To work fulltime for no money!

[katedan]

I am in my second year of a social work degree course and have just started a 7 month placement with a child protection team which is full time (9 - 5) but obviously as the work is quite frontline I may have to stay on later. I am not paid for the placement and during this time I also have essays and exams to work for. I have 3 children who apart from the last couple of years studying I have been at home with and I hate being apart from them (they are all primary school age). The childcare bill is massive for afterschool child-minder and at the weekends I am studying instead of getting time with them. So am I mad to do this? My husband is very well paid (I say this not to brag but to make you understand I am not training to give my family financial stability). I am not sure after starting work on the team I even want to be a SW once I graduate as it is low paid and comes with long hours and a lot of stick! However I have studied for the last 2 years to get here and will graduate in less than 2 years time and up to now have passed all my assignments first time with average grades. So please mums netters tell me truth am I mad to put all my family through this for no pay!

Btw OP - my husband is very well paid too. I don't work for the money, i work because i love it.

Transferring my degree is not an option as I would have to start in year 1 again and would not be eligible for student finance.

I do want to be a social worker but not on a child protection team as I believe it is one of the hardest teams.

I totally understand about you feeling I have wasted a place on my course but I was not allowed to shadow a SW until I was in the first year and at that time my shadowing was very positive and team worked hard but enjoyed their job. I think a lot has changed in a year with massive pay cuts.

I do think it is a bit mad tbh but I guess at some point it seemed a good idea to you. right now you are caught up in the day to day stress but with no reward. presumably at some point the money seemed ok and the hours acceptable

have you looked into transferring? why cant you get credit for work done already?

can you take a year out?

think back to why it seemed a good idea to start a hard course with 3 young kids. presumably you had good reasons. try to remember them and hang on to that this year

I am doing this hopefully soon and of course I am happy to do the placement year unpaid. It means I would be in a profession in a very good wage (20k+ I cant imagine that wage so exciting)

Your lucky I am doing that, studying, 2 young children, all pick ups/drops offs, and going to work 16 hrs a week as a waitress to get by. I will do anything for it though as its my life long dream.

If you moved to the Open University they allow you to transfer credits so you may not need to do very more modules to finish your degree in a different topic. Might be worth looking into - also a lot easier to do with children. I was allowed to transfer credits froma previous degree and only did four or five modules to get another degree.

Hmm, this is a case of whether you're doing the right course rather than 'is it worth working for no money'
Many of us ,me included, have worked for several years for no immediate financial gain. In fact, factoring in commutes and the extra costs like work clothes and dry cleaning, I would probably have been better off if I'd stayed at home instead of working with two children in nursery. However in the long game, the evidence shows its a good investment. Your problem is you're having second thoughts about whether you want to do what you originally signed up for. Can you talk to your tutor about the possibilities for changing course?

You don't get paid but you do get a bursary over and above what other students get so that will cover some of your childcare costs.
The placement is part of your training and you will (should) have a smaller workload than the paid employees to give you time for reflection and development.
You have a couple of choices:
Throw in the towel and give up the course, but you will still owe whatever student debt you have already accumulated.
Carry on and complete the degree then have something to show for your student debt even if you don't become a social worker at the end of it.

Surely you realised that you would need to do 200 placement days before you'd started the course?
I think you need to out your own needs in amongst the needs of your family, rather than just think that you 'are putting your family through this'.
PS. I did a uni degree which included fill time placements whilst having 2 young children to care for and I survived it and am pleased that I plodded on despite having all of the doubts and concerns that you are currently experiencing. You can get through this if you want to. I don't work in my chosen degree either, but I console myself with the fact that at least I have the degree to show for my student debt.

Do you mind me asking why your course is taking so many years despite you seeming to be full time as most social work BA courses are only 3 years?

I was a social worker, grew to truly hate the bureaucracy and how your hands were constantly tied. I loved it then hated it. If you are not enjoying it think strongly about whether it is the right career for you. Its too hard to do if you are not committed.I am a teacher now, miles less stressful (yes really)

Norudeshitrequired - I did an access course for a year before starting the BSc so hence I am in my third year of study and have a year to go but the access course and year 1 were not as demanding.

I thought the placement (in fact was told at the interview!) was 200 days over the three years but split up more so not fulltime work.

I realise it sounds pathetic and there are some amazing women who juggle all this plus having to earn money and keep a roof over their heads and I truly take my hat off to them.

I truly wished I had trained as a sw before I had kids when I could have invested the 110% it requires and as others have said on here the placement won't be anywhere as stressful or full on as it will be once I qualify although I do not intend to work in child protection I just had to take the placement where it was offered and in terms of understanding the frontline job it really does.

Thank you for your comments friends in RL always say it will be fine and you are doing the right thing as they know that is what I want to hear so it helps to have some mumsnet comments which can be more honest.

Katedan - okay, the 4 years study makes sense now.
I do understand how difficult it is because I have been there myself and completed 200 (full time) placement days over the final two years of a degree course. I did this with children and another significant very big hurdle which caused me to almost give up in the 2nd year of uni study. I think if you can get over the issues and guilt then you will be fine and go on to make a good social worker (if you want to be one).
I don't think having the best academic grades is key to being a good social worker. I think that being able to cope with stressful situations, make good analytical decisions, being confident, empathetic and managing your time well are key to being a good social worker. So as long as you are passing everything then don't worry if you are only just scraping through.

I also don't think that life will be any easier once you are a qualified social worker. Social workers often have delayed finishes at the end of the day due to unforeseen events, they have very heavy and stressful workloads and have increasing financial pressures restricting the services that they are able to deliver.

If you really want to be a social worker then speak to the uni about extending your assignment deadlines. See whether the uni are prepared to let you Hand in all the assignments after the placement has finished. Or alternatively, see if you can work the placement over a 4 day week and add a few weeks on the end to make up the 100 required days. Placements and unis can be flexible and accommodating, especially if they understand the pressure you are under and the fact that you are going to leave if nothing is done.