So you’ve been in the workforce for a while, and your job just doesn’t have the kind of impact you’d like. Maybe it pays the bills, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference in anyone’s life. You crave a sense of meaning, and you suspect you’d find it in a different career — specifically, a human services career.
Human services careers allow you to improve the lives of people in your community, often directly. It’s no surprise that they tend to draw career changers from all walks of life.
For many would-be career changers, making a mid-career shift comes with some significant barriers. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to break into human services, even if you’re not in a position to take on a large training commitment or additional education.
Why Human Services Is a Great Second Career
Human services is an extremely broad career area that often draws on many different skill sets, sometimes within the same job. That means you already have skills you can transfer to your new career field. Your life experience will only add value to your work here!
It takes all kinds of work (and people) to provide care, help people find solutions for their life problems, and support a community. In many cases, similar jobs to those in other industries also exist in human services organizations. On the other hand, if you want to do something completely different from your current job, there’s likely a great pathway for that in human services, too.
As we live our lives, many of us re-evaluate our priorities and find that we want our work to improve the lives of others in our community. Changing to a human services career is a great way to build a life that better reflects your values.
How to Get Started in Human Services
Option 1: Find a Job That Uses Your Current Skills
Human services careers aren’t limited to social work. As we mentioned earlier, jobs that exist in other industries typically exist at human services organizations as well. If there’s not an exact match for your current job, there’s likely something that requires a similar skillset.
In addition to the direct care roles that many people associate with the field, human services jobs can include:
- Office administration roles, like an office manager or administrative assistant.
- Less widely known people-facing roles, such as an employment specialist or direct support professional.
- Technical roles, for example a health equipment technician or IT support specialist.
- Financial and legal roles, like an accountant, legal support professional, or financial analyst.
- Management roles, such as program manager or executive director.
- Marketing and communications roles, like a development manager or community engagement professional.
- And many more!
Check the careers page on your favorite human services organization’s website. You’ll likely find a wide variety of open job positions, especially if it’s a large organization. One of them may be a great match for your skills.
Option 2: Retrain For a New Career
Maybe you’re making a career change because you’re burnt out on your current job or facing a difficult economy for people with your skills. If that’s the case, we hear you, and you’re not alone. Plenty of people retrain to start a completely new career in the human services sector.
Preparing for a new career doesn’t have to mean shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for a degree (although higher education can be helpful, depending on what you want to do). Some human services careers only require a high school diploma and a bit of training that your new employer will pay for.
Here are some careers you may want to consider:
Home Care Aide
Home care aides (paid caregivers) are in great demand, and that will likely stay true as the population ages. As a result, some home care agencies offer paid training to help people get started in the job. At Sunrise Services, we offer a complete caregiver training program that meets the 75-hour training requirement to become a certified home care aide (HCA-C) in Washington state.
Nursing
There are many types of nurses, and you don’t necessarily need to put yourself through school to move into the field. If you start as a home care aide, you can use Sunrise Services’ NAC Bridge program to become a nursing assistant (NAC). Some healthcare employers offer tuition reimbursement, sponsorship, or apprenticeship programs to help NACs become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) or Registered Nurses (RNs).
Case Worker
Case workers help plan clients’ treatment, identify resources to support them, advocate for their needs, and handle related paperwork. For this career, a bachelor’s degree in social services, psychology, or a related field is helpful. Entry-level case aide roles sometimes offer on-the-job training, although you may need to complete certifications in CPR, first aid, and HIV/BBP before or immediately after you are hired. Many employers also want to see experience working with the population you will help, which you can often gain through volunteer work.
Substance Use Disorder Professional
At Sunrise Services, we regularly hire substance use disorder professionals to provide information, counseling, and referral services for clients with substance use disorders. For this role, you need either an associate’s degree in human services or an equivalent number of college course credits with a certain number of credits relating to the profession. You may also need a state Substance Use Disorder Professional certification.
Mental Health Professional
There are many different types of mental health professionals, but there’s a common theme: providing services to help patients recover from mental health challenges. Mental health counselors need a master’s degree or higher in a field related to mental health counseling, plus a state license and supervised experience. Many other roles also require a bachelor’s or master’s degree, plus a state license or certification that applies to the specific role.
Direct Support Professional
Direct Support Professionals work with adults with developmental disabilities in residential settings. In this role, you help clients live in and engage with the community. Your work supports people as they shop, bank, eat, work, participate in worship services if they desire, and make or maintain friendships in the community. At Sunrise Services, we offer paid training to help direct support professionals get started in the field.
Employment Specialist
Employment specialists help adults with mild to severe disabilities gain competitive employment. They can also provide job coaching or follow-up support, as well as job development services. You may or may not need a related degree; entry-level positions may offer on-the-job training.
Start Your Human Services Career at Sunrise Services
Sunrise Services is a great place to start your human services career. We offer paid training to help our employee develop their careers, plus a variety of other competitive benefits.
Our company recognizes our staff as our greatest asset, so we honor our employees’ contributions and strive to offer competitive pay. We maintain a culture of equitable dialogue along with continual learning.
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