Home Care Manager
Meet Anne
What is a home care manager in social care?
Anne went from a career in banking to working in social care, and now loves her role as a home care manager with Bradford Council. She manages a team of workers as part of an enablement service.
Anne works as a home care manager with Bradford Council, managing 38 workers. Her team supports people in their own homes. This includes:
- Ongoing assessment of their care needs
- Assessing what equipment people might need
- Support with personal care
- Assisting people to take their medication
- Support with all daily living tasks such as meal preparation, laundry and shopping.
How did she get here?
Anne previously worked for Jobcentre Plus and then as an IT analyst for a bank for 14 years.
One day she witnessed a child with learning difficulties being supported to eat an ice cream. The ice cream dribbled on the child’s chin, and a funny comment from her support worker made the child laugh. This made Anne realise she wanted a more fulfilling career and she decided to work in social care.
Anne applied for a role as a home care assistant with a domiciliary care agency. She then worked as a support worker with adults with learning disabilities, and later progressed to become a team leader. During this time Anne completed level 2 and 3 qualifications as well as specialist dementia and medication training.
She decided to apply for a senior care worker role with the council to develop her skills and knowledge. From there she’s progressed into her role as home care manager where she hopes to start studying for a level 5 qualification in leadership.
Anne enjoys challenging herself and sought promotion when she felt she had achieved what she wanted in each role. She’s now happy she has a more meaningful job.
Where can it take her?
Anne plans to start a level 5 qualification and might like to progress to a higher management position or work with a different client group. She’s also interested in social work.
What would she say to others interested in a career in care?
Anne says “you don’t necessarily need to have experience to start working in care” and advises that when applying for jobs, think about what transferable skills you have from previous experiences, as well as your values.
Think about what transferable skills you have from previous experiences, as well as your values, she suggests that if you’re not sure whether you’d like care work, you could volunteer or try a work placement. There are lots of roles available working with different client groups such as older people, people with learning disabilities or children.
Anne thinks working in a front line care role is a great start if you want to progress to management. It’s useful to have an understanding of the challenges care staff might face, and this can help you better manage a team.
She says there are lots of opportunities available and hard work can pay off; it’s about your attitude.
It’s certainly not a dead end job, it’s what you make of it
Find out more about working in social care
www.skillsforcare.org.uk/thinkcarecareers (opens in a new window)
