Social work

[Itsallaboutthebenjamins]

So i need a change of career. I earn well but its bad for the soul, cant take it anymore. Have the opportunity to retrain after a small inheritance and I am considering open university to study social work degree alongside working part time which I need to do to maintain the household. I don't already have a degree but do have some credits i could potentially transfer from professional qualifications which i understand might speed up the time it takes to do the degree. My question is to social workers - is it worth getting in to? How is the job day to day? Thanks

Well I'm a social worker and I love it, not every day, some days I bloody hate it but on the whole I love what I do and I'm passionate about the importance of what we do. I'm a team manager in a child protection team so pretty much at the coalface. You have to find the right local authority and responsibility right fit in terms of kind of SW. It's frustrating, long hours, stressful at times but the change we can make is so amazing plus honestly I'm naturally nosy and just fascinated in understanding what makes people tick.

Grrr typos anyway you get the jist

SW on the front line is grim, exhausting and thankless. That is why most ASYE jobs are frontline. Move back a line and it is a rewarding career. But front line is full of agency staff who do it for the money, LA staff do the mandatory ASYE year and try to get out asap

I have an aunt who is a social worker and likes it, she is a super pragmatic person.

That being said, my daughter was looking into it as a career and decided against it as the social work departments seemed to be incredibly political.

Do occupational therapy or educational psychology instead. Or health visiting/ school nursing.

A social worker qualification is worth having in its own right in that it can open a lot of doors. LA social work can be hard going but in the right area of work, with a good manager and supportive peers it can be a really rewarding, worthwhile job. You do need to be very resilient, and have other things in your life or the job can swallow you up whole but I’ve been a SW for 25 years in child protection and now in a learning and development role and I’ve mostly loved it.

You do need a thick skin because everyone has an opinion on what you do and how you do it, and daily decisions can have life changing consequences and, sometimes, tragic outcomes.

As a SW you can also work in the third sector where you usually have more capacity for longer term more therapeutic work or direct intervention. It’s a hugely varied career depending on where your interests lie.

I trained as a SW many years ago and I love being in the profession. I work for cafcass which is a niche part of social work. There’s variety in the role, the opportunity to make a tangible difference to a child’s life and respect within the family courts in our interaction with the judiciary. No regrets here.

Look SW is hard, it’s under resourced and the workload is impossible. BUT, and for me this is a big BUT, it is fascinating work, literally every day is different, and there are occasions when you think ‘yeah I made a change’. I feel utterly privileged to work with the service users that I do, even when they are making life decisions that are not in their best interests.

Also, fellow SWs are the best. Funny, kind and just great to be around.

So I would never discourage anyone from it. But I would say go into it wi to your eyes wide open and with the realisation that it might be something you only do for a short time (she says 17 years in).

Oh and as others have said above, sometimes doing the ‘front line’ for a few years allows you to specialise into something less stressful. That’s what I have done. I bloody love my job.

If you were a special, what about joining the police full time? They are recruiting still and most forces do some sort of direct entry rather than doing the 2 years response model if that's something you'd be interested in?

I would perhaps stick with the job you are in a the moment and concentrate on what yet can do volunteering wise outside of work to feel fulfilled and like you are making a difference. You said you were a special, great, there are lots of other organisations that need volunteers too along a similar sort of line that would be brilliant and they would bite your hand off.

I am a foster Carer so I interact with a lot of SW's. Honesty they work through lunch breaks, they have massive case loads, a couple I know even take work phone with them when on a weekend break as so worried about some of kids they oversee. They frequently have to work on a rota over Xmas day even and NY. It is an exhausting and soul destroying job in my opinion and to top it all many parents are suspicious or hostile towards SW. My job as a Foster Carer is hard but at least I get reward out of seeing progress children make. SW often have case load switches so if they have s good relationship with a child that child can still be moved to a different SW. Do some research before committing. Try to talk with a SW.