A community worker is an individual who works in community services, one of the biggest and fastest-growing industries in all of Australia. With community services being so broad and diverse, it sounds like it should be fertile ground to forge a rewarding career and it is.
This article will take a closer look at community services work, what’s positive about it and why it might be a good job direction for you to consider.
The First Step
Before getting into all the benefits of pursuing work or a career path in community services, let’s look at the first step in the process, which is entry-level training in the form of Certificate III In Community Services.
This course can be completed in just 12 months if you participate on a full-time basis. Alternatively, for more flexibility, you can spend 24 months finishing the course part-time. Once successfully completed, not only will you be issued with your nationally-recognized certificate, you will have the core skills and values required to get started in this industry.
So, why should you consider a community service career and lifestyle?
You Will Earn a Comfortable Living
How much you get paid will depend on the type of job role you do, how experienced you are, your qualifications, and so on but any career path in community services will give you a decent lifestyle. Even entry-level positions can pay around $50-$60k annually and things will only go up from there.
If you aspire to become a more specialized member of community services, such as a counselor or therapist, you could expect to make upwards of $100k per year. Not too shabby at all.
The money you can earn is just one benefit of forging a career in community service work.
The Potential for Job Satisfaction Is Immense
Community service work is largely about serving the people, in particular, people underprivileged or in minority groups. Whatever job you undertake, ultimately, you’ll be making a positive difference in the lives of other people in one form or another.
While making a comfortable living financially is important, individuals need to gain other value from their work and not many industries provide personal satisfaction on the same level that community services do.
At the end of each day, you can rest easy knowing that you did some good in the world and no matter how small, you made a difference.
Loads Of Job Opportunities
That’s the beauty of this industry. The fact that it’s constantly growing means new job opportunities are opening up all the time, all around the country. Community services are so diverse, there are numerous different roles and careers you can go after, or even opt for a career change in community services at some point.
Just some examples of the type of work community services offer include, counselors, therapists, disability support workers, community leaders, case managers, working with the underprivileged, health workers, probation officers, and many more job roles.
There Is Flexibility In Community Services Work
To begin with, it’s been mentioned how vast the industry is and that it’s experiencing rapid growth nationally. This means that if you desire a change of scenery, you could find a job posting at numerous locations around Australia, whether it be in a big city or a more remote rural town. This alone can make the job infinitely more interesting.
Some roles in community services also allow you some time flexibility, where you can change shifts around to fit in with your lifestyle or something you may need to do on a particular day.
Your Life Will Never Be Boring
Due to all of the points made above, your life as a community worker will never be boring and no two days are likely to be the same. If you desire to avoid a job that’s mundane, dull, and boring, then a career in community services is just the ticket. Lifestyle and job satisfaction are what are attracting so many people into this field. It’s vibrant and it’s interesting.
The Wrap
As you can see, there is a lot going for this industry and if you’ve been wondering what type of job or career you should pursue, go after something within the community services industry.
