Episode 31 – How to get a job in social work with Frontline

September 21, 2015 Podcast

Welcome to the 31st episode of the Graduate Job Podcast. We focus down again for episode 31, which is the first of a two-part special on graduate jobs in social work, as I speak to Katie Purser, Recruitment Director at Frontline. We delve into Frontline and its groundbreaking 2-year graduate social work programme, examining what exactly it is, how you apply, and how you can stand out. We discuss the application process in detail and also cover why you should think about Frontline as your fast-track into a career in social work. If you’ve ever thought about working with children and families, then this is an episode you won’t want to miss. As always, links to all we discuss and a full transcript are available in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/Frontline. Before we start though, these special episodes came about from an email I received from a listener called Marnie, who emailed saying that she would love to get into social work and asked if I could interview some of the leading graduate schemes. If you have some particular people or industries you would like me to speak to on future shows, drop me a mail at hello@graduatejobpodcast.com. I read everything and I look forward to hearing from you. But, let’s not waste any more time, and crack straight on with episode 31.

You can download the podcast to your computer or listen to it here on the blog. Additionally, you can subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, or Stitcher radio.

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

  • What Frontline is and why you should apply
  • The importance of knowing their competencies in the application process
  • How to impress with the video interview
  • Top tips to make your online application stand out from the crowd
  • Everything you need to know about the Frontline assessment centre

SELECTED LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Check out the ‘How to Get a Graduate Job’ step-by-step online course at https://howtogetagraduatejob.com/
  • Don’t even think about applying for graduate jobs until you’ve read my free guide, ‘The 5 steps you must take before applying for graduate jobs’. Click here NOW. It will completely change the way you apply for jobs!
  • Would you like a free 30-minute video coaching call? Simply select a time that works here https://calendly.com/gradjob/ We can go over your CV, application, or anything that you are struggling with.
  • www.thefrontline.org.uk/ – Frontline’s website
  • Hackney Child – Katie’s book recommendation. If you’re applying to Frontline, make sure you read this! Click on the image below to buy NOW from Amazon!

IF YOU FOUND THIS USEFUL, CHECK OUT THESE EPISODES:

Transcript- Episode 31 – How to get a job in social work with Frontline

James:   Welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast, with your host James Curran. The Graduate Job Podcast is your weekly home for all things related to helping you on your journey to finding that amazing job. Each week I bring together the best minds in the industry, speaking to leading authors, entrepreneurs, coaches and bloggers who bring decades of experience into a byte size weekly 30 minute show. Put simply, this is the show I wish I had a decade ago when I graduated.

We focus down again for episode 31, which is the first of a two part special on graduate jobs in social work, as I speak to Katie Purser, Recruitment Director at Frontline. We delve into Frontline and its ground breaking 2 year graduate social work programme, examining what exactly it is, how you apply, and how you can stand out. We discuss the application process in detail and also cover why you should think about Frontline as your fast-track into a career in social work. If you’ve ever thought about working with children and families, then this is an episode you won’t want to miss. As always, links to all we discuss and a full transcript are available in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/Frontline. Before we start though, these special episodes came about from an email I received from a listener called Marnie who emailed saying that she would love to get into social work and asked if I could interview some of the leading graduate schemes. If you have some particular people or industries you would like me to speak to on future shows, drop me a mail at hello@graduatejobpodcast.com. I read everything and I look forward to hearing from you. But, let’s not waste anymore time and crack straight on with episode 31.

James: Really pleased today to be speaking to Katie Pursor. Katie is a recruitment director at Frontline. Frontline are an organisation dedicated to recruiting high potential people and developing them into outstanding children’s social workers here in the UK. Katie, welcome to the graduate job podcast.

Katie: Thanks James.

James: So I’ve given a very brief introduction to Frontline, but would you like to describe to our listeners what the scheme is and how it works?

