Adult Social Care Skills Academy
What is the Skills Academy?
Rotherham’s Skills Academy has been developed to recruit and train people into various full-time, part-time, permanent and temporary paid job roles in the adult social care sector.
How the Skills Academy Works
The Council is working with adult social care employers from across Rotherham to support them to fill their job vacancies. Employers register their job vacancies with the Skills Academy and candidates (you) also register with the Skills Academy and apply for employment.
Your application is screened. If successful, you will be offered an interview to find out more about you, establish if you would be suitable to work in adult social care, and allow you to assess whether working in adult social care is right for you. The interview will take place by telephone. If you are successful at interview, we will then look to quickly job match you against a suitable job vacancy, start to undertake pre-employment clearances, and offer you a place on the mandatory 4-day Adult Social Care Pre-Employment Training Programme.
Once the job matching process is finalised and employment clearances made, we will introduce you to a prospective employer. Dependent on the employer’s recruitment policy, you may then be required to attend a further formal Employer job interview or take part in an informal discussion. The purpose of this introduction is to give you the opportunity to discuss the prospective employer’s employment terms and conditions and ensure that the job on offer is the right job for you and they are the right employer for you.
Working in adult social care
Working in adult social care you will make a real difference to people's lives every day, whether you are supporting them to live at home or in residential care. This includes the elderly, people with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, sensory impairment or physical disabilities. There are many job roles in adult social care such as Home Carer, Care Assistant, Personal Assistant, Cook and Domestic. There are also professional roles such as Social Worker or Assessment and Reviewing Coordinators.
Qualities to work in adult social care
While every role requires some core life skills like teamwork and problem solving, it's your values, behaviour and attitude that will set you apart. So, if you're the sort of person who treats others with respect, listens to their needs, understands their emotions, and is warm, kind and honest, then social care could be the career for you. Everyone working in social care needs a good standard of English, as well as numeracy and digital skills. You will need to be a self-starter, as well as being able to work as part of a team. Additional skills required to work in adult social care include:
- organisational skills
- good listening and communication skills
- the ability to understand and follow policies and procedures
- good writing skills to fill in care plans.
What experiences and qualifications do I need?
You don't necessarily need any qualifications for many roles in adult social care. What's important is that you're a kind, compassionate and thoughtful person. Employers might want you to have qualifications showing good English and numeracy skills such as GCSE A-C in English and Maths. It might also be helpful to have a social care qualification such as a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care. Don't worry if you don't have these qualifications though - if you're interested, you can work towards them once you've started in the role.
How to join the Skills Academy
Register for employment opportunities in adult social care
You will need to register for a Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council account as part of completing the form.