social worker

residential assistant

senior care assistant

teacher

executive support officer

Lancashire County Council

Worked for social services as admin assistant with large hospital based team and for three years.  Overall loved the work and those I worked with, had a fantastic team manager but sadly she was not my immediate line manager because I technically belonged to the admin pool so was therefore under the jurisdiction of a general office manager located over 20 miles away and I only ever saw every few months for a planned, utterly pointless supervision or planned trip to see her about something totally inane. 

Was with the same team for four years at the same hospital and knew the job inside out then higher ups decided the skills and knowledge I had were well placed working with a different office doing a totally different job and couldn't see the detriment it would cause to the team I'd be leaving behind.  When I and the team manager took exception to being pulled out, they responded by reiterating the fact I was part of the admin pool and they could draft in another person to fill my post.  The team manager gave her written notice and I did too. 

Salary and benefits including holidays, flexible working and similar always above and beyond most companies when it's for local authority but sadly it also means the senior managers and higher ups ruin what is otherwise a great work ethos with petty and ridiculous demands over the most trivial things.   

Think the majority of staff that worked in the admin pool were happy to just do the odd bit of typing, pick up and sort post or photocopy and most worked the bare minimum hours, took flex-leave even when the place was manic and flat out busy.  I was employed initially to cover just a few months sick leave for someone that was given over a full year paid sick leave, came part time for just one week before going off sick again for another six months before finally agreeing to redundancy and a nice payout with it.

There's definitely appeal and lots of benefits for anyone that wants to just plod along, do the bare minimum with maximum benefit but for the rest of us that actually have pride in their work and don't like to let their colleagues down, it's painfully and terminally frustrating to deal with. 


Days are extremely varied and can depend on where you work and the service users you support. The work can be extremely rewarding - albeit often challenging. You need to be prepared to cook, clean, fix, do admin, manage finances, issue medications, provide personal care - including toileting - as well as support people in their daily lives with activities and empowering them.

You generally have a fixed tenancy, where you do most shifts, then do other shifts to make up contracted hours or as overtime - if you want it. There is a requirement to do sleeps which are very poorly paid and can be in small cluttered, untidy, rooms and sometimes with a monitor - so disturbed sleep is to be expected - generally without pay.

General processes and care plans are in place and staff are good.

The biggest issue here is management - who are happy to bully and disrespect staff - ignoring the LCC values altogether. Sadly there is absolutely no need for it and in my experience it just spoiled what could have been a very enjoyable job. Managers need training in how to speak to staff, how to motivate them and how to carry out supervisions and development plans - there is none of this and staff feel abandoned.

Like anywhere in care - staffing levels are struggling - but management don't help by ignoring probationary processes and making staff lives more challenging than they need to be.

Poor staff who do not maintain timekeeping, ignore the dirty jobs and are neglectful or abusive to service users are not addressed.


On most days during my work on the Initial Assessment and Recruitment Team, i have planned meetings and home visits in my diary. However, We have recently become one team along with the Child Protection Team and have been renamed as CAST. Therefore, i undertake Child Protection Enquires once a week whilst on Duty. 

I have a busy schedule more or less everyday, which often relates to working overtime on most days in the week due to the high case load and work management. I have learnt on how to deal with stressful and challenging work days. This is where i need to think on the spot during a crisis situation and safeguard children immediately. I have the ability to work under stress and pressure and can maintain and manage my diary at work.

My manager supervises me on a regular basis and i have undertaken many supervision sessions with my manager. My manager has guided me effectively and thoroughly on how to manage crisis situations and how to manage my high caseloads effectively. My co - worker often support me on announced and unannounced home visits. We work closely on our team and share our issues and concerns during weekly team meetings.

The hardest part of the job, is removing children from birth from parents with regards to child safeguarding concerns and issues. Section 47 inquires. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is that everyone is friendly and are able to provide you with advice during crisis situations and general day to day case management.

Give us your opinion about
- a typical day at work
Either working from home or in the office, tightly supervised and heavily monitored, stressful, noisy environment. 
- what you learned
Not to sign over my life and soul to a company that does not truly care about staff. 
- management
(Some) management have to be in control and only really care about ticking boxes, you are just a number and not a human being. 
The lower the grade you are the less they care about you. 
Micromanagement and tight supervision, whatever the managers say goes, rules are made up as they go along and they will always have a policy to throw in your face if you question it. 
Management will always act like they are doing you a favour when asking the simplest requests, claiming to be all about wellbeing and flexibility but this is all on their terms. 
Of course this isn’t the case for every department but seems to be prominent in some teams. 
- workplace culture
A lot of people unhappy / miserable and complaining constantly. 
Good teams and colleagues that support each other mostly. 
- the hardest part of the job
Policies and rules constantly changing depending on the employee and circumstances, staff are not treated equally and there is a lot of favouritism. 
Stressful job with minimal pay. 
“Wellbeing” is heavily pushed however isn’t actually a priority at all (just another tick box exercise).
- the most enjoyable part of the job
Seeing and spending time with lovely colleagues. 
Going home at the end of the day. 


Looking back, I thought I had a good job and was receiving appropriate support, but now I realise just how toxic things were.

A typical day at work - Sitting in front of your computer 9 - 5, Monday to Friday, doing the same tasks. Manager constantly on your back, when you're trying to do your job and hit your targets.

What you learned - Even though changes were being made, they weren't to benefit employees. Made me realise that working for LCC has changed tremendously over the years, and there's really no room for progression. Management also only cared about numbers and hitting targets.

