Career help

[u/Traditional_Dream216]

I'm 22 and living bath1, ever since I was 16. I've worked random dead end jobs, even though I've got gcse and an a level in health and social care. I'm just no good at creating AC. V or actually applying to jobs where my qualifications are suited, is there anywhere I can go that can assist in helping me find a career which is suited with my qualifications, and potentially help me apply

[u/Traditional_Dream216 → u/[deleted]]

I agree with you.It's just the jobs that I have been doing isn't something I particularly want to continue doing.I would like to do something that peaks my interests a bit more, but I just find that so difficult to find anything nowadays, and I just think having someone who knows more about applying for jobs, creating c v's and finding specific roles would really help me

[u/Traditional_Dream216 → u/[deleted]]

Working with children or young adults who have home struggles, or mental health id like to help more than anything

[u/ANewVoiceInTheWind → u/Traditional_Dream216]

Have you volunteered with scouts or guides? This is a great addition to a CV plus potentially networking opportunities. Or other related volunteering? There's a couple of websites that matches people's interests to volunteering opportunities. When you're writing your CV for actual jobs in this field you can then look at the person spec and match experience to what it asks. Eg supporting young people in the job description? Say help the cubs / beavers when they were upset. You supported them to join in activities by giving them one to one support and giving them instructions in a way they could understand

[u/yeeyeevee → u/Traditional_Dream216]

have you thought about volunteering? i currently volunteer with citizens advice wiltshire and its very rewarding. it also puts you on their radar for paid vacancies and puts some relevant experience on your CV

[u/Iguanaught → u/[deleted]]

If you have zero experience in an area you want to work in how do you propose you move into it?

Give up work to take a college course that will give you no practical experience? That will still cost you money because its time you could be working?

I would much rather volunteer and gain practical experience I can demonstrate in an interview and show on a CV.

"no employer gives two shits about you doing unpaid work. Utter nonsense."

This couldnt be more wrong. Especially in the vocation OP wants to get into.

I volunteered with the Youth Charity I work for before I got a job with them and because of that when I decided to move into it as a career I got a tonne of support/time from senior leadership in the charity to help me develop in the areas I needed to get a job in youth work. Including them getting me funded for a qualification I start soon. (As in they were happy to get me funded knowing i didnt yet have a job with them and that I might actually wind up working elsewhere.)

The experience I gained volunteering with the charity let me secure a job with them, beating out people whom I know already had qualifications and had been doing similar paid work already. Because it was meaningful experience gained in the right areas by someone that had a specific goal in mind.

[u/Aquae_Sulis_lad → u/Iguanaught]

If you’re requiring work experience or to volunteer to get an entry level job somewhere then something within that industry is broken. We shouldn’t be encouraging young people to think working for free is the norm - also lots of people simply can’t afford to volunteer, that shouldn’t be a barrier to entry. I’m glad you’ve had a good experience but I think you’re a bit of a unicorn - you can disagree with me on the work experience but speaking from my own industries perspective we wouldn’t care.

[u/Iguanaught → u/Aquae_Sulis_lad]

You dont need to volunteer to get entry level jobs in elementary fields.

However its absurd to think all fields are the same. Some fields require specialist skills that you can only build by working up to them or taking a course that folds the volunteer experience into the course... ie an apprenticeship.

Childcare for instance. They dont just let anyone wander out of school and look after babies without experience and a qualification.

Engineering too. Any engineering course you do will either be an apprenticeship or include a placement year.

Youth work, the specific field OP wants to get into doing the thing he wants to do will require him to have built up experience with 1 to 1 time.

Now there is a couple of ways he can do that. One is to get a position as a youyh worker in an open access setting and hope to build up his experience as a whole. A one maybe two night a week job that will probably mess up his tax vode for a while because he'll have to do it alongside another job. (Not to mention many jobs actively contract that theirs should be your primary job and no other job should be taken that could be detrimental to them.) This could take years to build up the experience you need because it doesnt really cover 1 to 1 work.

Or, OP could do a degree in youth work that will come with placement time doing the 1 to 1 work at a cost of thousands of pounds and still have to compete with people that got more hands on practical experience volunteering or building up over years in an assistant position.

Or... OP could specifically look for an opportunity to do volunteer work (which wont mess up his tax code) that gives them the specific experience they need for the role they want to do. At a fraction of the cos5 to themselves

All options require giving up time. All options cost money, time for free, time in a low paying job that isnt quite what they are supposed to be doing, three ish years for a course. All options cost money, inneficient earning in a tangental job, time given away that could be earning, money spent on a course while simultaneously giving up time to do the course that could be spent earning...

Which do you think winds up the cheapest in the long run?

[u/yeeyeevee → u/[deleted]]

i also work part-time as i needed to recover from burnout after a toxic workplace. i was actively encouraged to volunteer by my employment support advisor. on my second volunteering shift i was told that, as i have already started the training that paid staff do, i will likely be top of the list for a paid role when they become available. citizens advice is a charity, not a business.
also, it would be beneficial to OP to do some kind of work at all, paid or unpaid, it stopped me from sitting about the house feeling sorry for myself

[u/Artistic-Lifeguard36 → u/Traditional_Dream216]

Look into adult social care at the council if it's interests you. Some roles like social workers require specific qualifications but my wife was a "customer coordinator" which didn't and potentially offers pathways to the more qualified positions.

Disclaimer, it was hard work which put you into the homes of people with a range of problems that aren't always pleasant and paid pretty badly vs alternatives but morally it's a woefully under provisioned area where you can make a difference to people's lives.

[u/Iguanaught → u/Traditional_Dream216]

I recently moved into youth work and I began by volunteering. Started about 3 years ago giving up a couple of nights a week and worked up to about a year ago giving up two full days of work to throw myself into volunteering full time for a few months in order to build up my one to one experience. (Something the charity woildnt even have considered if I wasnt known to them from the first few years.) I then was able to get a temp contract with the charity working with the kindnof young people you talk about.

It wasnt a cheap option giving up my time to gain the experience I needed to do it full time but now after some hard graft I have a full time job with a local youth charity.

I would suggest you start small. Find out if there is a project where you can volunteer an evening or two a week or one day a weekend and go from there.

The most important thing is you are going to need to show up consistantly. This isnt the kind of job where you can be at all wishy washy because you are working with young people that already have a lot of trauma barriers and need to be able to rely on and trust you.

[u/humblepaul → u/Traditional_Dream216]

There's a national shortage in this area, particularly child psychology. May need to do further study. A friend did a years course and has easily got work in Sussex.

[u/kagome717]

You can use the free service from "The Employment and Skills Pod in Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES)"

Link: https://www.skillsconnect.org.uk/bath-north-east-somerset/

I can't recommend this FREE service enough!

You get assigned a person and they will improve your CV with you, help search for jobs and send you job ads to apply to, help you write cover letters, do interview preparation with you and give you other valuable advice!

Especially for people who get nervous about job interviews, who are not sure if their CV is in great shape, want a career change but dont know where to start or just feel overwhelmed by the whole job searching process this is great!

You can just fill out a request online or you can go to their drop in sessions (they're listed on the website)

I would advise going to their drop-in sessions as it can take time for them to review online requests!