Busting Myths About Care and Support Jobs

There are many myths about care and support jobs. Some of the common misconceptions have been amplified by media portrayal, stereotypes, or people simply not having the right information about what it’s like to work in the social care industry.

In this blog, we’ll dispel six of the most common myths about care and support jobs and set the record straight so you can decide once and for all if you want to work in this challenging and rewarding industry.

Myth 1: Care and support work is low-paying and unskilled

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear at Aspire Personalised Care is that care and support work is low–paid and only for those who don’t have skills. However, both assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth.

While it’s true that some care and support roles don’t require you to have existing qualifications or training when joining, they do want you to have a desire to develop your skills and obtain the training needed to succeed in the role.

For example, at Aspire Personalised Care, we welcome people who don’t have previous care experience. To ensure they can perform their duties to the best of their abilities, we support our staff on their learning journey by helping them gain qualifications up to diploma level 5.

Care and support work isn’t poorly paid, at least not at Aspire Personalised Care. We’re proud to be a Living Wage Accredited Employer, which means you receive a minimum of £12 per hour when you join us. We’re committed to fair compensation. Not only do we pay a Living Wage, but we also reimburse mileage at the hourly rate for travel between client visits and at 45p per mile for client outings. To ensure efficiency and sustainability, we carefully plan visit routes for the day. 

We’re dedicated to helping our care and support workers achieve their professional goals and ensuring they receive fair compensation while they do. That’s why when you join us, we help you progress in your career and offer salary increases.

Myth 2: Care and support work is physically demanding

Some people hesitate to work in care and support roles because they believe the duties and responsibilities are too physically exhausting and demanding. However, this isn’t true.

While some care and support roles can be more demanding than others, there are a variety of different jobs in the care sector. For example, if you can’t work with clients, you could always consider working in an administrative or management position.

At Aspire Personalised Care, we believe everybody has different strengths, and we like to put those to good use, so you don’t have to worry about roles being too physically demanding.

All our staff, including our care and support workers, have unlimited support and can contact us anytime if they need help. We also have several procedures and policies in place to ensure your safety and the safety of our clients is taken very seriously.

Myth 3: Care and support work is repetitive and boring

Do you believe that care and support work is monotonous and lacks variety? We’ve heard some people say that care and support work is tedious, dull, repetitive, unfulfilling, monotonous… we’ve heard it all. But the thing is, we don’t think it is.

How could it be when no two days are the same? When you work at Aspire Personalised Care, you can do any number of tasks throughout the day, including assisting with personal care, providing companionship, or helping clients partake in activities.

Here’s one of our clients explaining some of the ways we help her:

When you make such a profound, positive impact on people’s lives every single day, how could it ever be classed as a boring, repetitive job? Personally, we can’t think of a more satisfying and rewarding role!

Myth 4: Care and support work is stressful and demanding

Some people believe the common misconception that care and support work is stressful and emotionally draining. While we can see how you might believe this to be the case, it isn’t at Aspire Personalised Care.

We ensure all our staff feel supported day or night; if you have a question, aren’t sure how to do something, or need a friendly chat, we’re there for all our staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We also encourage our staff to create support systems with the wider team; we’re all working in the same industry, so chances are someone else has felt what you are feeling and can help you.

In addition to our support commitment, we offer training to ensure all our staff are ready to face any challenges. The Aspire Personalised Care team has completed 2,328 courses, so you can bet that we’ll never send you into something you aren’t prepared for.

Working at Aspire Personalised Care isn’t only about putting the clients first but also putting one another first and helping everyone. We believe this enables our staff to make a difference not only in the lives of our clients but also in the lives of each other. And what’s more rewarding than helping one another?

Myth 5: Care and support work is not flexible

Another common myth about care and support work is that it’s not a flexible role. This is not true.

Care and support roles allow for flexibility, so whether you’re a working mum who needs to pick up her children from school or looking for a role that fits around your active social life, the care industry is ideal for you.

At Aspire Personalised Care, we offer a variety of shift patterns and working hours to suit you. We understand that everybody is busy, so we work with you to fit your life around work (not the other way around).

Some of our staff work part-time, some work full-time, and other team members opt for flexible work arrangements, so we can make sure you have whatever flexibility you need.

Myth 6: Adult Social Care vs. the NHS

Did you know? 78% of adult social care staff work for independent providers like Aspire Personalised Care, and only 7% are employed by the NHS, making it the dominant sector in delivering essential care services. This means there are plenty of career opportunities available, and this is a career you should be proud of. 

The two main service settings are residential and domestic care, both of which employ more than 500,000 staff.

The adult social care sector currently has a vacancy rate of 9.9% in England, higher than the NHS vacancy rate. This means there’s a strong demand for skilled professionals!

Work in the care and support industry now

As you can see, we’re no strangers to the many myths and misconceptions about care and support jobs. However, as a company that specialises in providing high-quality support for adults with complex care needs, we know none of these myths are true.

A career in the care and support industry can be challenging, but it is very rewarding! And when you work at Aspire Personalised Care, you’re fully supported, provided excellent training and career progression, and allowed to choose how and when you work.

Are you thinking about a career in care and support? We’re always keen to hear from passionate people who want to make a real difference in the lives of others. If this sounds like you and you want to work in care, please check out our Join the Team page and fill out our form.