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Thank you! I agree, most people now have the mindset of 'Oh, you're helping people put their lives back together but how much do you make?... Oh that's all? LOL failure bet you can't afford the new iPad."
Sad. Sad. Sad.
How to be successful in 2013:
1. Become a CEO.
2. Become a corporate greed machine.
3. Hate your CEO job.
4. But that's ok because the cash is flowin' in.
Wait, what's that? You want to be a social worker... you want to help kids? LOL you're just young and foolish.
You were doing so well before this post. You're right, there's no need to say anything about MSW pay because it's not an issue if that's what you want to do.
But you've obviously never met any CEOs. It takes a certain kind of person to be a CEO, and they almost always live and love their work, much like a social worker.
I was a Psychology major, not a Social Work major. But I work in a community mental health center dealing with people who have mental illness. My advice: change your major. However, if you decide to stick with it, get your Master’s ASAP. A B.A. in Social Work won’t get you a good job.
I’m not a therapist but I work with them, I know their salary, I know what they have to do and put up with. And let me tell you, I do not envy them at all, even though they make more than me.
What do you want to do? Where do you see yourself employed once you get your MSW? You should talk to some of those people: ask them about their job, stress level, and pay. Ask them about how much paperwork they have to do. Ask them if they have to travel or be on call. Ask them about opportunities for advancement.
Current employees tend to sugarcoat things when dealing with strangers. It’s just human nature: if you ask someone how things are going, they’ll paint a rosy picture. Get to know them a little better and get them alone, away from any eavesdroppers and you’ll likely hear a different story. If you are talking to a group of employees from an organization, well no one wants to get the reputation of being grumpy and having a bad attitude. Better yet, find someone that just retired and contact them. Tell them that you are a Social Work major and you want to know more about the company they worked for and what it was like being a therapist. These people that have been there a long time can give you great insight into what your future will be like if you pursue a career in this.
Are the therapists stressed out? Are they bitter? Do they feel like they are stuck at a job they hate? Or do they love working there? However they feel, you’ll probably end up feeling the same way within a year of working there.
Let me tell you about my employer. Where I work, therapists start out at just over $15.00 per hour. They are salaried, so when they stay late working on paperwork, or come in on the weekends, they’re working for free. You’ll also have to do about 200 hours of supervision, though the exact number of hours probably varies by state. My employer has a policy of only one hour of supervision per week. So essentially you are stuck there for about four years until your supervision is complete. They also have to be on call several days per month. If they get a call then they have to go do an evaluation on someone. In reality this means that you will be getting calls at 2:00 a.m. because someone was off their medicine, again, and got picked up by either the cops or an ambulance. And it’s up to you to determine if they really are suicidal. Also, therapists are not allowed to have time scheduled to work on paperwork. They must cut visits short, 50 minutes instead of 60, and use the time between appointments to catch up. And be prepared to start some kind of group. An hour group with 15 people attending means that the company can bill for 15 people. If you were doing individual therapy during that time, you could only bill for one person and wouldn’t be making them as much money. This is why there are a lot of groups. It’s more profitable.
Last edited by EVAunit1981; 10-24-2013 at 10:10 PM..
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.
If I could chime in...
There are many options - maybe - but they all pay low wage, and expect a lot in terms of physical and emotional effort. I'd never consider spending a career working for people who wished you didn't exist, who don't share your passion for humanity and with whom you hold very little influence over. If a social worker has been called out to intervene in something, it's because the situation is already broken, and you just break it further.
I'd love to know the 'good' parts of the job... I know of a social worker in my extended family and to be quite blunt it sounds like a waste of an education and waste of a life. So much effort, abysmal reward.
I think you might have a bit of a twisted mindset regarding what social workers do - you don't swoop into disadvantaged places, make everything better, and then exit with a standing ovation. It's a bit like someone who loves kids going into pediatrics without comprehending they will spend their life looking at the absolute worst aspects of childhood and reacting to it, rather than preventing the bad from happening.
I did it for a year at group homes and adult mentally disabled had day program.
Really rewarding when you see that you have made a difference if only one client.
