Careers in Caring: A Practical Guide to your First Job

This book was written for the man or woman who is thinking of working as a carer, having had little or no experience of caring as a job. Many will never have thought of caring as a profession. They simply want a job. They may be filling in time, or wanting to make some money as the children are less dependent. If they had children when they were young, they may have no qualifications to start a career, or feel they have no confidence to return to the one they once had.

Looking for a job in the market today is not easy, and there are many more advertisements for carers than for other work. At the same time, the emphasis is on keeping the patient at home for as long as possible. So the caring agencies and social services are constantly looking for new carers. Often the introduction to caring is brief, as the agency is usually short of staff, and the workload is heavy.

First impressions are important and this book can offer the new carer some insight as to what may be involved, some advice on managing the work, and, most of all, some confidence to begin so that they can appreciate the real pleasure and satisfaction to be had from working with people in the community.