Tia’s path to find her true calling
16 May 2025
More than ‘just a job’: How AnglicareSA helped Tia Tan discover her true calling.
Sometimes life’s little detours can lead to the most rewarding destinations. Just ask Tia – since she joined AnglicareSA, she’s never looked back. As a Home and Community Services Care Worker, Tia has discovered the perfect blend of meaningful relationships, tangible impact and impressive professional growth. Read on to see why AnglicareSA has been the perfect fit for her, and how it could be for you, too.
Caring and compassionate
Care work isn’t always picture-perfect. Behind the meaningful relationships and heart-warming moments are real-world challenges that require resilience, adaptability and a steady temperament. It’s the kind of job where you might encounter unexpected messes, difficult situations or moments that test your problem-solving abilities – all before lunch.
But for the right person, like Tia, these challenges aren’t deterrents. They’re just a small part of a deeply fulfilling role that makes a genuine difference in people’s lives every single day.
As a Home and Community Services Care Worker with AnglicareSA, Tia spends her days supporting older community members – driving them to appointments, helping with grocery shopping and assisting with household tasks and personal care. Tia said, at its heart, her work was about preserving independence while providing a crucial helping hand when needed.
“I find it very rewarding,” Tia said. “I had never considered working in aged care before, but since joining AnglicareSA, I have absolutely fallen in love with it. I haven’t looked back or thought about doing anything else – I’ve just kept moving forward.”
Tia never knew her grandparents, so she values the strong relationships she has built with her regular clients. Through asking questions and getting to know each person’s unique preferences, she adapts her approach to make them feel comfortable and dignified.
“Sometimes elderly people don’t have regular contact with their family, so when you rock up, you’re the bright, shining star they get to talk to and laugh with. 2025Many of my customers have told me how much they value my work. One of my regulars said I’m a ‘rare find’… it’s lovely to know how much your work is appreciated.”
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Paving her own path
Tia had always considered pursuing a career in nursing – her aunt worked in aged care for more than 18 years and her sister is a Registered Nurse – but a challenging adolescence drew her towards psychology instead.
“I understand how difficult life can be for some people, so I was very curious to study the human mind and how it can be impacted by traumas. I was accepted into university, but then I got pregnant, and everything changed.”
Understandably, welcoming her son into the world caused a huge perspective shift, and Tia said she found herself craving a new role; one where she could work directly with people and make a difference in their day-to-day lives, while still drawing up on her interests in mental health and wellbeing.
“I didn’t want ‘just a job’ anymore,” she said. “I wanted something genuinely meaningful. Somebody told me to look into AnglicareSA, and when I read about what it provided to the community – NDIS, foster care, aged care – I realised it could be a good fit for me.
“The other thing that stood out was that AnglicareSA had been around for more than 160 years, so the organisation is obviously doing something right.”
Although Tia’s customer service skills made her a promising candidate, she lacked the required qualifications for the Care Worker role. Rather than turning her away, AnglicareSA recognised her potential and offered her a path forward: start as a Home Services Worker providing domestic assistance while participating in a development program to earn a Certificate III in Individual Support.
“I found it so beneficial to take part in the program. As a new mum with a seven-month-old, the balance it gave me was amazing. It all made it very easy, and it meant so much that Anglicare supported my growth right from the beginning.”
Supported to thrive
Flash forward a few years, and Tia is well and truly thriving in her role as a Care Worker. She has welcomed a second child into the family and experienced an incredible amount of professional and personal growth. She said she largely attributed this to the support she felt as a member of the AnglicareSA team.
“We spend most of our lives working, so it’s important to have a workplace that genuinely cares and supports you,” Tia said. “Especially in a role like this, where you are constantly taking care of others, it means a lot to be in a place that takes care of you, too.”
When it comes to Tia’s future with AnglicareSA, she said she was happy to continue to make life as bright as possible for her customers. But, if a time came when she wanted to step up, she was confident there was a path forward with AnglicareSA.
“I’m just so happy where I am. I’ve built so many meaningful relationships in my role at AnglicareSA. I have amazing managers and leaders, and I feel so much support. I don’t see the need to move up quickly, but I know that when I do want to try something new, it will still be within AnglicareSA. Everything I’m interested in pursuing is a service they provide.”
Are you seeking the same sense of fulfilment in your career that Tia has found in hers? She shared some key advice for anyone considering a role as a Care Worker with AnglicareSA.
“It’s a challenging role, but a very rewarding one. Definitely give AnglicareSA a shot, because even if the first role you try isn’t for you, they have so many different departments you can go into. Wherever you want to progress, they can definitely help you to find a meaningful career path.”