Katie: So, Frontline is a brand new charity, we have literally just gone independent this month, and our mission is to transform the lives of bundles of children by recruiting and developing outstanding individuals to be leaders in social work and of course, in broader society. What that means in a nutshell is that we believe that there are already some great social workers but we don’t think that there are enough of them and we would like to hire more outstanding individuals who have a genuine interest and a genuine ability to have a real transformation impact on the lives of the children. Too give a bit more flavour to it, if you look at statistics, which we understand are generalisations but there are some that clearly demonstrate inequalities that are faced by young people who have been in care at some point in their lives or have had some from of engagement with social services, and there are some really shocking details out there, as such one in four of the adult prison population where in care at some point in their lives, 6% of care leavers go to university compared to 38% of other young people and that was in 2011. There are just so many inequalities which young people face across poverty, employment issues, to health problems to so many complex society problems that these young people are having to navigate and if Frontline can do one thing, and that is to give that individual a truly outstanding and inspiring social worker who really believes that that person can break the cycle and break the difficulties they are facing, then that to us is really important. Social work really is a valuable job and it does transform the lives of vulnerable people. It is a life choice and we are looking for truly outstanding people who can do that for other young people in society.

James: Amazing. How long is the scheme? Is it…do you join for a set period of time? Is there lots of training involved?

Katie: It’s a two year graduate programme; I can explain it for you, if that’s helpful?

James: Yeah, no that would be great.

Katie: So, it starts off with a five week summer training programme and it’s a really great opportunity; residential you meet other people who are going to be on the programme with you and we call them participants and you essentially start your training together. The training is made up in that five weeks of a range of different lectures and activities which give you great knowledge and skills from leading academics, so the areas you might discuss or go to lectures on are; law, ethics, child development, psychology and those are just some of the themes that you might learn, it’s a really good grounding in social work. We also teach people to think systemically about families and relationships. In social work, thinking of a child as just a child on their own and trying to work out problems around what that child has, is very limiting. You have to look at that child within a system and think about the environment that they’re in, the challenges that they’re facing, the people that they’re engaging with and you have to try and work through them with their families and themselves to support them. We also teach our participants how to build meaningful relationships with vulnerable and challenging people and also how to learn and assess risks and how to work with risks; which it is social work, it is high risk. The summer institute training also focuses on skill development and by that we mean, not just lectures but also role play and interactive sessions with guest speakers in a whole different range of fields as well as social work experts and young people who have been in care.

So once you’ve had that really great grounding in your summer institute, you can then join a local authorities children’s services department in the September. Now this is the practice based learning experience. So we bunch our participants into groups of four and those individuals will learn with each other, be supervised and line managed by really experienced child protection social worker. That person has been joint recruited by Frontline and the local authority so we know that they have the right skills and the right knowledge and they are absolutely in the right place to be able to support those young applicants. In the quarter of that first year, they’ll be working directly with vulnerable children and families to get practical experience, and then over 200 days in practise on the job training and alongside that there is 46 days of full day taught study. There is also in the background in year one an academic tutor who will deliver independent tutorials with the individuals but also with groups to support their learning needs and the whole programme in year one is assessed by a series of essays, a series of observations that are done, where you as the individual in your unit will go out and work with children and families and you’ll be observed and assessed on your progress, to ensure you are meeting the course requirements. At the very end of the first year; having experienced lots of different areas of social work and having actually practised alongside your consultant social worker and some of your peers, you’ll have got the experience and the knowledge and hopefully the qualification so that you get your post graduate diploma in social work; which then allows you to formally register with the Health and Care Professional Council as a qualified social worker.

So then in year two you are then a fully qualified social worker, you’ll have your own caseload and you are continuing to work in that local authority with the children’s services team and the professional development in the second year is managed and supported by the local authority. You have a very bespoke training programme for people who are newly qualified social workers. But also Frontline will continue to provide ongoing leadership development training, and the idea there is that we are looking for people who can set out a vision for families and make a really transformational impact on the lives of young people, by setting them a direction and goals and helping them achieve those, rather than just settling for what they can do on a daily basis.

James: Going back to the first year, so as part of the first year are you actually, you’re working as a proper social worker, you’re out, would you be on your own or would you always be supervised as you go out?

