Talk me out of a social work career. (employee, apply, unemployed)
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Looks like the social work career is more popular than I realized!
Hmm, I really don't mind the low pay because I think it would be worth it. Making 80k-90k would be great, but I'd be happy without it.
The 'burnouts' you speak of, well I don't think I'd be one of them. Burnt-out social workers are the ones who went into the job with no clue and ended up getting a rude awakening. You need to be prepared for this kind of job, I know I am. Growing up near Detroit, I've seen plenty of people struggle & suffer. When I was little, I would often stay at my mom's house alot, which was IN the city of Detroit. I remember one of our neighbors was a drug addict, and her little daughter didn't even have a bed. Just a bare dirty mattress on the floor. The little girl became my friend. It hurt me to see that, but I am I strong person. I have been through some tough battles myself. Not anything like drugs or gangs, but I want to help people. I hope that girl is doing okay right now.
I think I have always had a passion for social work, just didn't discover that passion until now.
You all listed all kinds of bad things about social work, but still I'm drawn to it. If I were to get into a different career like accounting or marketing, or anything else pretty much, I would regret not becoming a social worker and potentially saving people's lives.
For the MSW though; Does location matter? I live in Michigan and could try to get into U of M for in-state tution but I want to move to a different state. Usually, you get your first job near the college you graduated from. If I go to U of M, I feel like I would get a job in Michigan and just end up staying here. Which I don't want to do.
I'm an 18 year old female who will be starting college in December. Right now, my plan is to get a bachelor's degree in Social Work and then hopefully get into a master's program to complete a Master's in Social Work and finally become a licensed clinical social worker.
Since I want to get a bachelor's in social work, I can get into an advanced standing program and finish my MSW in one year as opposed to two years it would take for anyone who didn't major in social work during undergrad. It sounds good to me, the master's will take only a year so I would save some money and time.
From what I read there are many options in social work. Of course with a BSW you can work with the state/city as a social worker, or work at adoption agencies. Add a MSW to that and you can be a social worker for schools, hospitals, even like private practices/clinics if you are a licensed clinical social worker. It's very similar to being a psychologist, minus the PhD.
So CD, I chose to post this because I'd like some opinions on this please. What are some negatives about the social work career? Do you have any experiences with social work, or know anyone that is one? Is this a wise career choice? In other words, post any bad things you have heard about social work as a career. I want to know about the bad parts of the job too, not just the good, that might make me reconsider and change my mind. Any and all thoughts on this will be read.
The biggest negative I see is that you want to be talked out of being a Social Worker before you ever get the degree. You are NOT Social Worker material and if you do insist on getting a degree in Social Work you will burn out in less than 3 years if not sooner.
Please pursue something else and save yourself a lot of time, effort and money.
Also it is NOT even close to being a Psychologist, it is much more emotionally draining, stressful and demanding than a Psychologist.
The biggest negative I see is that you want to be talked out of being a Social Worker before you ever get the degree. You are NOT Social Worker material and if you do insist on getting a degree in Social Work you will burn out in less than 3 years if not sooner.
Please pursue something else and save yourself a lot of time, effort and money.
Also it is NOT even close to being a Psychologist, it is much more emotionally draining, stressful and demanding than a Psychologist.
I shouldn't have put the phrase 'talk me out of it'. Weak choice of words. I just meant tell me all the negatives, tell me all the horror stories, and many people did. Yet I still want to be a social worker, I can't be talked out of it. That must mean something.
Sorry, but don't say I'm not social worker material because you don't know me personally and even after knowing all the bad things about it, I still want to be one. Actually this encouraged me even more to become one.I want opinions and advice, not people who don't know me telling me what I should or shouldn't be.
I shouldn't have put the phrase 'talk me out of it'. Weak choice of words. I just meant tell me all the negatives, tell me all the horror stories, and many people did. Yet I still want to be a social worker, I can't be talked out of it. That must mean something.
Sorry, but don't say I'm not social worker material because you don't know me personally and even after knowing all the bad things about it, I still want to be one. Actually this encouraged me even more to become one.I want opinions and advice, not people who don't know me telling me what I should or shouldn't be.
