Bruce Laird is an 18-year-old care worker from West Calder, working at the Erskine Edinburgh Care Home, Edinburgh. He was attracted to a career in adult social care due to his desire to help others and the career opportunities it presents.
“A career in adult social care is not just a rewarding job but also a great starting career with possibilities to progress into other roles. In the future I’d like to progress into nursing and this is a great opportunity to get experience in the job before taking on the qualification as a lot of the tasks are the same. I genuinely enjoy it so I know that I’ll enjoy that progression to nursing as well. It’s great to have that insight before I commit to going to university for the next step
“Adult social care is a job where everyone chips in and it is very rewarding. It’s amazing getting to go home and know you’ve done something good with your day. You’re genuinely helping people in this role which is great.
“Although you do have to go to university to progress into certain roles, there is an opportunity to move up and take on new responsibilities as well as completing college courses such as the SVQ 2 in Health and Social Care. The work is really practical and you learn so much on the job. In terms of training, you need to complete online modules but you mostly also learn on the job from your colleagues.
“Understanding and patience are the two main qualities that come to mind. It can be challenging but if you have both of those then you’ll have no problem settling into this job.”
Bruce’s advice to people looking to apply for an adult social care position:
“I would 100% recommend it as a career. I’ve managed to convince two of my friends to go into care as well as I won’t stop talking about it and how much of an enjoyable career it is. They’re both loving it too.”