Katie: That’s a really good question. To start off with you would be supervised all the way through to get you to a point where we believe that you’ve got enough experience and skills to be able to work independently. You’ll be doing visits with your consultant social worker who will allow you to support them and shadow them to start with and gradually the responsibility will shift across to yourself. There will also be some cases were once you have got to that level of competence were you can be a bit more independent, you and a buddy from your unit will go out together to do a house visit, go and meet with a child in a school but over the course of that first year you will get to the point where you are actually capable of handling direct relationships with some of the individuals who need support from social services.

James: And is it always with children’s social work, or would you sometimes do adult social work?

Katie: So, the qualification specifically is social work, so you can cover all areas, you actually do in your first year, you do 30 days in an adult placement setting. However, we are focusing on child protection social work as that’s where you will get your practical experience. So it means that by the time you’re qualified at the end of year one you are very well skilled and equipped to be a child protection social worker and focus on that. The reason we focus on adults as well and the reason we should is that so much complexities is involved in families that as a social worker, and particularly a child protection social worker, you’re dealing with the parents as well and you’re managing and working with them, to ensure that they, as a family unit, are able to actually achieve their outcomes and the best possible situation for them. So there is a lot of relationships with adults, although the area has a specific focus on the law and the practice and more around child protection.

James: In terms set of locations, where abouts in the UK do you operate?

Katie: So, Frontline operates in London and Greater Manchester. We also in our first year placed participants in Buckinghamshire. In our second year we also placed in Essex and in Windsor and Maidenhead. Next year for the 2016 cohort, we are really delighted to be placing people in the North East locations, so Newcastle, Northumberland, down to Sunderland and Redcar.

James: And do applicants get a choice of where they can apply or are they just placed in a certain place or location?

Katie: Applicants can put their desired location on the application form and give information around any situations that may be more complex that need to be accommodated. We obviously have certain limitations in local authorities, we only have a certain amount of places and we have to accommodate, next year it will be 180 people and their preferences. So we do ask for flexibility from our graduates but we also will try and be supportive and thoughtful around their placement too.

James: So for people who are thinking as social work as a profession, what are some of the advantages to applying to Frontline as opposed to just going through the normal application route?

Katie: So there is definitely a place to both of the different approaches to social work, and we would say think really carefully and look very carefully at the different options that are out there before you consider applying, even to Frontline. If you want to do a more deep theoretical academic based course then a 2 year masters is a great programme for you to follow and you will do within that will do some placements in different locations. If you want to do it for a whole undergraduate degree, then you can do a three year bachelors. Again that can have some placements within it and academic lectures throughout the three years. With the Frontline programme, the academic is on top of your day job, on top of your 200 days in practise. So there is a very clear difference there, we are expecting high academic achievement whilst also fast learning within the practise based environment. The other difference with Frontline is you’re paid a bursary whereas with the university course, you do pay for that yourselves, although you may be able to access some additional support.

So there is another training programme out there which is also brilliant, which is called ‘Step Up to Social Work’ and that is run by the government. That is more localised, local authority placements. It’s very similar to Frontline in that you train in the local authority on the job and qualify on the job, doing the academic work alongside. The difference is you’re not in a unit and you are supervised by a social work manager within that local authority. It’s also a great scheme that people should look at and it’s paid by bursary.

James: Excellent and I will link to that in the show notes, so check out the show notes at graduatejobpodcast.com and I’ll have links to everything that we discuss today. So Katie, moving on to the application process, what are the key characteristics that you are looking for from applicants?

Katie: We are looking for individuals, who come with a range of experiences. The first one is academics, there has to be a high standard, most of our applicants have got three B’s in their A Levels and a 2:1, which is a prerequisite for our programme, as well as maths and English grade C, which is the minimum for social work. We do have a few applicants that have less than three B’s but usually that is owing to extenuating circumstances, or where they have a truly outstanding application form, and each one is assessed on a case by case basis. The other really important aspect is about having breadth and depth and about having a worldly head on your shoulders. The job of a social worker involves so many different interactions, not just with children and babies and teenagers, but actually with their parents, grandparents, with teachers, with other professionals like the police and the crown prosecution service, there are a whole range of individual stakeholders involved in social work and we are looking for people who have the ability to mould themselves into different situations; be it that professional meeting where you have to lead and work with your colleagues on a special basis to deliver an outcome, or where you have to go and build a relationship very quickly with a family that have never met you before.

