Passionate About Diversity? Check Out These 3 Jobs

There’s a sector out there right now which is super in-demand, covers an enormous range of roles and responsibilities, and is all about recognising, celebrating and supporting the differences that make us all individuals.

It’s called the human services sector, and it encompasses everything from care and support work through to assisting in the allied health sector. Each job in many ways celebrates bringing your full self to work to help cater to the equally diverse needs of clients and recipients, but here’s just a small selection of the great roles out there:

Community Health Worker

Community health workers help to address inequities and ensure the human rights of all people in our communities. Essentially, they work within communities to help deliver positive health outcomes on a wider scale - using community-based solutions. What’s great about this role is that it can really reward having an in-depth understanding about community values, practices and behaviours.

It makes sense that if you’re working to motivate a community to take preventive or proactive care measures like helping people quit smoking, it helps to understand what the cultural, social or linguistic barriers are that may be preventing a wide-scale health program from being as effective. If you are passionate about, or belong to a community which needs additional support, it’s a huge plus in this line of work.

Care and Support Workers

Many people think that when it comes to providing care and support to people that there are one-size-fits-all approaches - but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Whether you’re providing care and support one-on-one, or in a group setting, you’re always going to adjust your daily plans and activities to fit the wants and needs of the people you’re providing support to. These needs can be as diverse as their personalities, and one of the most important attributes to have as a care and support worker is being attuned to those individual preferences.

That’s often why people who have disability themselves, or are unpaid carers themselves look for work in the human services sector - they have connections with the community and can apply their first-hand experiences to help deliver an understanding and nuanced care and support plan to recipients. That being said, don’t feel like just because you don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to providing support to people with disabilities that you wouldn’t do a great job. Being open-minded, compassionate and enthusiastic will always get you a long way in the human services sector.

Youth Disability Support Worker

Have you ever considered that being young can be a point of diversity in and of itself? You know from your own experience that sometimes it’s just helpful to get some help or support from someone your age, who knows what it’s like to be young right here and now. As a Youth Disability Support Worker, you’re tasked with providing high quality, effective and responsive support to young people in your care.

This can involve helping them out with activities related to their personal wellbeing, building up their confidence and self-regard, and helping them to develop connections with their community. Young people deserve the best start in life that they can, and having someone to provide support to them that can identify with and relate to them culturally is super important.

As you can see, diversity isn’t just about the recipients of human services work, it’s also about the participants - which is what makes work in the human services sector so special. If you’re interested in getting a full rundown of the huge range of roles available in the sector, hear from young people working today and go in the running for prizes, make sure you check out our Academy Positive Humanity.