I'm hearing the solid interest, even passion, in you for the social work field. One thought that I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Time. You mentioned a BSW program that goes into a MSW and saving a year. Wait. Get experience. I went from an undergrad degree in psychology straight to grad school for my MSW. I remember debating at the time if I should go straight through or work first and I decided, on advice of others, to go straight through. While that assured me that I really got the degree, and truthfully did set the pattern of careers for the rest of my working life, I look back now and think I was not mature enough at 22 to truly get all that I could have out of that program. Maybe that was just me and not having the life experiences you have had. However in looking back, I think those in an MSW program who gain the most from it are those who have worked and have those life experiences already. You are just 18 and doing a great job of looking at careers. That's wonderful, but you don't have to have your whole life planned out just yet.
Also it is NOT even close to being a Psychologist, it is much more emotionally draining, stressful and demanding than a Psychologist.
My sister is studying to be a psychologist and she says that it's more emotionally draining, stressful and demanding than being a social worker So I guess it just depends on your perspective. I do know that she will be in debt more than 200K when she gets her PsyD, and my parents paid for her undergraduate degree, so that debt is just for graduate school.
I'm an 18 year old female who will be starting college in December. Right now, my plan is to get a bachelor's degree in Social Work and then hopefully get into a master's program to complete a Master's in Social Work and finally become a licensed clinical social worker.
Since I want to get a bachelor's in social work, I can get into an advanced standing program and finish my MSW in one year as opposed to two years it would take for anyone who didn't major in social work during undergrad. It sounds good to me, the master's will take only a year so I would save some money and time.
From what I read there are many options in social work. Of course with a BSW you can work with the state/city as a social worker, or work at adoption agencies. Add a MSW to that and you can be a social worker for schools, hospitals, even like private practices/clinics if you are a licensed clinical social worker. It's very similar to being a psychologist, minus the PhD.
So CD, I chose to post this because I'd like some opinions on this please. What are some negatives about the social work career? Do you have any experiences with social work, or know anyone that is one? Is this a wise career choice? In other words, post any bad things you have heard about social work as a career. I want to know about the bad parts of the job too, not just the good, that might make me reconsider and change my mind. Any and all thoughts on this will be read.
My sister is studying to be a psychologist and she says that it's more emotionally draining, stressful and demanding than being a social worker So I guess it just depends on your perspective. I do know that she will be in debt more than 200K when she gets her PsyD, and my parents paid for her undergraduate degree, so that debt is just for graduate school.
Wow. She's paying her own way through a phd program?
I'm an 18 year old female who will be starting college in December. Right now, my plan is to get a bachelor's degree in Social Work and then hopefully get into a master's program to complete a Master's in Social Work and finally become a licensed clinical social worker.
Since I want to get a bachelor's in social work, I can get into an advanced standing program and finish my MSW in one year as opposed to two years it would take for anyone who didn't major in social work during undergrad. It sounds good to me, the master's will take only a year so I would save some money and time.
From what I read there are many options in social work. Of course with a BSW you can work with the state/city as a social worker, or work at adoption agencies. Add a MSW to that and you can be a social worker for schools, hospitals, even like private practices/clinics if you are a licensed clinical social worker. It's very similar to being a psychologist, minus the PhD.
So CD, I chose to post this because I'd like some opinions on this please. What are some negatives about the social work career? Do you have any experiences with social work, or know anyone that is one? Is this a wise career choice? In other words, post any bad things you have heard about social work as a career. I want to know about the bad parts of the job too, not just the good, that might make me reconsider and change my mind. Any and all thoughts on this will be read.
Funding seems to be a issue in the social work field. If you do it make sure it's not your primary source of income because social work jobs are very unstable in 2013
Funding seems to be a issue in the social work field. If you do it make sure it's not your primary source of income because social work jobs are very unstable in 2013
Most jobs are unstable in 2013.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuptag
Terrible, terrible pay, horrible job prospects.
It's not terrible, there are other jobs that pay worse. A lot might pay better but oh well.
Did you read my other posts besides the opening post? Pay isn't everything in a job. It's important yes, but so your happiness.
Funding seems to be a issue in the social work field. If you do it make sure it's not your primary source of income because social work jobs are very unstable in 2013
Simply not true. Not all social work positions are funded by any stretch. The social work positions which have been hardest hit in the last few years have been the non profits which rely heavily on federal and state funding for their operational costs.
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So I guess it just depends on your perspective. I do know that she will be in debt more than 200K when she gets her PsyD, and my parents paid for her undergraduate degree, so that debt is just for graduate school.
