Social work and counselling services includes roles where you work with people - care for them, advise them or help them in some way. The work can be challenging and demanding, because people are all individuals, with different wants and needs. You might be supporting older people, children, students or entire families. Some jobs need qualifications for entry; others don't. But you'll certainly require patience, understanding and the ability to talk to people and listen to them.

Below you'll find links to videos created by employers and organisations in the sector to help you get a taste of what working in this sector is like.

Videos:

Subject Guide Videos:
An impartial guide to university courses - featuring expert speakers and on demand webinars.
These impartial videos support students who are considering university to make informed future subject decisions. They feature guest speakers from a range of different universities, who are always experts in the subject being explored.

Unifrog Free Webinars:

Live webinars across a variety of careers - requires booking.

Adviza Podcasts and Past Webinars:

Podcasts for Social Work and Counselling Services

We have recorded many useful webinars with a huge variety of employers and sector champions. Have a look in our Past Webinar section.

The webinars are in date order. You may want to check out these dates to find webinars in relation to social work and councelling services:

• 2nd May 2023 - Sector Webinar - Social Work
• 23rd November 2022 - HE Webinar (Criminology)

Don't forget to have a look at the upcoming webinars in our Events section!

Virtual work experience opportunities:

Monday 11th December - Are you aged 14 to 17 and live or go to school in Somerset, West Berkshire, Wokingham or Reading? Are you interested in helping others or a future career in psychology, health or any role that involves working with others? Tellmi is an anonymous, moderated, inclusive digital community where young people can help themselves and each other. Tellmi is used by over 80,000 young people aged 11+ across the UK. They are offereing free skills building workshop to find out more about working in support services like Tellmi. You will receive peer support training and receive a certificate at the end, best of all you can add this to your college/university applications or your future CV.

Work experience in Health and Social Care

This virtual work experience pack is aimed at supporting students who aspire towards a career in the Health and Social Care sector. Featuring a week-long programme of activities and pre-recorded video messages. Students will develop insight into a range of opportunities related to Health and Social Care, learn from the career journeys of professionals who have achieved success in this field, and practice key employability skills to help them to achieve their goals.

Introducing social work: a starter kit

This free course, Introducing social work: a starter kit, provides a glimpse into some of the things that social workers do and looks at why and how social work is done. The course is designed for people who might be interested in and curious about social work practice.

Speakers For Schools

Try different jobs in real life through free VWEX so you can find the best fit for you.  Speakers for Schools are a non-profit organisation offering free UK-wide work experience. 

Explore Forage Work Experience Programs  

Media to Explore:

Many young people have been inspired by TV shows, movies etc. to follow a particular career. We have collated some resources here for you to discover. We have included podcasts because they are the best way to get real insight into the industry's current dynamics and are a great way to demonstrate knowledge and passion in personal statements and interviews.

Please note, we have not specified the platforms for these resources as they can change over time. We suggest you do a web search for the title – you will often find them on YouTube in their entirety. Some titles will only be available for a fee or subscription.

Please be aware that not all of the titles below are appropriate for all ages. Please check the age appropriateness before watching. Common sense media are a good resource to use to do this.

TV Factual: Dispatches: Undercover Social Worker, Protecting Our Children, Social Care TV: What is Social Work?

TV Drama: The Casual Vacancy, Damned, Kiri, Help

Radio & Podcasts: Let’s Talk Social Work, Helpful Social Work, Community Care Podcasts, BBC Radio 4 - The Art of Habit (Sociology)

Useful Websites:

Social Work and Care

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) - the professional membership organisation for social workers in the UK. 

Social Work England

Skills for Care - for information on careers in adult social care in England, including social work. 

A Question of Care - through an interactive video challenge you can find out whether care work could be right for you.

Counselling and Advisory Work

CPCAB (Counselling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body) - an awarding organisation for counselling qualifications. For careers information click on 'Learners' then 'Becoming a Counsellor'.

Health Careers - for information on counselling roles in the NHS.

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) Association - for organisations that provide EAP.

AdviceUK - a support network for independent advice providers. Note that AdviceUK does not offer direct advice to members of the public, but you can search for organisations that offer advice. 

Citizens Advice - for information on paid and volunteer positions within the Citizens Advice network, and to search for current opportunities.

Law Centres Network - for details on paid employment and volunteering at Law Centres.

There are various organisations concerned with coaching and mentoring and you may find information on training etc on their websites, such as:

Association for Coaching
Coaching & Mentoring Network
ICF (International Coach Federation)