Social service offers diverse career paths and every professional plays an important part in making lives count. Today, we meet Jolene, a Programme Executive from Care Corner.
 
Tell us more about what you do.
 
I manage a Senior Activity Centre (SAC) that encourages seniors to participate in active ageing activities such as exercise, games, and other community activities. My role is to ensure that centre operations run smoothly, and I work with a team to brainstorm meaningful, engaging and fun activities for the seniors.

How does your work help your clients?

Many of the seniors we work with at the SAC stay alone, so my team and I are often their first point of contact should anything arise. If they require any help, we are usually the first person they turn to, share their problems with, and seek help from. We also help to direct these seniors towards the relevant resources that they might not have been aware of or had access to previously.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I begin my day every day at 9 am, welcoming seniors into our centre before rolling out various activities. We serve lunch to them every weekday as part of our Nutrition & Wellness programme to ensure that those who are low-income and stay alone have hot meals daily. Some days, I work with volunteers and partners to conduct home visits or organise outings for the seniors. Because the needs of our seniors are always changing, we ensure that our programmes change along with them so that our seniors’ needs are met. At times this may be challenging, but it is surely never mundane.

How does someone become a Programme Executive?
 
Depending on who you’ll be servicing (e.g. seniors, youths, children), you might need a Diploma in a related field such as Social Service, Gerontology or Youth Work. 

What’s the career progression for a Programme Executive?

With training and experience, Programme Executives have the opportunity to progress to higher level General Management or Administrative functions such as Heads, Assistant Heads or Centre Managers. 


What would your advice be to those who want to join social service?

It’s a very rewarding career. Every day is always filled with new experiences and new challenges. Always put your heart into the work. It can be easy to view people as projects or tasks but it is important to remember that behind every name is a face, behind every face is a story, and behind every story is a life that matters.

A Programme Executive is one of many roles in social service. To find out more, click here.