Reflective Essay on Social Housing

This reflective essay discusses the author's experiences in securing a work placement in social housing at Enfield Council. It highlights the importance of social housing in economic development and personal career growth. The essay details the application process, interview experiences, and the valuable lessons learned during the placement, emphasizing the significance of practical experience in shaping future career paths.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON SOCIAL HOUSING
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REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON SOCIAL HOUSING
(Student’s Name)
Class
Name of Instructor
University
United Kingdom
Date

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REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON SOCIAL HOUSING
Introduction
Housing is one basic need not only to human beings but also the economic development
of the country. Living standards of individuals depend on the government to citizens owning
decent homes within their net income at a certain period. Social housing plays an important role
in different individuals and families their desired quality homes (Burdett, et al, p 5, 2016). The
main role of social housing is meeting tenants’ expectations in communities where they live. As
a person, I found out that this field of study was of great interest in gaining experience,
interacting with several people and measuring the scales they need based on housing design.
However, in this reflective essay am going to discuss the experiences I had after searching a
securing a job as a social housing employee at the Enfield Council.
At any company seeking in recruiting new employees, for the business to continue with
its operations all consultation must be conducted by the manager and the human resource
department. The criteria of the HR recruiting and selection style depend on the position
available, level of education and experience, skills, and capabilities in handling the job
effectively. As a worker and a continuing professional student, I thought securing a job as an
intern will be of great importance to my future career. Gaining experience will help me have an
added advantage in securing a better job (Elsharkawy &Ruthrford, p 30, 2015). The first step that
every scholar need to understand while seeking for any job opportunity is having an interesting
CV and previous work experiences in the same field.
To secure a better work placement I love reading internet articles and while I was
browsing and checking for the latest job vacancies in the UK, I came across Social Housing and

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this was the best opportunity I had to fully utilize. Moreover, after making my application I got a
phone call from the manager and that how I had my interview conducted later got a phone call to
start working with the company (Wilcox & Perry, p 10, 2014). Before securing the job, having a
DBS certificate was relevant while making my application as a social housing worker. The
reason was that the certificate acted as a proof that I do not have any criminal records by the
security bodies.
The placement job on social housing I got online while I was browsing. As a scholar, the
placement was my first module work and I was looking forward to working with an organization
offering work placement. Following my career in the business course, the social housing duty
was valuable in relation to working experience. Being that the vacancy on work placement I
found on the site of recruiting jobs in the UK, there were procedures to follow in making the
application online (Baldwin, p 8, 2016).
By using the site on career jobs, I preferred the Enfield organization because they are
specifically dealing with real estate brokerage and sales. The job placement was an important
step and being part of my coursework, I had to utilize the opportunity in learning new ideas and
improving my knowledge on social housing matters. On application, I did a fully formal website
application indicating detailed information on my academics and my convictions. I also indicated
the core values I will perform and when given an opportunity to serve the company my duty will
be to work together with other team members in making the business a worldwide real estate
company (Brook and Youngson, p 8, 2016).
There are several organizations offering the same work placement but I chose Enfield
because I had researched on its roles and responsibilities within the society. Another, reason

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being a new real estate in the market, there will be much interactions and assessments with the
customers. Having a work placement is not easy just like searching for a permanent job but due
to the fact that my course is highly competitive in the job market, it will be an added advantage
to my work experience.
In making the application request, I went online and opened the site for job recruitments
then downloaded the form that was to be completed and sent through the company’s email only.
After sending my forms I had to arrange with my tutor in making arrangements with the industry
for my working period. As part of my coursework, I had to be assessed by some of my lecturers
a so that I get accredited on the fieldwork conducted during the working period. It will show that
I have finished some of the projects and write a report based on the activities I performed while
at the industry (Crawford et al, p 22, 2016).
Luckily enough, at the end of fourteen days, I was among the shortlisted candidates to
have an interview with Enfield enterprise. The interview team made arrangements in offering an
interview through a telephone call. Being an official communication though informally, I was
told to say something about myself and why I showed interest in working with the company. I
had to experience what I did at the organization to practice new skills of in dealing with not only
social housing matters but also long and short-term housing finance to my future clients.
Lessons are learned through experience and real-life practical conducted internally or
externally in the working environment (Jackson, p 22, 2015). Some of the lessons I learned were
that through interactions and holding seminars with organizations dealing with real estate
housing I got a clear view of the problems they face and ways of coming together in controlling
the situation. At the Enfield organization, the work placement that I am doing for one year will

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give me a lot of knowledge and due to the fact that the firm managers use job rotation system at
the company; I will be learning new methods of dealing with different challenges within the
working environment (Healy, p 12, 2014). Additionally, as a leader in my department, I learned
that good communication skills both verbally and non-verbally must be effective for easy
interaction with the clients. Moreover, I also learned new interview skills when seeking for
further internships or part-time opportunity jobs.
In conclusion, work placement on social housing helped me in widening my career and
noticing the approach I should use to meet my future goals in life. It was also relevant as I
secured several potential values at the organization making me have a proper plan on my future
work and area of specialization. I will achieve this through writing a checklist and selecting the
most relevant duty.

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References
Baldwin, M., 2016. Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization. Rutledge.
Brooks, R. and Youngson, P.L., 2016. Undergraduate work placements: an analysis of the effects
on career progression. Studies in Higher Education, 41(9).
Burdett, J., Burdett, J., Barker, S. and Barker, S., 2017. University students in the workplace
strategies for successful industry placement experiences. Development and Learning in
Organizations: An International Journal, 31(1).
Crawford, I. and Wang, Z., 2016. The impact of placements on the academic performance of UK
and international students in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 41(4).
Elsharkawy, H. and Rutherford, P., 2015. Retrofitting social housing in the UK: Home energy
use and performance in a pre-Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP). Energy
and Buildings.
Healy, K., 2014. Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Jackson, D., 2015. Employability skill development in work-integrated learning: Barriers and
best practice. Studies in Higher Education, 40(2).
Wilcox, S. and Perry, J., 2015. UK housing review. Coventry: Chartered Institute of Housing.
Available at http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Policy%20free%20download
%20pdfs/UKHR%20Brie fing%202015.pdf