Hundreds of opportunities exist for qualified and experienced social care staff from overseas to work in the UK. Currently in Britain there is a major shortage of qualified social workers to work in key fields such as child care and community care as well as opportunities for social care support staff.
Britain is a multi-cultural, multi–faith country, particularly so in the cities. There are many languages spoken within different communities, but the common language that unites all the different communities is English. Britain attracts social workers from all over the world e.g. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America and South Africa, all of whom speak English. People who travel to Britain from the British Commonwealth can reside in Britain for two years. However European Union nationals are able to live and work in the UK indefinitely, so there are increasing numbers of social workers from Europe who are attracted by the prospect of earning good salaries, successfully getting jobs from Greece, the Czech Republic, Portugal and indeed Spain amongst others. Social workers from all over the world are being encouraged to work in the UK and bring their skills and expertise into what is at times a very demanding job.
There is a strong culture of anti–discriminatory practice (ADP) within all the public services in the UK, not just in Social Services. Social care staff are expected to offer a service and support to everyone whatever their background; disability, sexuality, race or religion.
The benefit to you of such a varied community is that in the major cities at least you are never more than a short bus ride away from a Spanish tapas bar or Vietnamese restaurant or an Italian Pizzeria or an American style burger bar.
Night life is very varied too, with a host of cinemas, theatres, pop, rock or classical concerts, night clubs and discos. Famous Landmarks can be seen throughout Britiain, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge, Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Cornwall’s Eden Project, not forgetting the many medieval market towns and castles nationwide. Many large cities are now 24/7 with various forms of transport available throughout the night.!
About the work
The average timescale for starting work in the UK is 3 - 6 months from the time we receive your completed application and all the relevant documentation, but this does vary quite widely depending on the local authority.
People that train to be social workers in the UK elect early on in their studies their preferred pathway i.e. community care (working with adults) or child care which includes child protection and children with disabilities.
The tasks that you will be expected to carry out depends very much on your chosen field of work. Most social work jobs will require assessment skills, for example assessing children’s needs and those of the family they live with. Some work will focus on parenting skills, with the social worker referring the parents to an appropriate resource where they can learn to parent their children better.
If you choose to work with the elderly you may be required to assess someone for any support that they may require to help them live more comfortably in the community, for example meals on wheels or Home Care to help them bath or get ready for bed etc.
All social workers are required to keep files up to date and so require a reasonable level of written English. You will be required to make telephone calls and liaise with other agencies such as health, police and education. Therefore you need to feel confident in talking English on the phone.
