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Anyone here a social worker? I'm considering a career change and I feel like it would be a good fit. My wife and I have done a lot of work with foster kids over the last few years, and a decade of working for corporations has given me the skills to work around and within beauracracy. My old university has a degree that includes a specialization in child welfare, which is what I'd like to do. Good idea, or run for the hills?
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Aug 11, 2014 02:49
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 22:12 |
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If you are comfortable financially, I'd say go ahead and do it. Otherwise don't bother, because while emotionally satisfying, it can leave a lot to be desired from a financial perspective. edit: I should add that I'm not a social worker but many of my friends are, and most of them work really hard and barely have anything to show for it.
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Aug 11, 2014 03:19
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Pays terribly and can be very dangerous. Girl I knew went to check up on someone, and the father shot out her tires. Avoid.
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Aug 11, 2014 03:21
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Wasn't really planning on getting into it for the money, and someone has to deal with the dangerous people or those kids are just going to stay in those situations Are there agencies for it or is it all government work? Canada, obviously, if that makes a difference
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Aug 11, 2014 03:28
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My wife is a social worker and yes the money is absolute crap vs the harm you put yourself into. Needless to say it's a nice accessory job, but never expect to be the breadwinner by any means for your family. My wife has worked for many different agencies and has worked with many different people from human trafficking victims to your every day hosed up family. Also, don't go into it expecting that the reason you're doing it is for the children and to get them out of their environment. The whole purpose of social work, at least from the county side is to help families get the help they need so they can be reunited. That means that you have to have the type of mentality that you're OK with sending a kid back to their abusive parent/s because there wasn't enough evidence to convict. I've heard many tales of hosed up situations courtesy of social work and there's no way in hell I'd be able to do it, but if you're one of the few individuals that can work though it, more power to you. Just don't go into thinking you're going to change the world or even the lives of many people, because that isn't how it works. Some of the poo poo that she tells me makes me cringe just thinking about it, it's a hosed up world out there and if you're into that, go for it.
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Aug 11, 2014 18:22
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I would also be interesting in hearing people with experience perspectives on social work since I just got accepted and will begin the first of my four years at university next week here in Sweden. Another question for me that pops up is how this type of work differs across national borders and especially how the profession is viewed by everyone else in different countries? Also how is the education and workforce split up genderwise? Here it's very much a field dominated by women. Here in Sweden for example people tend to either be pretty belligerant about socialworkers or just "meh", the hostility probably stems from socialworkers being in "control" of whetever social security will be paid or not in case of emergencies, as well as "taking kids" stuck in bad situations. People with little or no need for the financial help tend to not have an opinion or a small bit of pity for the "messengers" of politicians sometimes insane decisions. Still I'm really looking forward to starting, it's been a bumpy road career wise for me so far and it's going to be a fairly drastic change from telemarketing and working with taxes.
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Aug 11, 2014 19:42
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I am a social worker in Canada. I graduated with a BSW in 2012. I've intentionally avoided child welfare work and social assistance jobs. I went into my BSW intending to become a counsellor, and I have just finally gained a full time counselling position (though only a one year term) after working a bunch of casual and part time stuff in crisis counselling, street outreach, and mental health programming. I found it surprisingly hard to find full time work in my field (but I was selective about the types of jobs I applied for) and many of my social worker friends found the same, having to piece together terms, part time and casual work. Although, others did find decent employment right out of school. Getting as much experience (paid, volunteer, field placements) as possible doing work as close to your employment objective as possible is the best possible advice I can give you. It's the only way to be competitive and it really helps you get to know if you are cut out for the type of work you are interested in, and of it is rewarding enough to justify the high stress/low pay aspect. I suggest talking to folks working in the field you are in and finding out the pros and cons of the work, as well as the specific details of how they got that position. A BSW is supposed to be a generalist degree, but that this bullshit. You are specialized in whatever area you have experience in and it can be difficult to switch areas. Social work jobs are quite diverse. A big portion of jobs are government, whether hospitals, child protection, or welfare work. These jobs often pay better and have better benefits (i.e health and dental). However from what I hear they tend to be overworked positions and systems/bureaucracy that big are a real pain to work in. There are also many interesting non government jobs, usually with worse pay but often (in my subjective experience) more enjoyable work environments. A MSW is starting to be the standard qualification for a big chunk of jobs in my area, and more so in bigger cities. It certainly seems to open a lot more opportunities. I'd keep that in mind as a goal not too many years post BSW. Or go straight for the MSW if you qualify - experience and a relevant degree (e.g psychology) often get you in to a master's with just one extra year of course work to catch you up. A MSW would also let you eventually go into private practice if you have relevant experience. Many folks I know do that to supplement income. Social work services are covered by insurance in many cases as far as I know. Paperwork is a huge part of any social work job, but I don't particularly mind it, as long as I have adequate time to complete it. I usually enjoy it as downtime. Being self aware and being willing to invest a ton of time and energy into taking care of yourself and the impact of the work is critical. Taking care of yourself is not something you can let slide the way you can in many other careers. A caution: Being a caregiver in your personal life and professional life can be a recipe for burnout. It happened to me and I'm only 27. My "body said no" (reference to a relevant book by Dr. Gabor Mate) and I became extremely ill, often to the point of being unable to work, for over 6 months. I am just now recovering to the point I feel ready for full time work again. Most social workers come in to the field with personal experience in caregiving and /or personal experiences of trauma/adversity. Those can be benefits or barriers, depending on how well and balanced you are in a holistic sense. I think another protective factor against burnout is to become as skilled and knowledgeable as possible in your field, even if it means paying for your own PD beyond what your agency will give you (unless you're lucky to get a great PD budget!) or spending your own time studying. I think it can be an extremely rewarding career but it's worth doing serious research and personal reflection on what you're getting yourself into.
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Aug 14, 2014 04:16
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 22:12 |
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That's excellent info,thank you
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Aug 14, 2014 04:21
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