With 70 per cent of carers loving their role, why not take on one of the 200,000 available jobs?
Care work can offer a flexible career for those with a restricted work-life balance, and with an ageing populating, the demand for employees in the sector is set to rise
BRITAIN is in the grip of a care crisis with employers crying out for willing workers.
It’s a job that is rewarding both emotionally and financially with a huge 70 per cent of workers saying they love their role.
So could you dare to care?
There are more than 200,000 jobs in the sector up for grabs and demand for social care is predicted to rise as the population ages.
Regulators have warned that the crisis has reached a “tipping point” with widespread care home closures and record levels of bed-blocking in hospitals for want of social care.
But caring can be a fantastic career — especially for those looking for a good work/life balance.
Emma Lawton, 26, was keen to find work flexible enough to fit around her 20-month-old son Keelan, who is now five, while her husband Lynton, 27, worked at a special needs school.
She contacted Home Instead Senior Care and what began as an evening and weekend role as a caregiver at the firm’s Oldham and Saddleworth office has developed into a full-time job as the branch’s recruitment coordinator.
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Emman from Oldham, Gtr Manchester said: “People have poor perceptions of what working in care is like so it’s great to be able to explain the Home Instead ethos to them.
"We only do visits of an hour or more, so caregivers are given quality time with their clients.”
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Perfect replies
WE all get nervous in interviews – and it is easy to blurt out a bad answer.
But an interview can make or break your chances of bagging a job, so preparation is key.
Here, the author of Why You?, James Reed, explains how to approach tricky questions.
Q. Tell me about yourself?
Don’t try to answer this one off the cuff. The best way is to rehearse your own structure and, crucially, impose it without asking for clarification.
Q. Where does your boss think you are now?
Admitting you’ve lied to your boss is likely to sound the alarm bells to a potential employer.
Opt for something along the lines of: “I took a half day off work in order to prepare for the interview and make sure that I wasn’t having to lie to my employer.”
Q. What are your greatest weaknesses?
There’s no quicker way to break the rapport between you and your interviewer than to give a clichéd answer.
So when your interviewer asks you what you think your weaknesses are, it’s best to level with them.
Refusing to admit to a weakness and saying something like you have none will make the interviewer think you are either out of touch with your character or just incredibly arrogant.
Cruising to victory
AN online cruise company has proved it is in fine shipshape by winning Travel Employer of the Year.
gained the highest overall score out of all the companies taking part in employer rating website WorkAdvisor’s contest.
The victorious site beat Hays Travel into second place.
Last year’s winner, and its sister company Planet Cruise came third.
The rating site features more than 170 UK businesses and last year it received hundreds of reviews from employees keen to rate their firm.
Chairman Philip Price emphasised that positive reviews had a huge impact on people searching for jobs.
He said: “The opinions of a company’s workforce are very influential when employees are considering their next move.
“In so many areas of life, we look for reviews and opinions from other people and this is now the case in the workplace.
“ has always been ahead of the game in knowing the value of reviews.
“A big part of the company’s success is the way it looks after its employees, which leads to excellent reviews.”
Work and no play...
TIME to ditch the hammocks and ping pong tables – 86 per cent of employees don’t like wacky office perks.
The study, conducted by London commercial storage firm Kiwi Movers, also revealed 25 per cent find office toys annoying, while 79 per cent said reliable and modern technology was more important to them than office aesthetics.
A list of most pointless office accessories included hay bales and a throne in reception.
The survey found younger workers more likely to take advantage of the “environmental” perks, such as chillout areas and recreational equipment.
Occupational health expert Sir Cary Cooper said: “Anyone can order a few hammocks and beanbags from Amazon.
“It takes years of hard work, research and commitment to values to establish a meaningful workplace culture.”
Are you driven?
GET yourself on the road to success with The AA.
The British Motoring Association has more than 300 vacancies on its interactive careers website.
Developed with the help of TMP Worldwide, the website boasts innovative features, including a “chat-bot” to help explore career opportunities.
While the company is best known for its roadside rescue vans and trucks, it employs more than 7,000 people in areas such as financial services, insurance, and driving services.
Craig Morgans, the head of Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development said: “The site is quite unlike anything we have offered before.”
For more about the jobs on offer, see .