James: Just going back to the academic qualifications, is the 2:1, is it a strict 2:1 and above only? Or would you take 2:2’s and below in certain circumstances?

Katie: We are benchmarked against other social work training programmes at the masters level and for that you need a 2:1.

James: Okay, that’s fairly clear cut there. And do you mind what the specific degree is in or are you open to a broad-church of subjects?

Katie: We are open to all subjects, one little caveat is that if you are already a qualified social worker, having done a bachelors or a masters already, we are unable to train you because you’ve got that qualification. But no, we are very very open to a range of different disciplines and actually already in our first two cohorts of participants we’ve seen people with Engineering degrees, Architecture degrees, ranging through to people with Criminology and Sociology. So no, the broader the better because actually when you are in your unit, how brilliant is it that you could turn to your colleague who studied law and you did a social policy degree and someone else did a science degree to have a really good discussion about a case that is causing you complexity or causing you concern and to be able to get different opinions from a scientific approach to a legal approach to a more philosophical approach, so no, we are very open to a range and a blend of different subjects that will make people stronger in their learning.

James: Even Geographers?

Katie: Even Geographers! Yes.

James: Wow, you really do take anyone. How important is previous experience with social work?

Katie: I think, we don’t really have a set condition around peoples experience; however it is a job that is going to involve a lot of different people, engagement and social interaction. And so I would say volunteering is very helpful and especially volunteering in a variety of different areas or even the work history you might have, and jobs that you’ve had, I would never underestimate a job that you might have done that you think might look a bit silly on an application form because actually it shows depth to what you’ve done in your past. I’m trying to think of examples of things that I’ve seen on application forms. One of my favourites was someone who’s work history had came from Primark, that was pretty much the job they had done since they had left school, every summer and every Christmas and actually the candidate was very very good at the assessment center and thinking about it, if you’ve done five years hard grafting at Primark over different times of the year, then that to me does show some level of resilience and strength of character to do that job. But there is also a whole range of evidence as well that people can bring in, there’s definitely not a ‘one size fits all’, there’s very much a blend and a range and if you feel ready then you should apply.

James: If you can handle the hoards in Primark during a sale time, then you’ve certainly got good interpersonal skills. And how about age restrictions? Is it open to people maybe looking to change careers?

Katie: Yeah, absolutely. We don’t have an age limit, are oldest applicant probably has ten years left until they can retire, so we are really open. We are just looking for people who have the ability to commit to the intensity of the two year programme and are prepared to do the academic input and work required to achieve their postgraduate diploma in that first year, as well as training on the job in their spare time.

James: So we are recording this at the beginning of September and your application process opens in a few days on the 7th September, what does the actual application process look like?

Katie: So the application process starts with a self-selection questionnaire, that’s a brilliant opportunity to explore some of the scenarios that you might face in social work and some of the interactions you might have with families. Immediately after that you would be invited to register for the application form and when you register you would just need to let us know whether you meet the criteria, which is the two C’s in your maths and English GCSE and your 2:1 degree and your eligibility to work in the UK and whether you have any DBS, previously CRB, criminal conviction details that we need to know about. After that first section, you then do an online application form there are a series of competency based questions and a request for your CV history, which we are ask you to fill out in a separate form. You then will go straight into some online tests; so there is two tests which you do at this online stage. One which is a situational judgement test, so similar to that test which set up the whole application process, you will do a series of questions and you will have to identify which one you feel is most likely your choice, your top choice, and you have to identify which is your least likely choice. You then will do a verbal reasoning test, which is to assess your logical thinking and your critical thinking and adaptability under pressure when working with the verbal detail. It’s really important that social workers have a high level of literacy, they’re dealing with complex law reports and a lot of details on cases that we want to make sure people can do upfront and process that information very quickly. Once the online tests are completed, if you have met the standards we are looking for in those tests, we will then screen your application form in depth and if successful in the application form we will invite you to a video interview and the final stage, once you’ve gotten past the video interview is the assessment center; which is a day in London, near to our head office, where we will put the individual through a range of different activities which will help them understand if social work is the right job for them but also a chance for us to see whether we think they’ve got the right abilities and skills to be a social worker.

