4% are male.
84% of those working directly with children have a relevant qualification and 20% are working towards one. You can study for Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) in child care and social care while you are working.
You can also take qualifications before you apply for a job. There are courses in caring subjects at all levels, from 1 year National Certificates (NC) or National Qualifications (NQ), through Higher National Certificates (HNC) and Higher National Diplomas (HND) to degrees.
To be a careers adviser, community educator or social worker you must have an appropriate degree or postgraduate qualification.
The jobs in this career area have been divided into 5 sectors:
- Advisory services
- Child care and education
- Community education
- Counselling
- Social work or social care.
Sources
Pre-school and Childcare Workforce Statistics (2009) - Scottish Government
Scotland's Social Services Labour Market: 2nd Report of the National Workforce Group (2006) - Scottish Government
Community Learning and Development workforce survey (2007) - Scottish Government
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