social work or occupational therapy or speech and language therapy

[proudmummy33636]

Hello everyone , I am wondering what degree i should do . I am debating on social work , occupational therapy or speech and language therapy . I would love to hear people's experiences during their degree and work life . May I know the disadvantages , advantages and typical day life . I would prefer one that is flexible so I can do school run for my kids if possible . In addition , if I choose one of these . Will I still be able to spend time with my kids without feeling exhausted and burnt out constantly . Thank you

Not social work if you want a family work life balance. The job is very rewarding but you have to be pretty hard core to stick out children's frontline work. The stats of how fast people leave speaks for itself. I loved it but so many people I know quit when they have kids.

OT seems to offer a decent work life balance

I am an OT in adult social care and love my job. Become a social care OT!

They are all quite different. I’m a paeds nurse abs I wouldn’t be a social worker for anything. However i always wanted to be a nurse. If I had to choose I’d go speech & language as if interests me the most. I have a friend with children who have verbal dyspraxia and find it really interesting how the therapists work to help them as both kids are doing really well but I also know the battle their mum had to get them help.

They also work with a lot of babies on the ward and our long term kids, obviously I only work with them via children, I’m sure there’s much more to what they do but o hope whatever you choose you will still manage to spend time with your kids and work too.

I'm re training as a social worker (was a teacher) currently in a child protection team which is very very flexible for working hours although hours are long but I can do the school run somedays for example. Obviously am not qualified yet but it's currently about a million times more flexible and supportive than teaching! My Sister is an OT and likes it but she does lots of shift work so long hours and weekends etc she is on a hospital discharge team so I guess it depends on your post.

@Andwereback maybe true of children’s social work but adults social work is better in that respect I think
I think all 3 are pretty good for part time opportunities.
I’d maybe go occupational therapy as then you can either work in the NHS or local authority (adult social care).
Good opportunity for private SALT work. Not so for social work, not sure about OT

They are all very different.

What are your interests, past experiences, skills, past education qualifications?

Oh and I'm currently doing it as a master's and I have 2 young kids . It is hard work but fine and there are lots of people with kids on the course.

How much do you know about social work? I love it but it's not for everyone

I think it totally depends what area you go into. I am retraining in social work and have no plans to go into child protection, more likely mental health or charity/private sector. I have a friend who is a mental health OT and she loves it. Great work life balance. Also just gaining a professional qualification can open up so many more options that don't have to be traditional roles linked to the profession.

I think with any of those careers, your hours will depend on the job you end up in . Some OT'S and SW's are 7 day working now but you can usually request fixed days if you have kids and need to arrange childcare. There are lots of part time OTs. I have been an OT for over 30 years and have loved all my jobs( mental health, orthopaedics, dementia, social services, rehab centre and acute services) I started full time press children, worked one day a week when kids were little just to keep a hand in, gradually built up to full time again and now work 4 long days. I manage a team now and we try to be as flexible as we can.

I'm a SALT and have been for 20 years. It's a great job!

There's lots of scope to work flexibly (school hours, term time only, part time), particularly in paediatrics.

It's an incredibly varied job. There's so many different areas of specialism. Head and neck cancer, voice disorder, hearing impairment, stroke, adult learning disability to name a few.

I work with children and it's a good balance with family life. I never take work home with me or work on my days off. There's no real "culture" of that expectation.

The work can be emotionally demanding (depending on the sort of work you're doing) and cuts to services are hard as you see the impact it has on families. However there's no other job I'd choose.

Ok so OT and SALT are Heath careers career so study human anatomy _ physiology. Your career path will likely be NHS
SW is social policy,social science applied to SW. you’ll predominately be employed by a local authority

Health careers can be hierarchical and are quite ordered in progression.

Are interested in health, anatomy & physiology to train as SALT or OT?

what’s your current work experience and interests?

They are all good career choices

I work as a private SaLT. I love it. I work part time term time only. In my company there is some expectation of working outside of your hours. But that’s just the culture where I work. I always wanted to be a SaLT and still find it fascinating. The money isn’t great though.