A small tip for people applying is that we recommend don’t look at the entire process and think ‘I’ve got a lot to get through’, take each stage as it goes and our applicants say that thinking in chunks makes the process a lot more manageable and a lot more achievable.

James: That’s a good tip, it can be quite daunting and that’s one of the reasons, I think, that a lot of schemes have a lot of people who start the process and don’t finish it as they just get a bit scared by the work that is involved.

Katie: Yeah

James: But yeah, as you say, if you break it down it becomes a lot more manageable. So breaking that down then and making it manageable, what are you looking for then with the application form? How can people stand out and make the application form one that sails through?

Katie: I think the most important thing for any job is making sure you’ve done the homework, certainly when you do the the application form you’re probably going to be asked about why it is that you’re interested in the job, I would certainly who have got a good answer for that and have done my research into why, why I’d want to be applying to any job not just Frontline. Then also, just thinking very carefully about which examples to use when answering competence based questions and thinking about what skills are useful within that. Then the second thing, sorry third thing there, is that also to look at work history; making sure that you do detail things that you’ve done and don’t belittle or undermine any achievements or role that you’ve played because actually all of that shows us that you’ve got a good work ethic, good people skills and a range of different experiences to bring to the job.

James: Good advice there. You mentioned the video interview, which sounds very interesting, interesting stage, how does this work?

Katie: So the video interview, I can tell you, is not as daunting as it sounds we all had to do it ourselves in the head office and it’s quite an enjoyable experience. So you will be sent the video interview via an email link, the brilliant thing about it is you open it up in your own time, in the most comfortable environment for yourself you can then answer the questions that we put to you. What you’ll see is the question on the screen and there will be 30 seconds to one minute to think about an answer and then you’ll have a various set times, so you might have anything from 30 seconds to two minutes to give your verbal response to the question that’s been asked to you. There are only about seven questions, it’s fairly short and sweet, it only takes about 20 minutes maximum. There is some great software out there to practise video interviews, it’s a very very similar conception as using skype in that you can see yourself on the screen, which can be slightly off putting but it is something which is absolutely manageable. But what we’ve found is that despite offering telephone interviews to people if they did want it, not one person, one person last year asked for a telephone interview, every other person was happy to do the video interview and actually it was a much more engaging experience for them.  Behind the scenes we would then pick up those video interviews, in our own time as well and we will be looking to see the candidates motivation, be looking to see their communication skills, and just getting a good sense of whether that person has enough about them to be at our assessment center, when we are going to put them through those intensive social work activities.

James: Excellent and do people get the chance to see the question they are going to be asked, think about it and then go away for a few days and then record it? Or is it a question of you click go, see you the question, you’ve literally got 90 seconds to think before you’ve got to give the answer?

Katie: James you’re right, it’s the second of those two. You see the question on the screen and you do answer there and then. It’s a case of preparing, as you would for any interview and just preparing around why you want to do the job and your level of interest within it.

James: Making sure you’ve washed your hair and you’ve got something smart on.

Katie: Yes, don’t leave your washing in the background, that’s not a good sign.

James: Top tip there. And how about the assessment center, what are you looking for in the assessment center?

