Live social work events back as the COMPASS Jobs Fair returns to Birmingham

The event will feature over 40 seminars, workshops and films exploring the current issues affecting social work practice.

Seminars and conferences will cover a range of important topics and trends in social care, including Equality in social work: anti-discriminatory approaches in practice; Working with families as safeguarding partners in child exploitation and the power of connection in social work with children and their families.

Panellists Ray Jones, Ian Gould, Nushra Mansuri and Annabel Goddard will be discussing how social workers should engage with the Care Review, as well as addressing the concerns for social workers and related professionals with the Review, its early findings and its direction of travel.

There will also be legal skills & confidence sessions, developed by social workers and legal professionals, providing essential legal knowledge, legislation and policy changes, and courtroom skills. These will cover changes for the Mental Capacity Act, plus workshops on the best practice for court report writing and how the law can assist social care professionals.

The event’s sponsors, Birmingham Children’s Trust, will also host seminars with special speakers exploring current trends in social care, including Chief Executive Andy Couldrick’s opening address: ‘Social Work in 2021: Stronger social workers, stronger families’. There will also be seminars exploring different pathways and experiences at Birmingham Children’s Trust, including ‘Supporting your career pathway through a Social Work Academy: ASYE,NAAS and Return to Social Work’ with Sophie Gilbert (Practice Academy Manager).


The event will help visitors gain career advice through the Career Planning Programme, as well as offering first-hand guidance on social work interviews and how to find the ‘perfect fit’ when taking the next step in your social work career with workshops on what to look for in a social work employer.

Social work employers will also be looking to speak to social workers, newly qualified social workers (NQSWs), senior practitioners, team managers at the event to offer advice on career progression and the opportunities available.