Health and Social Care Personal Statement

Due to previous experiences of working with a range of people in the care sector I believe that throughout my time on various work placements with people who have disabilities and difficulties in communicating, along with the experiences gained throughout my studies, my wish to pursue a career in the care profession has grown.

To further my interest in working with and around people I completed a course in childcare.

Throughout this course I was able to gain valuable experience of working with special needs children. While this was very challenging I also found it an extremely rewarding and enjoyable experience. To further my knowledge and passion for working with people I took a health and social care advanced course and took a week’s experience in a day center that involves working with people who suffer from difficulties in communicating and having disabilities. This again helped to broaden my understanding of working with people and also how to deal with children and adults with disabilities.

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Within my spare time I have researched the job role and requirements for health promotion to find out what is involved. To build upon these interests further, I am taking up a one week work experience within the health field. I will be spending the first week in a care home focusing on helping elderly people that suffer from dementia and my second week assisting a health promoter to experience a more professional job role in health care. I am looking forward to this valuable experience as it will further consolidate my desire to study health and social care.

I currently work as a sales assistant which has given me a valuable experience of working with people and how to assist their needs in any way possible. During this time I am developing effective communication skills and good working relationships. In addition to this it is also helping me to show how committed I am to my responsibilities as well as demonstrating good organisation skills. Having to juggle work and school as well as social activities this also shows that I am developing my time keeping skills to make myself more committed and more punctual.

During my first year of sixth form I helped to raise money for the McMillan Cancer trust charity. I also found this very rewarding as I was helping others that were in need, just like during my work placements. I often play sports after sixth form with my friends; this has helped me to develop extra skills in working well in a team. In addition I have completed voluntary work with a year six class to increase my knowledge of working with young people, another activity that I very much enjoyed and found extremely rewarding. To further my interest in working with people I have recently volunteered to do a level 3 v-volunteering in my spare time, the certificate itself is an accreditation form Newcastle University. During my spare time I mainly like to dance and sing. I find this is a good way to express myself in addition to help me keep fit. I also attend the gym often to also help keep me fit. I also like to attend various different events and take advantage of any activities that I am offered whether it is through school or outside of school. This helps to increase my confidence and also helps me to meet new people.

I feel that university is definitely the right path for me. I am always working extremely hard to achieve the best I can, a feat which I intend to carry on throughout my university years. I feel I have the necessary skills needed to enjoy university to the full and also be successful in future years. In addition I would also like to go to university to help develop my skills even further so I can gain a good job in the health and social care sector which is always my main interest.

Social Work Personal Statement

I have decided to take up the course in social work because firstly the subjects which I am doing sociology looks at people and society’s problems, I have in this subject done work on family and at the moment doing religion, this has fascinated me to help people who are facing problems such as abuse in families. Secondly I have done personal study on this subject which I have enjoyed reading around in periodicals and journals which had fuelled my interest in gaining a more depth knowledge of working with different type of people and their problems. Thirdly I would like to take up a course which fascinates me and in which I will determined me too succeed and the challenge of working to deadlines

Whilst in the sixth form I have been involved in a scheme which aimed to provide children entering school with a low reading age, with the help their required to improve their reading levels. I also at in my private time tend to go to old people house who are disabled because one of my close relative is there also this house is opposite my house so I go in and talk to different people and talk or play games with them. This is another reason why I want to do this course because I have some experience of what I will be facing in this course, it won’t be shock to me at first time round because I know in social work you get people who are hard to handle especially youngsters

My part time job which is shop assistant helped develop my understanding of responsibility and has given me increased confidence also enabled me to act initiatively with dealing with unexpected problems and has helped to develop my communication skills . Working with the children in school has improved my interpersonal skills so that I can now work with children who can be awkward sometimes without any problems

As an individual I like keeping fit which I have a gym in my house, I also like listening to music and going out with mates which provides me a different environment from college and work, this gives me an opportunity to make new friend and meet new people. I also in my part time help my younger brother and sister with their homework or I sometimes learn from my mum how to sew clothes

As an applicant, I will bring with me an enthusiasm and motivation for this subject. My ethics background and cultural awareness should allow me to become and integrated yet individual of a university member in an increasingly cosmopolitan society.

Personal Statements: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Personal statements with positive impact

“After I was made redundant, I decided to become a support worker. This was because I had been volunteering for several years in the Youth Service, working with young people at risk of offending. I got a job in a special needs school where I supported pupils on an individual basis. I needed to develop a good relationship with each pupil and to adapt my communication to their special needs. An example is how I worked with a boy who was afraid of the doctor ( describes her intervention and outcome). Working in this field for three years has encouraged me to tackle an Access course; I have learnt the theory of communication and can see why I was successful in my work with school students. I would like to develop my skills and knowledge further by studying for a social work degree.”

“Skills I had gained as a support worker were needed when my father was diagnosed with dementia. I had always relied on his support and found that I had to be reliable and useful for him without letting my emotions overwhelm me.”

“I am currently working as a support worker in a multi-disciplinary community mental health team. Although I work mostly with the OTs I have a good opportunity to get an overview of the other professions including social work. I have worked together with social workers in the team to support vulnerable people in the community and particularly like the wider perspective they bring to their work such as involving carers.”

“I have worked in the substance misuse field for 5 years and have undertaken NVQ3.I have been offered the post of manager in the service I work in but thinking about my own development needs , I now want to train as a social worker to gain a wider experience of working with vulnerable adults and children.”

“I am a nursery nurse and wanted to take my interest in child protection further by studying OU courses on health and social care.”

Statements with Limited Impact

“I have always been passionate about care , becoming a social worker would allow me to fulfil my ambitions”

“I have been employed as a carer for 6 years. I enjoy my job and the experience. This has been excellent for my personal skills as I have to talk to people like the elderly.”

“I believe my personal drive is a key factor in my success as manager in a care home and I would be an asset to your degree”.

“Working as a support worker means that I have learnt skills in communication and team work.” (No further discussion of these points)

Lengthy exposition of previous employment in various retail and marketing companies, paragraph ending with “The work experience linked to social work was a six week placement in day centre where I helped escort the old people home.” No further discussion of what person learnt from this, what impact it had on decision to apply to train as a social worker.

“Having gained an NVQ 3 in health and social care and with vast experience in paid and voluntary work, I want to further my career by studying for a professional social work qualification ….. (then follows list of all the service user groups applicant has worked with) … in all these my skills in prioritising my workload, meeting deadlines , time management and team working has improved enormously.” No evidence given to demonstrate this statement.

Other statements contain very general comments on social work – such as ” A social worker’s vocation is very complex and more than interpreting the problem and assisting people find a solution. It involves methods, theories and ethics.” There is a danger that these types of generalised comment are either from websites or books and articles which are not referenced – plagiarism can rear its head even before some applicants have started their academic career!