Health and Social Care
The multidisciplinary nature of the healthcare and wellbeing sector means there are a wide range of roles available to graduates.
The UK's healthcare sector is booming, with a projected 50,000 new positions expected to be created in the coming years. This growth is fuelled by an increasing demand for high-quality healthcare services, driven by an ageing population and advancements in medical technology. Improving the health of the general population includes preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting ways of living healthily.
The NHS is the largest employer, but organisations such as Social Services and private health care agencies also employ large numbers of graduates.
The NHS provides a list of jobs where public health is the core objective of the role. These include general practitioners, consultants, epidemiologists, health visitors, nutritionists, public health intelligence analysts, counsellors, and substance misuse workers. There are many others and, to fully explore the options, you should use resources such as Health Careers, Prospects Healthcare and Prospects Social Care.
Working in social care means supporting people with their non-clinical needs, although there is an important crossover between working in health and working in social care. The social care sector employs 1.48 million people and will have half a million extra jobs available by 2030 because of the increasing number of disabled younger adults living longer and the growing number of older people needing care. You could help people in their own homes, in residential homes, day centres or supported housing.
Many jobs require a vocational degree or post graduate degree for entry. The expansion of accelerated degree programmes in medicine and allied health professions such as physiotherapy has created new opportunities. The University of Exeter has a flourishing Medical School, together with a range of courses aimed at prospective wellbeing practitioners.
If you are interested in these areas of work, these sectors might also be of interest to you
If you would like to do further research into this sector, the following webpages may be useful.
- Overview of the healthcare sector in the UK | Prospects.ac.uk to read more about the different areas of healthcare.
- Take The NHS Quiz to identify your suitability for 1 of 350 different roles.
- Specialty guides articles and career information on BMJ Careers.
- Target Jobs Healthcare - Overview of options in the sector, from medicine to allied healthcare professions such as occupational therapy and management roles.
- Working in social care | Health Careers.
Or watch
- Focus On Healthcare – a searchable database of videos with professionals talking about their career experience.
- NHS YouTube site Professionals describing their career roles.
- BBC Bitesize - Hear from people working across the sector, including some roles you may not know existed.
Making contacts is essential for success in this and other sectors. Many jobs in this field come through networking and speculative applications since many of the skills are in high demand, a network can be a useful way to uncover hidden opportunities which have not yet been advertised. You could start by speaking with the experts – find out what they did after graduation and contact them for advice.
Making contacts for work shadowing, informational interviews and speculative applications
To help increase your networks who may also be able to suggest ways to gain experiences look at:
- Ask an Alum: A fuss-free way to connect with University of Exeter alumni to ask careers questions.
- Career Mentor Scheme: A popular employability scheme which matches a student or graduate with an experienced professional, for sector insight and one-to-one careers advice and guidance, over a 6-month period. Look out for industry specific opportunities
Also consider joining Societies such as The Anatomy Society or British RedCross Society who may run Alumni events networking and volunteering opportunity.
The Creating Career Connections pages will help to develop your confidence and learn how to reach out to others for valuable insights into their experiences in the role. Conversations of this nature are known as ‘Informational interviews’.
Recruitment fairs, careers fairs, open days, talks, and events give insights and opportunities to make contacts. For details of future events visit Handshake. If you have not yet activated your account, select the Single Sign On (SSO) option and follow the onscreen instructions.
- Careers Fairs | Career Zone | University of Exeter Check out our annual student employment fairs that take place in the Autumn term – employers include local Charities and NHS representatives.
- Careers In Health and Life sciences fair runs annually in March at Streatham Campus.
- Find events that can support your journey into an NHS career. Career events | Health Careers.
- Make contacts and enquiries where you can NHS Royal Devon | NHS bumper careers event returns: discover your future in healthcare!
Exciting career opportunities are available for individuals with diverse backgrounds and interests, particularly in allied health, frontline care and nursing.
Many major graduate recruiters have policies and processes that are proactive in recruiting graduates from diverse backgrounds. To find out the policies and attitudes of employers that you are interested in, explore their equality and diversity policies and see if they offer ‘Guaranteed Interview Schemes’ (for disabled applicants) or are recognised for their policy by such indicators as ‘Mindful Employer’ or as a ‘Stonewalls Diversity Champion’. E.g. NHS England » NHS equality, diversity, and inclusion improvement plan
The UK law protects you from discrimination due to your age, gender, race, religion or beliefs, disability or sexual orientation and more. For further information on the Equality Act and to find out where and how you are protected, as well as information on what you need to do if you feel you have been discriminated against, visit the Government’s webpages on discrimination.
To learn more about how to share details of a disability with an employer and the support you can receive applying for jobs and work experience visit our equality and diversity page.
Action
Explore roles in the sector by visiting the areas of work below. Each profile covers typical duties and responsibilities, entry requirements, key skills required, professional development opportunities and links to finding both work experience and graduate roles.
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