Agency Work
Working as an Agency worker with Entrust Social Care offers many benefits over permanent positions both in terms of financial remuneration and the flexibility that agency working affords.
Newly Qualified Social Workers
You may be a newly qualified social worker and unsure as to which sector of social care you wish to specialise in. Working through an agency enables you to gain experience within different sectors and specialisations before you make that final commitment and take up a permanent position if that is your preferred long-term option. You will often find that you particularly enjoy the team you are in and transfer to a permanent role within your current team.
Experienced Social Workers
For many experienced registered Social Workers, agency work is rapidly becoming the preferred method of working due to the increased financial benefits it offers, together with greater flexibility with regard to when and where you work. Flexibility of working hours is particularly relevant to working mothers where hours need to be scheduled around school runs and where school holidays need to be taken.
It is widely acknowledged that there are severe shortages of experienced social workers particularly within the Childrens’ services sector and, as such, excellent rates of pay can be expected.
For example, a Social Worker with over 2 years Child Protection experience can expect to earn upwards of £25.00 per hour which in real terms equates to an annual salary of around £45,000
Job Security
It is becoming more and more apparent that, providing you are prepared to be flexible in terms of location (we will normally be able to find you a suitable post within reasonable travelling distance from home), agency work is just as secure as any permanent role. Provided you offer the required level of expertise and professionalism that our clients expect, then we should have no problem in ensuring that you are in continuous employment and enjoy all of the benefits that agency work offers without the worry of being out of work.
Temp to Perm
Many social workers also use agency work as a Stop-Gap whilst they find that “right job” and often find that they will use the temp-to-perm route to achieve this e.g. work on a particular team for a three month period and then, provided the position is right for you, transfer over into a permanent post.
Training
There is a myth that agency workers do not enjoy the same level of training as permanent workers. When working for Entrust, this is clearly not the case. We are extremely conscious of ensuring that our workers take responsibility for their continuous personal development and are kept abreast of new ideas and current legislation. As such we offer our own courses through our partnership with Staffordshire Social Services Training and Development Centre together with assistance, through bursaries and additional funding, with the PQ Specialist Award. We are also partnered with Quest Education and Training, a Birmingham based social work specific training organisation that evolved from the West Midlands Regional PQ Consortium (WMRPQC). Whatever your training needs, we are certain we will have something to offer you.
You will also find that the majority of agency positions will offer the same level of in-house training as that offered to permanent staff so you effectively get the best of both worlds.
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