How to start your career in Care

Being a CareGiver is a rewarding career where you can make a difference every day. Learn about what our CareGiver Rhea has to say about working at Right at Home Portsmouth.

Can I have a career in Care?

While recruiting CareGivers in Portsmouth we always face similar questions from candidates about the possibility of a career in care.

Right at Home Portsmouth is an awarding winning family-run business. We provide homecare staff for both domiciliary, live-in clients and vulnerable adults who need personalised support. We recruit and train staff to provide outstanding services to the Clients in Portsmouth.

Recently we prompted one of our CareGivers to a Team Leader position following an internal recruitment advert. Rhea was the successful candidate and we interviewed her about her new job role to find out what someone can expect when coming to the care industry.

Rhea’s interview

What initially made you interested to join care?

I’ll be honest, I was made redundant in Feb 2021 and was desperate for work. I applied for everything and anything, so I didn’t specifically want to work in care. However, I am so glad that I decided to work for Right at Home Portsmouth. It really has made me realise what I want to do in life regarding a career. I’d never go back to any other type of work now.

What is your current role like? What about it makes you want to get up in the morning?

I have just been newly promoted to field supervisor and am in my training stages still but my role as a ‘Care Giver’ involves travelling to several clients a day, some in their own homes and some are in residential homes. It’s an extremely rewarding role to be a Care Giver. In my old jobs I felt being a ‘people person’ was used against me, I’d always be told I ‘Talked too much’, I was even told once that I ‘help other people too much’! In this role I find these characteristics are encouraged, that’s why I get up and come to work in the mornings. I certainly didn’t feel like that when I worked in my previous admin roles.  

How do you feel about your career progression?

I feel very positive regarding my career progression. As I said previously, I have just been promoted to ‘Field Supervisor’. I’m excited to be learning new things within the role.

What does a typical day look like for you?

So, I usually start work at 7:00 or thereabouts. I find my first morning’s calls are helping Clients get out of bed, helping with personal care and breakfast prep. If I have a break around 11:00/12:00, I pop home and do some housework, or make dinner so I don’t have to do it when I finish in the evening! If my break is longer than an hour then I might spend some time with my guinea pigs, they’d rather be in the garden then spending time with me though. I normally go back to work for 13:00ish, my afternoon calls are usually companionship related. This usually takes me up to 17:00 which is when I find I have ‘dinner’ calls, so that would include helping clients make dinner or preparing something for them so they can eat later on. I finish around 18:00 so I will go home and make dinner if I haven’t prepared it already in the day. My evening consists of me doing the housework which I haven’t been able to do in the day or just watching some TV, if I’m lucky and not catching up on tasks that I need to do!

Reality vs Expectation, did your expectation meet your reality with Right at Home Portsmouth?

As mentioned previously I had never worked in care before I came to Right at Home Portsmouth, I really didn’t know what to expect. I assumed it would be a lot of personal care, a lot of rushing around and not really ‘fun’. The reality of the job is completely different to that. Although the job can be busy at times, I never find it stressful. You get to know the Clients, which for some reason I didn’t think I would be able to do. A gentleman who lived near me used to have care and his Carers would be in an out in 15 minutes, they never got to know him so his relationship with them was very clinical really. That was my idea of care. I’m very glad to say that my job isn’t like that at all. I feel my day always goes so quickly and I’m never dwindling around watching the clock. It’s very far from boring!

What is your biggest challenge in your job?

I find the biggest challenge, and luckily it doesn’t happen often is when you feel like a Client isn’t getting the help they need elsewhere. That could be family, doctors, pharmacies etc. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen often, but it can be frustrating when a Client needs a certain medication and the pharmacy are dragging their heels with delivering it, or when you need to go via a family member to get something in place for the client, and it doesn’t get done.

What is your favourite part of your job?

Oh gosh, where do I start? There’s too much to mention! I’m very much a people person so I love that I get to chat to people all day every day, I never get bored of hearing our clients’ stories, even the ones I’ve heard over and over again. I love that something that would seem so small to the average person makes a huge difference to our Client’s lives, even if it’s just doing the washing up. A Client of mine recently needed some tablets from the chemist, I could tell he felt rude for asking me to get them but obviously this was not an issue, and he was so grateful that I went and got them. That rewarding feeling will never get old for me.

What skills do you need to succeed in this career?

I believe that as long as you’re hard-working, empathetic and kind you don’t necessarily need to have any particular ‘skills’ for the job. I was quite shocked when I was offered a job with Right at Home Portsmouth as I had no qualifications in care, I thought you had to have something like that to go into the care field.

If you could start all over again, what advice would you give yourself?

If only I had worked in care from the beginning. I wasted a lot of time working in retail or admin roles. I understand some people love that kind of work but if I had known this is what working in care was like, I’d have done it from the start.

What is the most valuable thing you have learnt in this industry?

I believe this job really humbles you, it makes you realise that life is short, and we all need to be kinder to each other. I believe this job makes me a better person; it makes me see the bigger picture in life. It makes you realise what’s important.

Do you want to start your own journey in the care industry? Why not ring us today at 023 9323 3186 and find out more about the jobs in Right at Home Portsmouth? Check out our career page to find current opportunities.