words Alexa Wang
Working in both governmental and social service agencies, family support workers play a crucial role in communities across the globe. As their name suggests, they aid families in their attempt to live happy, healthy, and fruitful lives.
Does this sound like the perfect vocation for you? If so, why not embark on this fulfilling career pathway by putting the following advice into practice.
Here’s everything you must do to become a family support worker:
Go to university
If you’re serious about becoming a family support worker, going to university and studying for a BA in Social Work is incredibly important. By embarking on this learning endeavor, you will showcase the fact that you understand the important role that social work plays in modern guidance, counseling, referrals, and practical human services. As a result, you will exhibit your capacity to tend to a whole host of social problems amongst a wide and diverse range of patients.
If you’re concerned about your capacity to both study and complete fieldwork at the same time, don’t be, as you could always enroll on a Bachelor’s in Social Work online. Once enlisted in this program, you will be able to choose when, where, and how you learn. This is down to the simple fact that your tutorage will take place solely via the web.
Cultivate your caregiving skillset
Obtaining your degree won’t be enough to guarantee you a long and successful career as a family support worker. In order to thrive in this field, it’s highly recommended that you go above and beyond to cultivate a number of key caregiver skills.
Here are just a few of the attributes and traits that you should seek to hone in this instance:
1. Empathy
2. Communication
3. Organization
4. Critical thinking
5. Active listening
6. Self-care
7. Cultural competence
8. Patience
9. Professional commitment
10. Advocacy
Writing your resume
When you first enter the family support work sector, you won’t have enough experience to position yourself ahead of your rival job candidates. If you’re to attract attention from social work agencies, devoting time and effort to the optimization of your resume is very much advised.
With your social work degree planted firmly on it, you will have the perfect platform from which to build the rest of your resume. To ensure that your CV retains the attention of your potential employers over a sustained period of time, you should include elements such as your quantifiable achievements, evidence of your fieldwork, and a list of both your hard and soft skills.
Comprehensive advice on how to create an effective resume can be found here.
Family support work is not an easy sector to enter, nor is it an easy sector to forge a successful and sustainable career in. When you enter this field, you will be sure to face a plethora of challenges on a day-to-day basis. All of the hard work will be worth it, though, when you actively play your part in helping a family to achieve a quality standard of living.