Management - Definitely a fear of culture. On one hand they expect you to get on with your job, but on the other hand, you're being micromanaged, and get told off for using your own initiative. Not allowed to ask for a pay rise, or give any negative feedback without management getting angry and condescending. Constant nitpicking and being blamed.

Workplace culture - I generally got on with my colleagues, but due to toxic management, there was a lot of blaming going on. There was also a bit of a clique, which was more noticable in service meetings.

The hardest part of the job - Constantly walking on eggshells, being micromanaged, trying to meet unrealistic targets.

the most enjoyable part of the job - The colleagues I got on with, where we were able to vent out our frustrations to each other, as we were all in the same boat.

I assist individuals with a variety of duties when needed and in doing so show the individual dignity, privacy and independence. I provide personal and practical care for persons with a range of illnesses, thus assisting individuals with getting up in the morning, dressing, undressing and personal care when needed. I help clients with mobility problems, physical disability and learning difficulties. I also help care and support persons who are dying by administering medication or ordering from pharmacy, helping individuals to access the community where I am in regular contact with public services as and when needed. I work on a daily basis with families too as I feel it’s important that the individual and family have a close relationship, feel valued and have a voice. I have always maintained an exceptional level of competence and been praised by my senior managers and families for this and for my professional approach. Whilst in this role I have on many occasions had to find courage in some exceptionally distressing situations for the families of the clients that I have cared for in supported living, one of these being a client suffering Cirrhosis of the liver, guiding them through difficult times by being able to communicate and explain different stages of the seriousness of the illness in a manner with which they felt comforted by.

Originally hired to do filing and mail and have advanced to the help desk where I take queries from suppliers to help identify if/when payments are made as well a talking to teams within the council to ensure what the company is paying for is what was ordered.
I have learned how to process and correct invoices and improved my time keeping and organisational skills. 
Due to large budget cuts there has been a lot of changes in management and organisation of the whole council. A lot of senior staff did initially take voluntary redundancy leaving a lot of gaps in knowledge and skills. However these are being filled albeit slowly and things are getting better.
Being on the corrections team has meant I have got to know a lot of other teams within the council. I have found the vast majority to be very helpful and friendly. Also due to hot-desking I often sit with other teams due to space constraints and have made several friends in doing so.
The hardest/least enjoyable part of the job would be talking to irate customers who, due to unforeseen errors, have not been paid for the goods provided. This can sometimes lead to chasing up several people/businesses who caused the error which becomes increasingly frustrating for the customer and myself. However once solved and I know that people are getting paid because of my work gives a great feeling of satisfaction.

I assist with the accurate and timely payment of monies for Service Users accessing the Direct Payments Scheme, including maintenance of data within corporate financial systems and the undertaking of general clerical/administration work.

I input data to IT and other recording systems along with the collection and collation of statistics and other Management Information. 

I act as primary point of contact for Service Users or their Representatives and liase with Partner Agencies and Advice Centres to provide assistance and support to Service Users accessing the Direct Payments Scheme or similar services available within the remit of the County Treasurers Payments Office.

I liase with Service Users or their Representatives to resolve payment anomalies, also deal with routine queries and liase with colleagues within the Payments Team, operational staff within the County Council to advise of Service Users requests, concerns etc and signpost where appropriate to points of contact in response to their needs.

I assist with the introduction of new payment systems, liasing with Service Users, outside brokers and external organisations to offer advice and assistance when required.

My typical day would be cleaning the police custody cells. I have to work hard to keep the place spotless and work fast in the time I have.

I have learned how to work fast and how to concentrate on one area in particular. I have also learned how to work with and around different people as I am around both staff and people who are staying in the cells.

The management have always been quite good with organising my holidays and even being quick with someone to step in when I was ill (which has only been 2 days over 3 years).

My co-workers have often supported me as I have done for them. I have stood in for people on short notice and so have they. We always have good working relationships.

The hardest part of my job is when more work is given to me then I usually have. Although I never have a problem with finishing on time or to a good standard it just makes me work harder and feel more determined to complete the challenge.

The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to see the good work that I have done. It makes a difference when you can see and smell the difference in the workplace, people really look forward to seeing me for this reason and according to them I am a kind, funny and bubbly person to be around.

In this job you have to do one morning and one afternoon shift that will last around 40 minutes, its an easy job but comes with some cons, one such con is that it takes your day away from you, yes you can still do things and go out but you're constantly looking at clocks and watches to make sure you're back for your afternoon shift, its not the worst thing in the world but its a little mind draining.

The parents and children that cross are some lovely people and theres a sense of fulfilment and good vibes doing the job.

Drivers of cars range dramatically from good normal drivers to people who seem bent on vehicular manslaughter, I have had to dodge a few vehicles that have either not seen the brightly lit 6 foot person or are blatantly trying to hit me, as well as the people not paying attention despite being in a 2 tonne vehicle that can kill people

Overall despite the horrendous acts caused by drivers and the time issues with the shifts the job is easy and like previously stated the people are quite enjoyable too which makes it a pretty good job if you're just looking for a little bit of money and something to take up your time.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Social worker 4 salaries reported	£33,875 per year
Residential assistant 1 salary reported	£24,605 per year
Senior care assistant 54 salaries reported	£20,090 per year
Teacher 8 salaries reported	£37,658 per year
Executive support officer 41 salaries reported	£24,636 per year

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