Untapped skills: why parenting is great work experience

Social care is an area in which many people have considerable skills that lend themselves to potential employers in the private sector. As the training and employment co-ordinator for children's services within Barking and Dagenham, my role is to co-ordinate services to enable residents to be supported into employment or accredited training. We've helped more than 1,000 parents complete courses including social work qualifications. This sometimes means organising courses in children's centres to enable parents to get back into the habit of learning with a view to progressing onto one of the colleges. I also manage the casual staff team where I am able to take newly qualified childcare workers and give them paid work experience as a stepping stone to permanent employment and higher paid jobs. Access to our casual staff team can also lead into social care through supervising contact, giving parents valuable experience. Our Children's Centres, which host many of the courses, are hubs of the community. Parents are familiar with their surroundings and feel that they offer a comfortable environment for them to start their journey back into employment. I always encourage people to develop their life skills and expand their experiences. I'm particularly supportive of the part that volunteering can play in increasing the employability of people that have been unemployed for some time and can help with career development. I work very closely with parents to identify their skills and the way in which these can be correctly tailored to the job market. Sometimes my job is to develop confidence and to help them realise that they do have skills that can be developed and built upon with training. Many parents benefit from becoming members of the casual staff pool. This scheme provides staff to children's centres, nurseries and schools. Parents really benefit from this early exposure to the workforce. It is a great springboard into other training opportunities. I am pleased to say that there are many examples where parents have gone on to achieve permanent jobs because of getting involved in the scheme. The husband of one of my former clients recently told me "I am so proud of my wife, her development has not only changed her life but also our whole family". Since qualifying, she has had three years employment in childcare and is now an established member of the children's workforce. In the current economic climate, I believe that it is so important that everybody take all of the learning opportunities that come their way. In Barking and Dagenham this is perhaps more important than anywhere else in the country. I am proud that in our borough we give some of the most disadvantaged groups a real opportunity to develop their undoubted skills that can impact so directly on their lives. Gill Wilson is the training and employment co-ordinator for children's services within Barking and Dagenham. She was a runner-up as public servant of the year in the 2011 Guardian Public Services awards This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the social care network to receive regular emails and exclusive offers.