The pay is low relative to the requirements and their costs.
The stress is extreme.
As I stated in another thread if I won the lotto I would work with juvenile offenders.
Don't be one in CO oh my Rocky Mountain News did an article last year about how bad CPS is in the state and underfunded applying for emergency government grant. No thanks too much risk and little reward.
BTW you will have a huge caseload and may have to "triage" clients.
25+ years as an MSW here. Worked mostly in health care including mental health. I am in my last social work position and it is part-time because that is all I want to handle emotionally.
I would discourage you for a variety of reasons, among them low salary and burn-out being primary.
Over the years I've had a few really fun and fulfilling gigs. Those were exceptions and those type jobs have disappeared due to funding cuts at the state and federal level: Medicare and Medicaid primarily but grants as well.
Nurses have taken over just about every role of the MSW in health care and mental health. The ''profession'' of social work has fostered it's own demise and NASW does nothing to empower or promote it. Hence so many jobs have dried up and been phased out.
Medicare mandates our presence in some health care settings and that is the thin thread that keeps us employed.
It can be high stress depending on the areas you work in. No minimizing that. Part of that stress is not only client situations but the low pay you endure. I can help the poor because I've lived it on MSW pay.
I never wanted to be rich but I did want a decent retirement and to own a small house. Nada.
I've met some wonderful people, had some great experiences, but I would not recommend it to anyone.
Go into nursing or go to law school. I wish I'd done either. You'll get no respect and enjoy no true professional status with clients or colleagues as a social worker.
I am still doing it part-time because this one area is one I did enjoy and this particular position pays quite well. It frees me up to do other stuff part-time. Otherwise there is no social work job I would ever do again.
FeelinLow: It is interesting that some nurses go over to social work. I knew a psych nurse that became a therapist and another who is a site administrator at a community mental health facility.
Your post sounds like almost every other therapist I've talked to: low pay, high stress.
Do not get a degree in social work. I wish someone would have stopped me. I graduated with my masters degree in social work and am a licensed social worker and I've never made more than 44000. I have been in the field for 7 years now. I resigned from my job last month and am getting out of social work. I hate it. My spouse makes more money than me and he doesn't even have an associates degree. Anything is better than this. I have had things thrown at me, been called every curse word there is, and spend hours a day having clients and administration tell me what an awful social worker I am and how I'm not doing my job. I work sixty to eighty hours a week easy and there is no overtime pay. Forget holidays, you will not get them. They fail to tell you in school that most socialwork jobs require on call and weekend coverage. You will be spending Christmas day answering your work phone and doing work at home, or actually having to come into work, while your family is at home relaxing and enjoying the day. Those feel good moments we hoped for as students (I'm going into social work because I want to help people) rarely ever happen. Social work is an extremely thankless job and I hear more what im doing wrong verses changing someone's life. There is no respect. My coworkers are shocked when they find out I went to graduate school and have a masters degree. I have heard multiple times that people think social work is just a certification course you can take at a community college. Administrators look down on social workers and treat us like we are stupid and incompetent. This is a miserable career field and I will urge anyone not to go into it. In the pastyear alone I have seen four social workers leave the field due to stress related health issues. TheIr doctors toldthem they had to get out of social work now or face life tthreatening medical complications. This is a field that needs rapid reform and changes but who will listen? The NASW is a joke and does nothing. Take my advice and get a degree in something else. There's a reason the burn out rate in this field is so high.
I think the biggest drawback is the pay is amongst the lowest possible with a bachelors or masters degree...I understand people don't do this for the money but be prepared to possibly be paid the same as someone working in retail and less than retail managers.
I was a Social Service major in the 70's and dropped out due to lack of funds. I have been a RN for more than 30 years working in Psych, and what I always say is: I make more money and I don't have to buy nice clothes.
Actually etjaipleure is mistaken....no offense. You can get your MSW in one year through an advanced standing program which is an intense program. Social also is not just about communities and families, we also focus on individuals. It comes down to micro vs macro. You can counsel people with a LMSW. Don't let people who are not in the field deter you from this field.
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