Here at Viewpoint we welcome people with diverse professional and personal backgrounds, your values and attitude are what make the difference to how you progress in your career with us. Or as the old saying goes “it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish”.
Perhaps you’ve always wanted an office job, maybe in finance, property services or a care home, but you don’t have the right experience because you’ve always worked in housekeeping. Well that’s no problem, if you are willing to learn and work hard we will support you in your career aspirations. Maybe you are a catering assistant and have always dreamed of becoming a qualified cook, we can help you to get the college qualifications, perhaps through day release and provide you with the practical experience to help you achieve your dream. Or do you work as a housing assistant but think you would make a good housing officer? Just ask, we can provide the learning and development programmes to get you there. Opportunities are open to everyone who works with us, who knows, you could be our next Director of Care or even the next CEO, if you put your mind to it.
Here are a couple of real life success stories showing how we’ve been able to help our staff help our residents even more.
Hello, I’m Heather McKinlay, and I started working in St Raphael’s back in 2006. I’d never done care work before and didn’t know if I would be able to do the job - it’s hard both physically and emotionally, as you are caring for people at the end of their lives. But I soon realised people can enjoy themselves whatever their age and I loved it as soon as I started - and knew immediately that I’d found my vocation in life. Over the years I’ve felt very supported by both my Manager and Viewpoint who have encouraged me to do lots of training. I passed my level three Health and Social Care SVQ in 2009 and then went on to train in Supervisory Management, Dementia Care, Palliative Care, Medication and Moving and Handling. I’m now a training instructor and am currently taking a level seven course in Supervisory Management.
I was given the opportunity to become a Senior Care Assistant three years ago, and now help train and induct new staff, support nurses and other Care Assistants. It’s incredible to think I’m teaching people what I learned all those years ago. I’m really proud of our team, we all go that little bit further to ensure our residents aren’t just comfortable, but having fun and enjoying themselves every day.
I’m Anna Bakart and I joined Viewpoint as a Staff Nurse in June 2011. I was temping to begin with, but it was such a good experience that I decided to apply when a vacancy became available. And this became my first full time job. St Raphael’s is all about the people and you get brilliant support from everyone, especially our manager and other nurses. It’s a strong nursing team. A team that delivers high quality care with both enthusiasm and joy.
Over the years I’ve received a lot of training and I’m now qualified as a Moving and Handling training instructor. Being an instructor has taught me how much I enjoy teaching, and I was encouraged by my manager to mentor student nurses who are on placement with us. I had to do a mentoring course at Napier University and have loved it ever since. When student nurses join us on placement they need plenty of support and some have never worked in a care home. They gain experience as they shadow me throughout the day, which helps them progress on their course.
In 2014 I had a baby and just as I came back from maternity leave, there was a vacancy for a Charge Nurse. All my training and development meant I was perfect for the role and I love the job. It’s challenging at times, but this helps me gain even more experience because I now have to look after a bigger team of carers, nurses, placement students and new staff. It’s so rewarding being able to give something back and to be able to support my staff and help them develop too.
I’m Shirelle White and I’m a Housing Officer and have also recently taken on the role of Project Officer. My job consists of tenancy management, housing support and managing project work. I’ve just completed the SVQ4 in Management. Among other things this course covered health & safety, recruitment & selection, managing business processes, and showed me how to develop productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. It will help me be a more effective manager and think of processes in different ways and how my role and actions can impact on the organisation, especially in regard to managing finance.
I’ve been with Viewpoint since August 2003 and over the years they’ve invested a lot in my development. As well as my SVQ4 in Management Viewpoint has also paid for me to do my SVQ3 Health and Social Care for Adults and Elementary Food Hygiene. I also recently completed my refresher training in fire safety, COSHH and Moving and Handling.
Hi, I’m Edwin Fernandez and I joined Viewpoint in February 2010 as Care Assistant on night shifts. I was based in Marian House and had a passion for caring and always worked hard to make residents as feel at home.
Impulse prompted me to move into Housing Services in 2014. By working as a Housing Coordinator I thought I would be able to do a bit more in terms of delivering services and customer satisfaction. Thanks to Viewpoint’s training and development and with support from my superiors and colleagues, I think I’m really making a difference.
I’m Erik Storey and this is my story. I’ve worked with Viewpoint for nearly four years now – this is my first job and working with people is what I love to do. Viewpoint is great at encouraging people like me to develop skills and offers a wide range of training programs and opportunities. I’ve completed my SVQ2 and my Dementia level 2 while working at Marian House. The SVQ2 was a great way to get a formal qualification that shows people how much I care about what I do. The Dementia course was all about in-depth learning and the unique ways we can help people who have dementia live a normal and fulfilling life. I would highly recommend both courses as they have helped me hugely in my development at work.
