Job hunting in Alaska (Anchorage, Juneau and: 2009, how much, look for a job)

[poohouse]

I have posted on here before about moving to Juneau and all your advice was great. Thank you again. I may be posting more on here in the next year as I try to figure all this out. Some towns I am considering are: Juneau, Anchorage, Palmer and Ketchikan to start. I will be graduating with a Master's degree in Counseling in August of 2009 and wanting to move somewhere in Alaska in late August or early September of 2009. My question is: How far in advance should I start sending out resumes to people in order to have a job as a therapist lined up before I get there? I was thinking starting in the summer or would that be too late? Any help would be great. Also, if anyone out there is a counselor I would appreciate any info in working in that field.
Thank you in advance.

[seastar311]

Hi! I'm a Social Worker, and will probably also be moing up to Alaska (SE) next summer. I plan to wait til I get there to look for a job, as I've heard employers are skeptical about hiring people until they actually live there. Guess lots of folks say they are moving, then don't follow through. I do plan on having my licensing requirements for Alaska in place before I go, in case a potential employer requires an AK license.

[Crossfire600]

Our personal experience is that employers don't want to talk to you unless you have a date to move or an Alaskan address. My wife is in Health Care and she had to have her temporary Alaska practice license and all certifications before they would talk to her. I can't blame them.. We are arriving around the end of October and they are just starting to seriously talk to us..

[poohouse]

Thanks to those who replied. This could pose a problem because according the licensing board in AK the requirements say you need 3000 hours supervised experience (appx 2 yrs) to get your license. That is about the norm for most states in the US. Is there a possibility of getting a job where I wouldn't need a license right away and work under supervision? I am graduating in August and will be fresh out of grad school. I could have a date set to move by summer. That wouldn't be a problem. The license thing scares me though. If you have any more ideas it would be greatly appreciated and anyone else who knows about this field.

[seastar311]

Hi again! Don't get discouraged! There are lots of social work/counseling-type positions that don't require a license, casemanagement, for example. And there seems to be a great need for social service professionals in SEAK. What is your area of expertise? How much experience do you have? Many large employers provide clinical supervision to new grads, so that truly may not be a big issue for you.

[poohouse]

My expertise is primarily counseling. I went on to get my master's degree because I didn't want to do just casemanagement. My main interest is working with women and children who are recovering from some kind of physical or sexual abuse. I am also interested in helping those with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. My experience will consist of 1000 hours or 1 year of supervised counseling by the time I graduate. I really want to be able to have a job lined up before I get there because there is no way we could make it in Alaska on my husband's SSD alone. Thanks for the encouragement seastar311. I am not giving up yet.

[seastar311]

If you have time (and haven't already) try picking up some courses or workshops on domestic violence and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Some knowledge of these would fit well with what you want to do, and both are unfortunately common issues in SE.

Off topic a bit: do you go to Valpo?

[seastar311]

Crossfire- moving up this October! Bet you're getting excited. Hope all goes smoothly for you!

[poohouse]

Yes, seastar I go to Valpo University. Do you know it? It's a great school and glad I was accepted here, but I don't really like Indiana much. Too flat and boring, lol. I like scenery. I will take your advice on the workshops or at least try to study up on it a bit. I was wondering what the main mental health problems were in Alaska, especially SE Alaska.

[seastar311]

My dad wanted me to go to Valpo, but I had other ideas! That was back in the days of curfews, etc. It is a great school, I agree. I live just south of Chicago, so we are just down the street from each other...sort of!