I was a trainee care worker in a children’s home, now I am doing my Masters in Health Psychology!
Meet Chloe – a Graduate Research Assistant in our Assessment and Therapy Service
Chloe joined Five Rivers’ in 2015 after graduating in Psychology. She is about to start a Master’s degree in Health Psychology. Here is the story of her career progression through the organisation:
Chloe, what attracted you to working for Five Rivers? Did you have any previous experience of working with children before you applied?
No, but I had quite a lot of management experience in hospitality! I felt I wanted to do something where I could use my degree to help others and do something positive with the skills I had learned in my previous roles rather than just doing something that’s all about profit. Everything I’d read about Five Rivers was what I wanted to do – I’d heard positive things about them.
What was your first job?
My first job was as a Trainee Therapeutic Practitioner working in a children’s home.
What did you enjoy most?
I liked to see all the progress our young people make, helping them to achieve their individual goals and expectations. I also enjoyed being a part of each child’s future transitions, helping to nurture the skills they require for the next chapter of their life journey. I’ve also had a lot of fun – working at the House brought out new talents such as dressing up as Santa, making enough chicken nuggets to feed an army and perfecting my bottle flipping skills!
Were you offered opportunities to progress?
Definitely. I was promoted quickly to Shift Leader, then Key Worker then Senior Child Care Worker then appointed Deputy Manager in June 2016. I have always enjoyed the management side of things and I want to support the staff as well as the young people we work with. I have seen lots of other people progressing very fast and getting opportunities in residential.
So why did you decide to move into Assessment and Therapy from Residential Care?
I always wanted to progress as far and as fast as I could but I decided not to go for Registered Manager – that was not for me. I needed to use the skills I have got to support my next move. I started to look out and luckily this Graduate Research Assistant role came up from the company! My responsibilities will include data collection, analysis, and drafting of reports.
What’s next for you?
I set myself a career goal to get a Master’s in Health Psychology – I want to focus on mental health and supporting people to have a more positive lifestyle. My new boss, the Head of Assessment and Therapy, was very supportive of me doing a Master’s. He is keen to help me achieve this goal and will offer a sample for my dissertation and his advice and guidance. I am not 100% sure of my end goal as yet, I am fairly open-minded as to where my masters will take me. Ultimately, I would like to use my knowledge, experience, and opportunities to help those who are less fortunate than myself, specifically in mental health.
What do you like most about working for Five Rivers?
It sounds cheesy but when you see the progression of a young person and how you can support them into a much more positive lifestyle, that in itself makes it all worthwhile.
What would you say to anyone thinking of working in residential child care?
You have to be fully committed – it’s not a job you can leave behind. You have to be focused on achieving good outcomes for young people, not just “doing something good”, working here is about a lot more than that!
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All Five Rivers staff are supported with training and management skills development for anyone that shows leadership potential. We are an Investor in People.