From Hospitality & Retail to Care

Vivek Ramakrishnan

Hospitality and retail together constitute 9% of Britain’s GDP. They are also the country’s largest employers. But thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is changing fast. Some of the most iconic high-street retailers in the UK have either scaled back operations [John Lewis & Partners] or gone into administration. Hotel occupancy is at an all-time low. Already, thousands have been redundant, and thousands more – unfortunately – will be in the new year. The vaccines may help to reverse some of the economic damage, but it will be long before things return to the way they were.

It is, however, not all bad news. There are number of sectors which have survived – even thrived – during the pandemic. One such is care. Care homes found themselves unexpectedly and unprepared in the eye of the COVID-19 storm. But soon, we evolved a dynamic strategy to protect themselves and our residents. While most of the nation was under furlough, carers, care coordinators, managers, and logistics staff, continued to come to work, despite the grave risk to themselves and their family, and provided essential and life-preserving services to vulnerable adults.

Now, more than ever, there is a high demand of high-quality care sector workers, and no-one is better to suited to fill these roles than those from hospitality and retail. Here are some of the transferable skills you can use to start a reward new career in care.

Retail & Hospitality
Skill/Quality
Role in Care Sector

Customer focused service
Ability to work under pressure
Willingness to acquire new skills
Listening skills
Patience
De-escalation skills
Being able to think quickly

Carer

Ability to multi-task
Being able to think quickly
Administrative skills
Telephonic liaising skills
Willingness to go the extra mile
Sense of ownership
Interpersonal Skills

Care Coordinator
Manager
Support Staff
Administrative Staff

Driving
Ability to work under tight timelines
Ability to work under changing priorities
Navigational skills
Ability to do recurring tasks

Logistics Staff

The above list is non-exhaustive. There are numerous other skills and qualities that you can use to transition into the care sector and create a sustainable and secure career. You can also find great resources and help for your transition in places such as Skills for Health. Skills for Health offers a programme designed specifically for hospitality and tourism workers in mind. The twelve-week programme, partly online and partly on the job, will give you the introduction and retraining you need to enter successfully into the care sector.

Care is a deeply rewarding and challenging sector work for, and Eleanor is always scouting for fresh talent at all levels. We are one of the leaders in the UK, who work with a mission to change the care sector for better. With us, you can always trust to be pushed to realize your full potential.

We will train you.
We will know you.
We will value you.
And we will challenge you.

Your new career is just a click away. Click HERE to apply!

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