Changing careers – Lyndon’s story

I’ve been working for Brandon for three years as a support worker. What appealed to me was the supported living style of support Brandon provides in the community which was suited to my background.

Before joining the care sector, my career couldn’t have been further away from it. For most of my working career, I worked at a builders’ merchants starting off in the yard and counter sales. Then moving on to main accounts manager, sales representative, through to branch manager. I would be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed the early years, but as time passed by it was only a means to pay the mortgage and put the kids though school.

The turning point for me was meeting my wife, Sue, who worked in care all her life. She convinced me I would be really good at being a support worker. I couldn’t see it at first, blinded by years of working in an industry driven by money and speed.

So, I took the plunge and started working weekends on the bank and soon discovered how right she was and how much I enjoyed my weekends. This was an epiphany moment for me. I made a pact with myself that once the children had flown the nest and gone to university, I would go full-time and I’ve never looked back.

There really is no such thing as a typical day because we work with individuals who learn and develop new skills every day. This for me, is why my job is interesting.

As a support worker you use your own life experiences in work to provide person centred support. Many skills like logistics, planning and development, that I’ve picked up over the years, I now use daily.

I think the key to providing good support is putting the person at the heart of everything. Every day I ask myself:

“How can I enable this person I’m supporting to improve their quality of life and help them to develop new skills and confidence?’’

Would I recommend the care sector?

Hell yes! But it’s not for everyone, I believe you must be a person with a caring nature.

For me, I would have swapped careers much earlier but historically the care sector has always been under-valued. Now working in the sector, I can take pride in what we do and what we deliver to the people we support.

I have often heard people say 'I love my job' and thought 'yeah right', but I can now genuinely say I love my job.

Lyndon 
Support Worker

Are you interested in enjoying a more rewarding career?

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