Any social workers around? Tell me about your job!

[TeaOnTheMountain]

I’m coming to the end of my undergrad degree in psychology this year. I should get a first from a relatively prestigious university. Next year I have a funded masters place (in psychology) if I want it or I can leave this year with my bsc. I’m also a single mum (my youngest is 9).

I need some career advice! I’d really like to go into social work but I can’t get a good idea of whether flexible working is supported. In particular I’d like the option of taking unpaid parental leave so I can be off more during the school holidays etc, and the option to work flexibly during the week e.g. finish earlier some days and work late others. What is your experiences of flexible working? Do you feel you have a work life balance?

Second - how do you actually fund a social work qualification?! If I got into frontline (the fast track programme) I have to spend 5 weeks on a summer course in the school holidays which obviously isn’t possible! But you get living expenses and course fees covered.
Alternatively I have to fund a 2 year full time masters without access to student finance?! And I only get an nhs bursary of 5k… that can’t be right can it?!

Am I missing something obvious? If you do a teaching qualification you’re eligible for student finance even though it’s post graduate!

Would really appreciate any and all information and experiences. Everything I find online is social workers writing specifically for recruitment which may not be the most accurate reflection…..

I am a Social Worker in child protection. The hours are long and it is not very flexible due to the number of after school visits required, high caseloads and statutory requirements around frequency of professional meetings, in addition to the volume of reports. I have friends who works in adult services and that seems better in terms of hours. Have you looked at the Think Ahead pathway in to qualification? It may be an option worth considering.

I am a social worker in children and families and it is not compatible with a family. Long hours, huge strain and I only keep up because I am single and my children are independent. With a degree in psychology I think you would be better placed to consider clinical psychology? Social work is brutal, everyone hates you, you're damned if you do and dammed if you don't and the services have been cut to the bone so the things that protect social workers from burn out such as good quality clinical supervision simply don't exist. Step up sounds like it wouldn't work for you and so if you want to do work with children and families you may need to do a masters - you can only get the bursary not student loan - it's one or the other - but there are elements of the bursary for childcare. Get ahead is only for working with adults/mental health. Friends who qualified with me have found adults less brutal than children but so many LAs are struggling that it is not a nice place to be.

It's flexible in that you can start later and finish later or vice versa, you can also compress hours and do a 9 day fortnight fairly easily. It's pretty shit though.

I'm on a secondment for 9 months doing therapeutic work with looked after children instead of case holding and I am loving it!

With a SW qualification you will never be out of work. I like the academic side and am hoping to get out of SW and into training or lecturing. I would love my job if my case load wasn't so high and I didnt feel a constant impending doom that one of my YP is going to follow through on their suicide threats and I would be had up for a technicality in a safety plan. Supervision is shit, its not reflective, it's a tick box exercise for ofsted.

It really depends on the area you go into. Children and families is hard work, you need to be pretty resilient and even then it takes it’s toll. Adult support and protection, adoption and foster and criminal justice tend to be more predictable. Most local authorities have a good attitude towards family friendly policies, at least on paper, so reduced hours, part time working is fairly common but there’s still the reality that if a crisis comes up, you need to stay and deal with it.

The social work qualification is pretty portable though, there are some very good opportunities in the third sector that enable you to do more planned work with generally good progression.

I’ve been a social worker for 25 years, most of it spent in children and families and the third sector. I’m now in a development role which is very flexible, predictable and I have a good work/life balance.

Progressing through to clinical psychology takes a lot of study, to doctorate level and not everyone wants to do that, though clinical qualifications are very competitive.

Thanks all for your really insightful responses.

My interest is primarily in children with a particular interest in adoption. I don’t really feel motivated by adults services or mh so I don’t think I would have the drive to make what is likely still an extremely stressful role be successful.
I’ve looked at the clinical pathway and it does really interest me. I guess what puts me off is the requirement to work as an AP for very low pay and long hours for potentially many years and still no guarantee of success! They’re extremely competitive and I also have limited intern experience because… kids!

I’m interested to hear how you’ve developed your career @Jellycatspyjamasbecause that was going to be my next question! Is progression within social services limited to managing other sws / areas etc? Im not sure I love that idea as it seems so many people are hugely demoralised. I’m really sad to hear that, the situation is just dire.