Top Tips for Job Searching in Care and Support
The focus of your job search is often to stand out in a competitive market. However, for those looking for care and support roles, it’s also important to find a position that matches your skills, meets your needs and is rewarding. The good news… social care has plenty of career opportunities on offer.
It all comes down to how you conduct your job search. Whether you’re finding the hunt a challenge, need better quality opportunities or want to sharpen your skills, these tips can help you stay motivated and see success when searching.
Find More Opportunities and Stand Out
The aim of the game is to find suitable opportunities that match your criteria. At the same time, you’ll want to put yourself in the best position to stand out in the recruitment process.
Research
If you have experience in the industry, it’s worth reflecting on what makes a job suitable and satisfying for you. From those thoughts, you can draw up a list of criteria. Some can be non-negotiable, whereas others might be more flexible. Even if you don’t have experience (and in care, many jobs don’t need experience - just the right values), you can create some rough guidelines.
Once you have your criteria, you know what to look out for when looking at job adverts, which will help focus your search. For example, the proximity to where you live or how accessible it is by public transport could be deciding factors. Alternatively, you might look at the size of the organisation or team you’ll be working in, the approach to training and development or the flexibility available.
Optimise
Once you’ve identified the kind of role and the work environment that you want, it’s time to show that on your CV. Look at job adverts to understand what skills and attributes hiring companies are looking for in those circumstances, and highlight how you fit that role.
While checking to see how compelling your CV is for the exact job you want, you can also review it for readability. Remove any errors, make sure that it’s formatted neatly, and ensure that it’s easy to scan to spot key details that will make you stand out, such as your core skills and experience.
Know Where to Look
If you’re looking online, be sure to keep an eye on specific care and support job boards (you’ve come to the right place!) Have a look on review websites too such as Glassdoor so that you can see what other employees are saying about their experiences within the organisation.
Don’t apply for everything and anything! Too many applications means spreading yourself too thinly, and the quality can suffer. Finding good sources for openings means you can handle a few applications at a time and find more vacancies the next week.
Update Your Skills and Qualifications
Beyond refreshing your CV, it might be time to take an objective look at whether what you’re offering matches the requirements for your desired role. In some cases, gaining new qualifications and experience can be time-consuming, but they’re still worth doing.
On the other hand, there could be some quick fixes, especially when it comes to transferable skills. Volunteering and personal experience can apply to care and support roles, so consider whether there’s another way to present yourself and what you’re capable of.
Get an Outside Perspective on Your CV
When you search for a job for some weeks or months and dont see results, it can be disheartening. However, it’s likely that a few tweaks to how you go about your search can help. Talking to a friend or family member is an excellent starting point. They can read your CV, see which jobs you’ve been applying for and check any personal statements or covering letters.
Ask for Help
Another way to get an outside perspective and some help getting a job is to speak to a recruiter. They can tell you whether your aims are realistic, if your CV covers the necessary points and if your cover letter highlights your skills in a compelling way.
Follow Up with Recruiters and Hiring Managers
Sending out applications and attending interviews is part of the process. However, you can do more to get noticed and build connections with hiring managers and the type of organisations where you want to work. Following up with recruiter and hiring managers means you stay in their minds and potentially top of their lists.
If you communicated by phone or email or met for an interview, it’s worth sending a message to thank them for their time and include a personal note to build on your rapport. It’s another small but significant way to show what an asset you would be. Even if you don’t get the role, it might encourage them to keep you on file for another opening.
A Little Effort Goes a Long Way
Job searching can require time, effort and patience. However, being savvy about how you use your time and energy can make a difference. With these tips, you can refine your search, optimise your CV, get a fresh perspective… and impress!
Oh, and you’ve had a look at the vacancies here, right?
Good luck with your search!