“You can make such a difference to someone’s life”
Jason quit his fashion-industry job to work for a sensory impairment service in Essex
“In my final year of school, I did work experience in a residential home and went into a position as a care assistant there. After a couple of years I had a personal tragedy that made me reflect on my career – I’d always been interested in make-up and beauty, so I did a course in fashion and worked for a major cosmetics firm.
“By 2012 I was travelling a lot, which left little room for anything else, so I decided to step away. The idea of working in care had never really left me and I think I have a natural affinity for the work – I’ve never been fazed by personal care.
“Now I work in sensory enablement. I primarily support customers who are being discharged from hospital to continue to live at home. From my initial role as a care worker, I was promoted to trusted assessor, so when we have someone we’re going to be supporting I’ll assess their needs, create a care plan, look at their medication and what steps we need to bring them back to live independently.
“My work supports people who have low vision or hearing to live an independent life. Some of them can be in a fraught, anxious, upset state of mind, and to be able to go in and unpick that and start to provide support that gives them that light at the end of the tunnel is incredibly rewarding.
“I remember one person who’d become so timid and withdrawn because of her low vision. At first she was too anxious to go out into the community, but we gave her the support she needed. Two years later, she was saying, ‘I’d like to see if there’s any possibility that I and my communication worker could start knife-throwing classes.’
“It’s hard to put into words that feeling you get when someone’s blossomed and regained themselves. If you could put it into tablet form and dish it out we’d be billionaires.
“Often, in care, the recruitment teams will look for candidates based on transferable skills and personal qualities, rather than qualifications.
“They’ll see if you have relevant experience, such as from previous jobs, or from raising children or caring for relatives.
“If you have the right personality and attitude, the organisation you work for will give you any support you need to get you geared up to do
Being able to offer that light at the end of the tunnel is so rewarding
the job. The work is flexible – one of my colleagues was looking after her children in the day, but was free to do the evening shift and also worked weekends.
“If you’re even being drawn slightly towards adult social care, I’d say go for it. The training and support you need will be there. And there are so many different aspects.
“Start exploring, be confident and apply. You really can’t put a value on that difference you can make to someone’s life.”