Care professionals are concerned with helping support people with physical, social, emotional or any other problems. Everyone needs certain things to survive in the world: including food, clothing, shelter and security.  A care professional is concerned with ensuring people have these necessities and protection from unreasonable negativity in their lives (e.g. extreme pain or psychological stress). These jobs may be found in a variety of different settings, such as welfare work, youth work, community support, geriatric care or end of life work.
 
The lines between different jobs in the caring professions can often be blurred. While a job may be primarily concerned with one thing (e.g. providing food and shelter for the homeless), it may often involve providing services that extend beyond that primary purpose (e.g. health or counselling). 


Welfare Work

Welfare workers work with clients to improve their quality of life by providing support, information and advice. A welfare officer will primarily address any issues a client may have around their emotions, finances, health, or housing. There may be other welfare matters that they may address as well. The welfare worker will connect the client with any appropriate welfare or community services that can provide further support. 

There are different types of welfare worker job roles that specialise in different areas, such as families, youth, drug and alcohol abuse, disabilities, domestic violence, criminals, immigrants, refuges, and more.

Some of the job titles for welfare workers include:

• Community Worker
  
• Disabilities Services Officer
  
• Social Worker
  
• Family Support Worker
  
• Parole or Probation Officer
  
• Residential Care Officer
  
• Youth Worker
  
• Community Health Worker
  
• Programme Coordinator
  
• Field Worker
  
• Project Officer
  
• Carer
  
  

Depending on the job, a welfare worker’s duties may differ, but here are some common duties for a welfare worker:

•  Assessing the nature and extent of the client’s needs.
  
• Planning, developing and implementing appropriate training or programmes.
  
• Providing ongoing support for the client, whilst exploring alternatives for their current situation, whether that is an abusive relationship, drug issues, lack of adequate housing, unemployment. 
  
• Monitoring the client’s progress.
  
• Completing relevant reports.
  
• Referring clients to appropriate specialists, or relevant agencies that can provide additional support.
  
• Assessing community needs and resources for health, welfare, housing, employment, training, and other facilities and services.
  
• Act on behalf of the community to obtain funding for required facilities and services.
  
• Providing residential care for elderly, disabled, families, and children.
  
• Working with offenders on probation and parole.
  
• Supporting young people with emotional, social, educational, and financial issues.
  
• Assess risk and provide short term solutions for families in crisis.
  
• Coordinate support services.
  
  

Opportunities
Welfare workers may be employed by the churches and other religious organisations, charities, hospitals, health centres, private organisations, community groups, government departments and others. Some welfare workers, may be self-employed, but this is less common.
 
Some welfare workers are in supervisory and policy-making roles, whilst others work in the field. Welfare workers may work individually, but will often work in a team with other welfare workers, as well as other allied health professionals (such as counsellors, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, etc) 

They may work in an office, visit clients in their homes and attend evening community meetings. Welfare workers will often work part-time, and may be required to work odd hours, such as evenings, weekends, or be available for sleepovers. Earnings are moderate to low, but can be increased depending on the job role, the level of experience, and the level of qualifications. Earning can also be increased through higher rates of pay during evening and weekend work, and overtime hours.

The demand for welfare workers can fluctuate according to both funding available and the need that a society has for welfare services. These things can change from time to time and place to place; and as a result some people may work for a few years in welfare, then move to something very different; and later return to welfare work again when opportunities increase again.

Risks and Challenges
Welfare workers can frequently be exposed to highly emotional and stressful situations, which can lead to a high rate of burnout. This is not necessarily the case with all job roles, but in general, a welfare worker will be dealing with people who are undergoing some form of personal crisis. To work effectively the welfare worker will need to remain empathetic but detached from their clients. They will also need to develop a stress management protocol for themselves. Regular supervision, counselling and debriefing can also be helpful.

Depending again on the job role, welfare work can be challenging as it can demand work outside of business hours. This can be to the benefit or disadvantage of the worker, depending on their situation.

Job security and the capacity to earn a good income can be threatened by funding cutbacks. Some people may find hours of work are cut when funding is cut. While some find it easy to get work in the welfare sector, they might not always find it easy to get well-paid work.

How to Get the Job
To get employment in welfare work requires both relevant skill and experience. Some people will start as a volunteer for a charity or community organisation; gaining experience through unpaid or poorly paid work. Even without formal training, this experience may sometimes lead to a good job, and training may follow at a later stage. Others may study first, and get a job second.

Higher level qualifications do not guarantee a high paid job. Senior staff in well-funded welfare organisations or departments can earn a very good income, and may for the most part, hold multiple qualifications including a university degree. A combination of qualifications and experience will often be better though.

A certificate or diploma in welfare or a related discipline can be a good starting point; particularly if you spend time volunteering and networking at the same time. Enrol in a course. Connect with organisations in the welfare industry through social media or professional organisations, and at the same time volunteer with a community organisation.

Volunteering or gaining work experience in the area will help your chances to gain employment. There is generally great demand for “carer” type roles in services for the elderly, those with disabilities or mental health issues, and with youth. You may find that you can obtain a job in this role while you are studying. You can then progress into supervisory, case management, team leadership, and other welfare work roles from there.

Some of the personal skills that you will need to succeed are:

• An ability to think rationally and problem solve
  
• An ability to be empathetic with your clients, but still remain detached
  
• Good communication skills
  
• Ability to cope with stressful situations and conflict
  
• Genuine care for other’s wellbeing.

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