Im thinking of doing the Ba in social work

[purple15]

I am 41 years old, and really feel drawn to social work. Any experiences ?

Please someone give me some advice ?

Hi

I am 40 and have just finished my first year of the BA - and am loving it. Not really sure what advice you are looking for really - however at a guess .... I am by far not the oldest on the course (id guess 35 ish is the average age). Most people have extensive social care experience or have completed the access course - however this is not always the case.

Do you have kids ? what are your experiences? what draws you to SW? what else would you like to know?

Can you be more specific re what your queries are?
I'm a social worker working in CAMHS (child mental health).
Will try to help if you can give a bit more info.

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Well I have owned and managed a childrens day nursery for eleven years. I was very ill so it had run its course and we closed. Now, that I am recovering I feel that my next move could be social work.
I have a foundation degree in Early Years. I really enjoyed the sorting the parents queries out and working with other agencies. I really enjoyed the paper work side.
Selks can I ask what hours you do ?
My children are 17, 14 and 12.

Most SW either work 18 or a 36 hour week - and here in London we have a Felix time arrangement (usually put in some hours on eve and weekends too! via blackberry and tablet).

Sounds like you have some good experience - so what is stopping you ?

so once qualified there are part time posts ? Probably whether I will manage the uni work load and placements, in my head I can but in reality ?

ok - the first year of a BA is only 2 days a week at Uni & 3 days off - it is a fairly easy year with a lot of reading (+ I did 11 essays - but i am sure this will vary from uni to uni - and they were not too taxing).

The 2nd & 3rd year is 2 days at uni & 3 days on work placement - so a lot less free time - which pretty much means evening and weekend studying + finding the time to work if you need too.

I have 2 kids - and several people on the course have very young children and seem to manage - it does take great organisation & motivation skills

I like to think of it like giving birth - 'lots of people do it an manage it' lol

So, which areas do you work in ? What is a typical day, or is each day different ? Are you out and about or is it desk based ?

Can I ask what your placements are ?

Hi OP, I did the masters so can't give you any advice about the BA as they are structured quite differently.

However what I can tell you is that there is no longer a shortage of social workers like there used to be, people go into social work thinking they're guaranteed to walk into a job at the end of it but thats not the case currently. Fortunately I qualified a few year back (and have loved every minute!) but at the last count there was something like a 3rd of newly qualified social workers not able to find work in qualified roles.

I'm not saying don't do it, you have heaps of relevant experience, but just be aware that it is a competative area these days.

what area do you work in chrome ?

There are lots of different areas you could go into with a social work degree either with in adults or C&F in:

(i only know C&F):
Field SW - LAC, CIC, Referral and assessment etc.
Child protection, leaving care work , residential work, preventative work, drugs and alcohol work, hospital SW, domestic violence work, CAMHS.....

All will have different hours dependant on team and location (but generally 9-5ish)

Some of the roles have A LOT of travelling involved - particularly with in LAC as the yp could be placed miles away.

Time away from the desk totally depends on the role you choose - however all will involve (obviously) a lot of face to face work out of the office.

Agree with Crome - a competitive market out there !! and the future is looking iffy - with talk of out souring all except statutory teams.

oh forgot to say ... some LA's still do employment route (VERY sought after) ...basically you work as a social work assistant for 2 yrs and then your LA funds your studies and provides you with a job for the next 5 yrs.

You would be lucky to find a LA still doing this - and even luckier to actually get the post (however someone has too!)

I'm currently in a specialist post that doesn't fit neatly into the usual structure but its child protection related, all my experience prior to this job was in Local Authority children and families. It is incredibly tough at times (and getting worse under this government) but I can't imagine doing anything else, it really is a vocation. I love it!

To clarify, the stat I mentioned relates to all NQSWs and not any specific area of the profession.

Good luck with your journey!

xxx thanks for all that information. I really feel this is the next stage of my life. Trust me to be thinking of this when the cost of university has increased.

If you already have a degree you could consider doing the Masters?

Local authorities are set up in different teams depending on which part of the country you live in. The la I work for doesn't have the teams mentioned in the London borough

Given your experience you would be looking at working with children and their families. Although there are not the vacancies there once were there is still high turn over of staff and still opportunities out there are you have alot of pre qualifying experience.

Going into sw in your 40s in a real plus you have experience already and it tends to be that bit easier working with families than in your early 20s.

As Chrome said its a vocation, not a job you have to make sacrifices.

Have you applied anywhere yet?

OP in response to your query to me, I do a 40 hour week with on-call rota (home based but taking phone calls and occasional hospital assessments) every third weekend... so more than full time currently. Average day is 8.30 ish to 5 or 5.30 sometimes much later if there is a crisis.

Hi I have not applied any where yet, i have had major health issues and am not quite ready, but I will be, are there part time positions when I qualify ?
I dont think I could manage a 40 hour week.

Hi Purple, I do a 35 hour week, when I was doing frontline Local Authority child protection I was still pretty good at keeping my hours under control, however its completely outside of your control when you're on duty (which is usually about one week in four) - this means you are dealing with all the new incoming cases, of course some of those will be emergencies and could occassionally involve a late night placing a child in care. My record was once finishing at 10 past midnight! But of course there are settings to work in other than child protection.

There are part time posts available but they are far fewer than full time posts.

I am a single mother of two, no background experience as such but have always been pulled towards social and youth work. I have just applied for an access to social work course. Realistically what are my chances of finding work afterwards? I would like to work in child protection, leaving care, children with special needs or domestic violence

Hi squashedbanana, Have you got on the access course ? I don't know about the job situation but I wish you all the best. I guess it will be a challange, as will anything you do being a single mother with children to look after. But other people manage and I am sure you will.

No not yet, I have applied, just waiting to hear about interviews. I did a GNVQ in health and social care when I first left school, I am hoping that will work in my favour and help me get on the course

haha, even having a shower can be a challenge! But my current skills aren't going to get me very far and I would like a proper job and career, especially when my kids leave home