If you’re on your way out of high school, university or looking to switch up careers for a fresh new start, then we have some great tips for you below.
For those of our readers who are motivated by making a difference in people’s lives, we’re happy to say that the community service’s field might be right up your alley. You’re able to go to work, actively assist in someone bettering themselves and directly help them to make a change. Without a doubt, this may be one of the most fulfilling careers out there for many people.
Added to this, if you’re having this ‘awakening’ with regards to your career, you’re not the only one. According to LinkedIn, the community services field is one of the fastest-growing in the country and also offers some of the highest fulfilment out there today.
Whether you’re considering social work, youth work, counselling or just about anything else in the field, we have some great reasons below to help you make that final push into a career in community services. Take a look.
1. Job Diversity or Variety
Up first, is the fact that community service qualifications have incredible diversity and variety. Chances are you’re looking to change roles because your current one has become stale, and so we’re glad to say that this isn’t likely to be the case in community services.
With a single degree in social work or community services from TSA, for example, you’ll have the skills and education to effortlessly move between roles in youth social work, counselling, childcare and much more. This means that in the event things do become a little stale, you will have the freedom to apply elsewhere or shuffle sideways in your company to another role with different focal points.
It is good to keep in mind that this also includes a movement from aged care services to disability service, indigenous work and much more. The options are essentially endless.
2. You’re Making a Real Difference
When we think of many of the jobs and roles in business today, a lot of the outcomes are growth-focused and almost always cold and financial, and for a lot of us, this just isn’t something that we are motivated by – and that is more than okay.
In the field of community services, you will work day in and day out to make a real tangible difference in people’s lives, and this can be exceedingly fulfilling. All of your time is essentially spent directly or indirectly helping others, and this can include sitting and talking through issues with a patient and developing recovery plans, or daily health and mental health plans with them to assist in achieving their goals.
Added to this, you will often find yourself working with one single person over the course of a few months or even years, and watching and witnessing the progress they make can be exceedingly fulfilling, and offers up an incredible sense of pride and achievement.
3. Watch Patient’s Grow
Tied in with our reason above, another key reason to consider a career in community services is that you get to watch and experience your patients or clients grow as people over time. And in some cases, if you’re working with young children, you are witnessing them blossom into adults first-hand, with your help.
In a daily workflow, and offering advice, assistance, help, a ‘shoulder to cry on’ and your unwavering support, you will see your patients become stronger, achieve their goals and grow into the people they’d wish to become.
Essentially, your role and impact on their daily lives will have you improving someone’s quality of life in both the long and short terms.
4. You Have Trajectory Options
Added to the ways in which you can help others, there is also the opportunity to grow your career through social work – even if you’re just volunteering. The field is very rarely stagnated, and this means over time you have the option to move upward and out to higher-paying roles that have you well and truly on your way to achieving your own goals too.
For example, you may start off in the field by helping those with disabilities and moving onward and upward to eventually running your own counselling practice and directly helping hundreds of people over the course of a week with any struggles they’re dealing with in their day to day lives.
Added to this, you will also find a tonne of trajectory options that aren’t linear, but diagonal in the community services field. You could begin in childcare and move on and up to a higher-level role in youth social work, for example. This means that you’re not tied into one single, linear trajectory but rather have the freedom to grow and expand your skillset in community services.
5. The Field is Fast Growing
As we outlined in our article intro, the field of social and community services is experiencing massive growth following the COVID-19 pandemic – landing it at the top 3 spot on LinkedIn’s emerging jobs. More and more people across the globe, in government and in schools and universities are finding the stigma around needing ‘help’ to be lifted, and this is creating more and more support for those who need it most.
In line with this, you will also find more employment opportunities available than ever before, and more on the horizon with government grants and support packages for a renewed focus on community services.
6. Versatile Location Options
Another key point to keep in mind is that you’re going to find that community work gives you the opportunity to work in more than just one single location. Unlike financial services, for example, which is often confined to inner-city locations, community service has branches from central capital cities all the way to small towns and communities in the countryside.
For those who want a career that gives them the chance to move around and explore their country, this might be something to consider too, when looking at a career in community services.
The Takeaway
With all of the points above in mind, it isn’t too difficult to see that community services is one of the most flexible fields out there that isn’t only one of the most fulfilling but is also experiencing great growth in many parts of the world.
If it’s time to wave goodbye to your current career and step into one that is more attuned to your empathetic and people-focused mind, then community service is certainly something to consider.