Are you considering a social impact career after graduation? Are you thinking about applying for a graduate scheme? Katie Purser, a recruitment director from Frontline, talks about an exciting opportunity for third years:
1. Can you please give an overview of the work Frontline do as a general organisation and more specifically in terms of Cardiff?
Over half a million children in the UK are in need of great social workers on a daily basis. Without their help, the odds are against them: almost a third of the homeless population and a quarter of the adult prison population were in care at some point in their lives.
Frontline is a new scheme to get outstanding graduates into one of Britain’s toughest professions, child protection social work. We believe that no child’s background should determine what their outcomes are in life. We’re looking for individuals who want to train on the job, whilst being paid and getting their qualifications to practice as a social worker.
We’re also looking for people who have aspirations to move into positions of leadership and take responsibility throughout their careers, so that Frontline participants, having completed the programme, can become leaders in both social work and broader society. As such, we offer a bespoke leadership development training programme to really ensure that people can have a transformational impact.
The reason that we are particularly interested in Cardiff is that eight of our 124 participants in our second cohort were from Cardiff University. We’re very confident that the university has got the right calibre of students and outstanding individuals who should be thinking about joining the Frontline scheme and going into social work.
2. What is different about Frontline compared to other routes into social work profession?
There are lots of different routes into social work. At the university based level there is a Bachelors in social work, or a Masters in Social Work. Both are very academically based training routes with placements during the programme. There’s another scheme called Step Up to Social Work, which is a seventeen month programme where individuals work with local authorities in child protection teams. They work and learn on the job alongside social workers.
The difference with Frontline is that we are an intensive training route where you complete a five week residential followed by a year-long placement in a local authority. During this year, participants work in a team of four with an experienced child protection social worker as a line manager. So whilst the social worker has statutory responsibility, the Frontline participants will work through different complex scenarios and with children and families to have a positive impact. It is a paid training route that enables you to get qualifications as you go. In the second year, Frontline participants will be practiced, ready and working independently as registered social workers in child protection units. Additionally, they’ll be offered a coach who will help them achieve their leadership potential and maximise their transformational impact on the lives of vulnerable children.
3. Do you have any tips on applying to the Frontline programme? Are there any specific entry requirements or degree specifications for instance?
Frontline is looking for people from a whole variety of backgrounds and different degree disciplines. The specific academic requirements are a 2:1 in your undergraduate degree (predicted or obtained) and grade Cs in GCSE Maths and English. At A Level, whilst most successful applicants have obtained at least BBB, we do have some with CCC, where their application forms have been outstanding.
In terms of applying, we’d recommend that people think very carefully about why Frontline is for them, why they want to be a social worker, and why they want to commit to working with children and families, particularly the most vulnerable. We also advise they draw on a range of experiences which show their adaptability to working with different people as well as taking initiative and responsibility – all qualities we believe will enable them to succeed on the programme.
In addition, the competencies by which we assess applicants throughout the application process are threefold. Firstly, you need real motivation and commitment to working with children and families. Secondly, effective communication skills and empathy are essential to enable you to work well with people. Finally, good analytical and leadership skills will ensure you can lead with sound judgements.
4. Are social impact careers popular career choices for students these days? Why or why not?
Social impact careers are a huge opportunity for students these days, and I think they are very popular. We’ve got some great opportunities out there. Teach First, Police Now, Think Ahead and Frontline are all offering a great chance for people to have a life changing impact on vulnerable individuals in society. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Teach First and Frontline have both been recognised as top 50 graduate employers, according to the prestigious Times Top 100 list for 2015-16.
The great thing about social impact careers is that on those schemes you have really great training, they’re often paid, and you can have a really direct positive impact on people, particularly upon those in most need. There are also transferable skills that you can gain that will enable you to access lots of opportunities in the future, and which can be deployed to other fields.
5. How did you personally get into a career with Frontline?
My own background is with Teach First, which I really rate as a graduate scheme. What really excited me about Frontline was the fact that you can have a transformational impact on the lives of vulnerable people, most specifically children in care. Whilst a teacher can help them during the day, when a child goes home in the evening or at the weekend without clear structure and support from supportive adult role models, it can really disadvantage a child. So I think the opportunity with Frontline and what it can do in terms of developing that individual, who really believes in these young people, and wants to help them change and enable them to achieve their goals, that to me is a really important proposition, and something that is vital for ensuring more equal outcomes in society.
6. How do students apply for this brilliant opportunity?
Final year students can apply online via our website: www.thefrontline.org.uk/apply Applications are currently open and close on November 12th.
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