From college and signing on to operational support officer: Chris's career pathway

In 2016, after completing my health and social care diploma at college, I was looking for a full time job but I was struggling to find employment. I signed on at my local job centre and worked with them to update my cv. Through them I took part in a sector based work academy with Persona, which involved a 6 week program and at the end I was offered a casual support worker contract. I then went on to become a support worker and then a lead support worker.

I then applied to join Persona Rising Stars Programme and one of my proudest moments is completing my Rising Stars course, during which I was also support to achieve a level 3 Team Leader qualification.  

I like the unpredictability of the job; no two days are the same and the difference you can make in someone else’s life motivates me. I love enabling the people we support to be as independent as possible and reach the goals that they want to reach. I have formed good working relationships with both staff that I have met and the people we support. It is a very hands on and interactive job.

I think one of the biggest challenges/misconceptions of social care is that people think we only “care” for the person. We do so much more than just “care” we promote, enable, and allow the people we support to meet their goals.

Working in care is completely different to what I imagined. The progression opportunities which have been made available by Persona have made it into my long-term career. Working in care has its challenges but the rewards most definitely outweigh them.  

To read more about Chris's career, click here.