Fake it until you make it

So after four years in college and several more years of doing other jobs, I have finally landed my first social care job. For anyone confused because they thought I was already working as a social care worker then allow me a moment to clarify. I have been working as a health care assistant over two years now and then last March I was successful at making my way on to the social care panel ( in the residential facility in which I work). Being on a panel means you will be offered this coveted position at some point in time but you will be waiting.
Then in July I got a call offering me a position in a community house and after I weighed everything up I decided to accept. That's when I went back to waiting until two weeks ago when I got word that we had the green light and an opening date. It came around much sooner than I thought and today I finally signed a contract for a permanent social care position. So it's official and they can't take it back now. They are stuck with me.

 Tomorrow will be my first ever day on the job. Admittedly it won't be a million miles from the work I have been doing but here's the thing. Tomorrow I will go to work as a social care worker and I don't really know what that means. I have been so used to working as a health care assistant which is tough but rewarding work. I know exactly what's expected of me in that role and there's a comfort to be had in that. The thing is In the house where I was based, the health care assistants never really made any of the big decisions. That was always done by the nurses. Yes at times this could be frustrating, that sense of powerlessness but in another way there was a freedom to it because someone else would decide and that took the responsibly off your shoulders.

 In many ways I am looking forward to being in a position to affect more positive change in the lives of those I care for and perhaps to my voice being heard a little more clearly. But I will spend those first few days finding my feet and looking for clues for what extra things I should be doing in my capacity as a social care worker and I'll be hoping no one notices I really don't have a clue because I will be faking it until I make it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The darker side of romance

Image
  For some reason I felt compelled to write about a corner of my past that hasn't been part of my blog before. a heads up to anyone who might be upset by this topic I will be delving into emotional abuse so feel free to stop reading now if you don't feel able to carry on. When I was in my late 20's I met a guy on a night out. He was a few years younger than me and honestly looking back threw up a couple of red flags early but I didn't trust my own intuition plus I was only a few months away from finishing college and planned to move to Edinburgh in a few months so it wasn't like it was going to be anything more than a brief fling. However as time went on I became more infatuated with him, there was an intensity there and he seemed sweet but damaged. Like a perfect modern fairytale I thought I would be the one to fix him. somehow plans changed and he was going to follow me over to Edinburgh, get a job there and we were going to live happily ever after. at this point
Read more

Help, I think I'm autistic

Image
 So I, at the age of 41, have come to the realization that I am autistic.  Growing up I always had a feeling something about me was a little bit off. I never quite fit in and I wasn't sure why. It was like everyone had been given a book of rules of how to exist in society but no one had thought to hand me a copy. Looking back with hindsight the signs were there. I was a super sensitive kid, a sensitivity I have not lost in adulthood, I cried very easily and felt every emotion very deeply. I was a picky eater and very particular about the textures of different food. I was very sensitive to light and noise and the feel of different fabrics. I was never a hugger. all of these things are as true about me now as they were when I was younger. I am socially awkward, I don't make friends that easily and will joke I am an acquired taste. Eye contact is something I have to actively work on and small talk feels like torture.  I thrive on alone time, I am incredibly sensitive to the moods
Read more

Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out ..

Image
I have been told on more than one occasion that I'm sarcastic. Often that I'm too sarcastic (as though there could be such a thing) and I have retort up my sleeve for such occasions which is if you think I'm sarcastic you should meet my mother. No, really you should because my sarcasm is but a pale imitation of hers. Every so often though I come out without something that makes my friends or other family members pause because sometimes when I open my mouth, my mother comes out.  It's funny how people always take the words you are turning into your mother as such an insult because the reality of the matter is it's a both a good and bad thing. Obviously there are certain qualities I am perfectly happy to emulate and others not so much and on the whole I am not entirely sure how much control I have over it. It's not quite a pick and mix counter here. I think there are some habits you are not even aware you have picked up until someone else kindly points it out.
Read more