Workers
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Careers in social services can be very rewarding and workers can help improve people's lives. The type of work and related challenges are not suitable or attractive to everyone, so it is important that anyone considering working in social services knows about the values and behaviours required.
The information in the Employers section of the toolkit can help you to understand recruitment from an employer’s point of view and help you decide if your values fit with working in social services. Some of the tools can be particularly relevant so we have included them in this section too.
There are a huge variety of jobs and roles in social services, so it is impossible to provide specific guidance for every one in this resource. So, you might find it helpful to gather information about the types of jobs that interest you. Most organisations have websites that tell you about them and the services they provide and can be a good place to start. You can then look at the information here to see how it relates to the jobs or roles that interest you.
The short videos below feature people who work in different social service roles in Scotland. Each tells us a bit about their role and explains how they make sure they integrate values into their practice when supporting people who use their services.
It is important that people who use services are supported in fair and consistent ways. To support this, the SSSC developed a framework of skills, knowledge and values in partnership with other organisations who contribute to care and support in Scotland. You can find out more about this framework, the Common Core of skills, knowledge and values, on the SSSC website. It will show you the skills, knowledge and values that every social service worker in Scotland should have to ensure the best possible support for people using services.
The short video at the beginning of this section introduces a values-based approach to recruitment from the point of view of someone applying for work in the social service sector. There is a video for employers in the employers section of this toolkit that looks at values-based recruitment’. You may find it help to watch both.
If your values fit with those of the organisation you work for, you are more likely to find your role rewarding and more likely to want to continue working there. We often take our values for granted and may not have stopped to think about what is important. However, knowing what is important to you helps you decide if this matches the values of an organisation you are going to apply to work for.
Think about the four overarching values of the Common Core of skills, knowledge and values below. How do these fit with your own values? For example, is it important for you to be able to work in partnership with people to help them achieve what they want or are able to do? If your answer is yes, then you are more likely to find working for organisations that have this as a core value rewarding.
| Respect: see people using services as experts in their own lives with opinions, knowledge and experiences; value the contribution of others. Collaboration: understand that you can achieve improved outcomes through people working together in partnership. Participation and dignity: promote the rights of individuals to play an active part in their community, as much as they want to and respect their choices of how they wish to lead their lives. Empowerment: make sure people who use services recognise and use their strengths and are able to make informed decisions. |
Once you have identified what your values are, you can see how you might apply these to situations based on real life events using the following two resources. You will get feedback to help you identify your existing strengths and things you may need to develop to make sure you are able to support people in the right way.
A Question of Care is an interactive video-based tool which asks you to respond to situations as someone who is working with children, older adults and people with learning disabilities.
Making better decisions is another interactive video-based resource that can help you to see how your skills, knowledge and values could influence decisions you make about difficult or challenging situations. Each scenario has feedback you can download to compare to what you would do.
Once you have identified your own values, you might find it useful to read the Examples of behaviours tool to see the types of behaviour that would, or would not, meet the standards expected of social service workers in Scotland for each of the skills in the Common Core.
Most people who successfully get jobs make sure they prepare well throughout the recruitment process, including interviews. Before you apply, find out more about the organisation. Nearly all organisations have websites that usually include information about their purpose and services, so you can begin to identify things you need to include in your application.
You might find it helpful to read the example interview questions, particularly if you get an interview. In an interview, expect to give answers that show you have a clear and strong understanding of values and try to include examples to show your understanding.
If the organisation interviewing you has adopted a values-based approach to recruitment, your commitment to making sure values are promoted are as important as any previous experience you have in professional care and support roles. So don’t worry if you do not have a lot of experience in such roles as your interviewer should support you to think about other examples you can use.
A values-based approach is not just about recruitment. It needs ongoing commitment from everyone in your organisation to make sure that organisational’ values continue to be right for it and the people using its services. You should be encouraged to reflect on values as part of your supervision and support and you should also include this in your continuing professional learning. You might find the personal capabilities of the Continuous Learning Framework resources in the SSSC Learning Zone help you do this.
Many people think leadership comes from senior people in organisations. While this is true for some aspects, we are all responsible for providing leadership when it comes to values, whether this is modelling good practice to others or challenging behaviour and policies that negatively affect people using services. The Step into Leadership website provides information and guidance to help you understand your leadership role.
You will find further information about the work we do on the SSSC website www.sssc.uk.com
For further information about this toolkit or any of our learning resources please email the digital learning team at SSSCLearningTech@sssc.uk.com
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