Katie: In the assessment center we are looking for people to demonstrate to us that they’ve got the skills we are looking for. We have eight different competencies which we assess our applicants against and the first group is commitment to children and families. By that there is motivation; there is also reflection and ability to, yes, know what your own strengths and weaknesses are but also recognise the impact you have on other people and the third one in that commitment to children and family’s group is around resilience. Social work is a very tough job and at times it can be emotionally challenging. We need to make sure that our applicants have got the strength and the past history of the ability to cope under pressure whether it is short term or long term and know the interactions they’ve got with people. The second assessment center competency group is around working with people. Within that we are looking for peoples communication skills and that’s really diverse because obviously we’ve got  to, as I said earlier, you’ve got to engage with professionals in one angle and the next minute you have to be having a relationship with a person who you’ve just met who might be very vulnerable. Secondary in that, is around empathy and relationships and that is more granular, how you actually make people feel, how you understand them and how you get a good relationship going with people who you’ve just met, very quickly. The final competency group is leading with sound judgement. Within that we’ve got leadership, which is around setting a vision, being able to work with families to help them set their own goals, and create a plan which will enable them to become successful within it and breaking that down and leading them to be successful within their own goals. The second area around that is adaptability. Social work is so complicated because there are so many factors that influence families and influence young people so it’s really important that people are able to analyse information but also adapt with it. If you are someone who loves the detail and gets bogged down in detail, then this probably isn’t the right job for you because if you can’t adapt within that then you’re going to really struggle when you’re faced with a lot of complex different information from different angles which you need to sift through.

James: Lots of competencies there to keep in mind for the exercises. What would be one tip you would give someone during the assessment center to help them stand out and do their best?

Katie: I think that the great thing about our assessment centre and it’s very similar to Teach First, is that we are looking for a standard, it’s not that you are going to be beating everyone else to the job, it’s more about you and demonstrating to us that you’ve got the range of skills we need. So I would say make sure that you’ve done your homework, feel relaxed, feel confident, if we want you to be at the assessment center then we want you to impress us and we want to meet you, because we seriously think you could do this job. So definitely feel confident in yourself and just enjoy the day. It’s as much an exploratory experience for the applicant as it is for Frontline.

James: As you said, be confident enough; I’m sure if all 10 people there are good then you’ll make 10 offers

Katie: Yes, we’d love to.

James: Excellent. A couple of final questions as time is running away from us. One I know all our listeners like me to ask, what’s the salary starting at and what does it go up to in the second year?

Katie: So the bursary payments in year one varies across different regions; in the Manchester region it’s a bursary that is equivalent to a salary of £19,000, whereas in the London region you’ve got London weighting on that. In the second year, most local authorities will be paying a minimum of, they’d be paying about £24,000 for a newly qualified social worker and again you’ve got London weighting on that.

James: What would you say are the best things about joining the Frontline scheme?

Katie: To have a really amazing job when you really transform people’s lives and to go home and feel, despite the hard day that you sometimes experience, gosh I’ve really made an impact and I know that family is so grateful for what I’ve done with them, I think that’s one of the best things. The second thing is knowing that you are working with these really inspirational other participants and other social workers who are all invested in the same cause and the same mission, to really help support and transform the lives of vulnerable people.

James: Final question now before we go to our weekly questions, what would you say to convince someone who is in two minds about applying to Frontline?

Katie: Do your homework and work it out yourself. If this job is not right for you then don’t apply. Don’t go for this job on a whim; make sure you have really thought about if are really prepared to make the life choice that is social work for the next few years of your life.

James: That’s great advice and one people should apply to all jobs they are applying for.

Katie: Absolutely.

James: Moving on, each week I ask each of my guests a series of questions so I’m going to hit you up with these now. Are you ready?

Katie: Yeah, go for it.

James: Okay, so what one book would you recommend that our listeners read?

Katie: So, I’m afraid I’m going to go for one that is social work related, but it’s a really brilliant book and it’s called ‘Hackney Child’ by an author called Hope Daniels. It’s a brilliant book, it’s based on the true story of a child whose parents are unable to cope and they are experiencing severe poverty and a whole range of complex problems within the family and the environment which means that she has to help her brother survive the situation and also she has to take herself into care; which is amazing in itself, that she can get herself into care without anyone else’s support. And as you read the book you find out more about the circumstances, you hear about the incredible determination of Hope herself as well as the incredible support from professionals within the care system and outside of that, who are able to enable her to break the generational cycle which so often affects people who do have to go into care. So it’s a really truly outstanding book and if anyone is interested in applying to social work it is a great basis in which to understand some of the complexities you may deal with in society.

