Thinking about getting back to work, volunteering, or learning new skills, after, or when caring for someone can feel like an impossibility for some. However, there are lots of work and learning opportunities you can access in a variety of ways. You can work and learn remotely from home, complete distance learning as well as attending courses or work-based placements in the community. Here we offer you some help and advice for when you are thinking of getting back into work, volunteering or learning.
Getting back into work
You may have had some time away from work to provide care for a friend or relative, but now feel ready to find a job again. Maybe your caring role has changed or ended and you now have some more time available.
Starting work again after some time off, particularly if it has been for an extended period, can be quite challenging. Sometimes it can even be difficult to decide what sort of work you might want to do at all, or what job will suit your current skillset. Some carers may even feel like they have been out of work for so long that they don’t have any skills left to offer. But remember that your caring role has likely given you a lot of transferrable skills which would serve you well in a number of different paid roles and career paths. Below we have some examples of transferrable skills you can use.
Take some time to think about your skill set before writing or updating your CV. Consider the different areas of work that interest you and maybe take look online to see what's out there for some inspiration and ideas. Carers UK also have lots of factsheets to help you when thinking about getting back into work and learning.
Get into Volunteering
If you’re ready to take on something new, and want to support your local community whilst using your skills, you may feel that volunteering is more for you. As well as offering much needed help to local people and organisations, volunteering is a great way to meet and connect with new people, and helps to boost your confidence and self-esteem.
Many former carers volunteer with us at Carers First. We offer lots of volunteering opportunities ranging from befriending, to facilitating our peer led carers groups. To find out more about the opportunities we have available, please take a look at our volunteering page here.
You can also look for your local volunteering centre here. The website Do-It also holds many volunteer opportunities where you can search for volunteer roles advertised in your local area.
Getting back into learning
If you feel like you need training or education before being able to get a job again, then lots of training and education providers are able to offer flexible learning options to allow you to fit studying around any caring responsibilities you may have. You might even be entitled to some financial assistance from grants or bursaries because of your situation.
Transferable skills carers can use in work, volunteering and learning environments
Supporting a friend or relative creates new skills and experiences that can be transferable when looking for paid work, volunteering opportunities or looking to learn something new. When you are a carer, there will be many responsibilities and tasks you do on a daily basis without even thinking about it. Every carer and what they do is different, however when you have experience of being a carer, you have a whole host of skills and experience you can use to your advantage when looking to get back into work, volunteering or learning.
Sometimes it is hard to see what skills you have when you are using them every day. The first step in recognising transferable skills is to write a list of all the skills that you have as a carer that you think will be useful in the workplace. If you struggle to think of skills you use when caring that can transferable, try and write down all the things you do over the course of a week. This could be providing personal care, providing support with communication, giving reminders, and picking up shopping and prescriptions. Also remember to include interpersonal skills such as listening; or explaining to a doctor what the person you care for has said about their pain or symptoms. Make a list each day and at the end of the week you will be able to see just how many skills you have. It will be easy to spot how some of them could be used in a job, others are less obvious.
Whichever path you choose, it is important to consider all the skills and experience you have that can be transferrable in all environments, especially those that you use as a carer. Below we explain some examples of some transferrable skills to help get you started.
Once you've explored your range of skill set, it's a good idea to document these on your CV (Curriculum Vitae) or LinkedIn profile highlighting your skills, experience and attributes.
Providing emotional support is a large part of caring for someone but can be more difficult to explain or harder to see how they could be transferred in the work environment. Think about the emotional support you provide for the person you care for and how this could benefit colleagues and customers and clients in the workplace. Are you supportive, encouraging and a good listener? Are you able to remain calm and focused under pressure with experience of handling stressful situations? Consider all these points including your ability to be patient, respectful and proactive and how this helps you to effectively communicate with and support your friend or relative.
Do you use different methods of communication with the person you care for to interact with them or to support them to communicate with others? Are you able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people such as GP’s, social workers, and health and legal professionals? Also think about when you have communicated with professionals to advocate your friend or relatives concerns clearly, where they have been unable to.
Are you currently managing to care for someone as well as working? Are you able to work independently and manage your time effectively, understanding the importance of punctuality? Do you have more than one caring role, or have other dependents that rely on you such as children, in addition to caring for a parent? Consider how you manage your time to meet everyone’s needs including your own.
Try to reflect on all the conversations you have with the GP, health, and social care professionals and where you have advocated for the person you care for at meetings, assessments, and appointments. Think about your ability to listen to your friend or relatives concerns and how you communicate them to health professionals. Consider how these skills could be transferred in a customer facing environment; such as supporting customers to find positive resolutions with company management, following receipt of a complaint for example.
Have you advocated and supported a friend or relative’s transition to a suitable care home or arranged a respite stay? This usually involves working closely with a team of professionals usually within in tight timescales, providing lots of vital information about the person you care for, their condition and their health, care and support needs.
Think about any medication management you have dealt with as well as your ability to assess your friend or relative's health and care needs. Consider when you have assessed your friend or relative’s environment when reducing risk of falls for example, emphasising on your ability to manage and mitigate risk, using positive and creative solutions such as using equipment, aids, adaptations, and alarms.
Consider your experience of helping your friend or relative to apply for benefits. Have you supported them with completing application forms or attending disability assessments? Also think about the support you provide with paying bills or managing finances. Do you support them to plan their monthly budget and shopping list?
Young Carers
If you are or have been a young carer, you are at an advantage when entering the workplace. Employers will more likely see you as mature, empathetic, and more responsible than your friends who do not have experience of caring for someone. Employers will understand that you can work independently, have good time management and communication skills. These are skills you may have had to learn from an early age but many of your friends may not have mastered.
Sharing information about your caring role
You may not be comfortable with sharing information about your caring responsibilities with an employer or place of learning. If you don’t want to or don’t feel ready to share that you are a carer, that is your choice. However, just thinking about your caring experience and responsibilities can help you to discover new work or learning opportunities and strengthen your range of skills and abilities on your CV, making you more appealing to potential employers and training and learning providers.
Online Help and Advice
Visit our online support section where we have provided advice and guidance on a range of relevant topics to help you in your caring role.