James: Excellent and a good one to name drop during the application process. Super and what one website would you recommend that our listeners visit?

Katie: Aside from saying Frontline, another one I would suggest, just on a very broad basis is graduate recruitment hat, using LinkedIn, I think you can learn a lot from LinkedIn. There are a fantastic range of networks out there, range of people out there and I would certainly be recommending that people, if they haven’t already and are genuinely looking for a good job, they should be creating their LinkedIn profiles and getting themselves quite active in thinking about that and joining groups.

James: Sound advice, very true. Finally, what one tip would you give our listeners that they can implement today on their job hunt?

Katie: Find something you are interested in and go for it with the application form. I think people don’t realise, when you really can show that you’re interested in something or that you really get it you shine naturally, it’s nothing that you have to try and actually if you can find the jobs that make you feel quite excited and make you feel the buzz when you look at them, that’s the type of job you should be applying for. Other jobs, I would just maybe leave those ones for a bit until you really get desperate. In the first instance, just find that job that makes you go ‘wow, this is the one I really want to go for’.

James: Katie, it’s been an absolute pleasure to have you on the Graduate Job Podcast. What is the best way for people to get in touch with yourself or Frontline to apply?

Katie: Frontline has got lots of different avenues. I would suggest start with the website because there are so many great stories and blogs and videos and information about the programme and after that there are things like facebook where you can get more information about our social media updates. As well as LinkedIn, which I name dropped before, and after that if you have any questions then you can email recruitment@Thefrontline.org.uk.

James: Katie, thank you very much for coming on the Graduate Job Podcast

Katie: Thanks very much James, it’s been a pleasure.

James:  Many thanks again to Katie Purser. As usual 3 quick points to takeaway from me. The first is that there aren’t many graduate jobs where you have a chance on a day to day basis to really make a difference to people’s lives. You’re skills at conditional formatting in excel might be good, but they aren’t that good. Working at Frontline will certainly be challenging, but you will have an amazing opportunity to make a difference to the lives of children and families here in the UK. As Kim Stephenson talked about on the topic of money and happiness in episode 30, if you have a purpose in your work, you are more likely to be satisfied and happy. And working at Frontline, is more likely to give you a purpose than many of the other graduate jobs out there. And linked to this, the skills you will develop on the 2 year scheme will stick with you for life, not matter where you take your career.

The second and third points come from the advice that Katie gave. I loved her point of tackling the application by breaking it down into chunks. Graduate application forms can be daunting. Multiple questions where you need to answer in 200 words or less, whilst showing complete knowledge of the firms desired competencies, online tests, increasingly videos, not mention assessment centres. When faced with all of that it is easy to procrastinate and put it off. But follow Katie’s advice and break it down, one step at a time. One question, section at a time, make it small, manageable and keep moving through it.

Finally, I loved Katie’s top tip of finding a job that makes you go wow. As she said, find the job that excites you, as if you’re interested in it, you’re more likely to shine in it. And if you’re interested in it, doing well in it, then you’ll be happy in it, and the aim of the Graduate Job Podcast will be fulfilled.

There you go, episode 31 finished. Check out www.graduatejobpodcast.com/Frontline for links to everything we have discussed. Do get in touch with us on Twitter @gradjobpodcast or email me at hello@graduatejobpodcast.com and let me know what you thought of the episode, requests for people you would like to see on the show, or just to say hello. If you’ve enjoyed the show please leave a review on ITunes or Stitcher radio, as I say every week it’s the best way other than sharing us with your friends to show appreciation for the podcast and it helps massively in the ranking on iTunes. Also if you’ve not already subscribed via your podcast provider of choice you need to sort that out, it’s the easiest way to get each episode delivered to you for free and to make sure that you don’t miss a thing. Next week, we have part two of our social work special, when I speak with Ivan Wise from Think Ahead as we cover mental health social work.  I hope you enjoyed the episode but more importantly I hope you use it and apply it. See you next week