Discussion thread: ‘Am I unemployable if I finish my social work degree without statutory experience?’

Can you offer advice to social work students on whether statutory placements are a 'must' or not? Leave a comment below.

How much does a lack of statutory social work experience hinder a newly qualified social worker’s chances of getting a job? Over the weekend we were tweeted by an MA student who asked if he would find himself ‘unemployable’ as a social worker if he finished his course without statutory placements under his belt.

There’s been plenty written about problems students have accessing quality statutory social work placements. But beyond the reports, what is your experience and advice for students in this position? Did you have statutory work under your belt before taking on your first job as a qualified social worker? Or did you build up voluntary sector experience that enabled you to see a different side to social work and helped your job search? Leave a comment using the form at the foot of the page.

Useful reading:

‘How can I gain a statutory social work placement?’

‘Why we need more voluntary sector placements for social work students’

‘How to overcome a bad social work placement’

More from Community Care

32 Responses to Discussion thread: ‘Am I unemployable if I finish my social work degree without statutory experience?’

  1. Zoey Whitelaw January 13, 2014 at 11:23 am #

    I am a NQSW who qualified in June with no statuatory experience in my undergraduate degree. I seem to be lucky if I get an interview for a support type job, I’ve had no luck taking on temporary work either. I feel that a statuatory placement throughout my degree would have made my applications stand out a bit more, when effectively I am competing with other NQSW’s who have up to a year of experience in a statuatory setting!

    • rachel January 15, 2014 at 4:49 pm #

      When i completed my DIPSW both my placements were not in statutory settings. When i qualified, for the first two years i undertook agency work in a variety of places to get used of working in a varity of different statutory settings and to develop my experience and skill base. This also helped me decide which area i wanted to practice in. I have never found this to be a problem.

    • Jane Beresford January 16, 2014 at 2:10 pm #

      My advice to you is to remain focussed on your goals – I am fully aware of the need to ”get a job’ but don’t just get any job, we all need to finance ourselves, pay our bills etc however, it is competitive to gain paid work in any sector these days. If you are qualified, you have the knowledge and of course the skills, but now you need to demonstrate your ability to put that knowledge and skills into practice. Social Work is a demanding and challenging role, and social workers are there to protect the vulnerable, advocate and ensure their needs are met. Resources are not always available and time is also an issue, but I don’t think you would have gone on to do a masters if you weren’t interested in social work. So, stick to your guns, wait for the right job, don’t just take a job which is below you. My opinion is that it is a real shame that qualified social workers have to take unqualified roles. I am unqualified, and work in unqualified roles, so why should qualified SWs have to undermine their own skills, knowledge and what they have been taught. The only problem is what the media etc has done to the profession, also newly qualified social workers run the risk of being given cases which spring up with serious events and children are at serious risk. What could seem like a routine visit could turn out to be a serious high profile child protection case. So it’s
      1. The Nature of the Profession, no-one knows how things can turn out in a family.
      2. Too risky to place inexperienced social workers on cases where risk is evident. 3. Managers are now protecting themselves and are now unwilling to take the risk if he or she is unsure about your own ability to manage serious child protection matters, etc etc, it could go on, but I hope this answers your questions.
      MY LAST WORD, try and shadow more experienced social workers if you can, stick with it even volunteer if necessary but don’t give up……

  2. Claire January 13, 2014 at 9:09 pm #

    I think this is a very important issue. A discussion needs to be held. I am awaiting news on my final placement and feeling very anxious about whether i will get a statutory placement or not

  3. Joe January 14, 2014 at 8:54 am #

    I do believe a stat placement does make all the difference (if you intend to work within stat services once qualified). I don’t think it’s any coincidence that people from my course (myself included) who had stat placements went on to get qualified stat jobs. There was one exception, a girl who managed to get a qualified role in a CMHT who had a placement in Alcohol/Drug setting. So there is hope! My advice is if you can’t land the qualified roles straight away is apply for the unqualified roles such as family support worker, social work assistant, care manager etc. In my work they definately like promoting people who are already know the usual procedures e.g. the IT systems! In the 6 months I’ve been here 3 NQSW’s have been promoted from unqualified to qualified roles

  4. Kim January 14, 2014 at 10:54 am #

    I graduated in 2002 without any statutory experience and I initially struggled to get my first job even via an agency. Employers just weren’t interested in anyone unfamiliar with statutory practice and thought I could not hit the ground running. When I got an interview I literally talked the interviewer under the table, promoting my transferable skills. So she said just for that she would give me a chance. She never regretted it. It’s now 2014 and I would suggest you take the same approach and believe in yourself.

  5. Joe Warner, Focus Adult Social Work Practice January 14, 2014 at 11:29 am #

    As an employer of social workers providing the statutory social work functions in North East Lincolnshire we are more interested in the potential of NQSWs and realise that we need to invest in them, particularly in their first year of practice. For those without statutory experience we would ensure they have the practice and development opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills they require. NQSWs may need to think about relocating in order to find a job/employer who will support them to develop their career.

    • Lisa-Marie Pickering January 14, 2014 at 6:54 pm #

      This comment has definitely reassured me…I’m currently on my first social work placement within a primary school in Lincolnshire….I hope to gain a second placement within my local authority but can not be sure this will happen.

  6. Jenna January 14, 2014 at 12:15 pm #

    I think it’s useful but it’s definitely not essential and please do not lose hope. From my recently qualified course all but one had statutory final year placements, the student who didn’t undertook her placement with an independent fostering agency – and was snapped up by a local authority fostering and adoption team! She was one of the first to be offered a job.

  7. Ali Taylor-gage January 14, 2014 at 1:05 pm #

    I didnt have any statutory experience at all but was lucky enough to get a job within drug and alcohol services from my last placement. This led on to many other opportunities even within criminal justice but it hasn’t led to difficulties around employability. My belief is that if you have enough varied experience people will want to employ you. I agree with Joe that if you can’t get a qualified position go for an unqualified role. Experience is key to show you are adaptable and there are so many roles out there that can enhance you as a social worker being in stat services is not the be all and end all of a career. I am now working in a stat job and did not have any stat experience when I applied and I had been qualified for 5 years before going for this job. Don’t worry if you have what it takes there will be a stat job somewhere with your name on it if thats the route you take. Best of luck

  8. Hilary Sharpe January 14, 2014 at 2:04 pm #

    I do not belief you are unemployable at all. If you would want to work within the statutory sector then a placement in such a setting may have been an advantage. For me as a Practice Educator the whole point about placement is the experience and learning you gain from a placement that is important. If all newly qualified social workers are only able to gain employment if they had a statutory placement then the whole process is doomed to failure. We have to be realistic and accept there are not that many placements available that provide good experience, although I tend to think a placement that does not live up to expectations can be good, for a whole variety of other reasons. I suppose the other question to pose is whether or not we just see the task of social work taking place within a statutory agency. I personal don’t and think there is extremely good social work practice and experience to be gained from the third sector. It is very sad that newly qualified social workers feel ‘as if’ they are not qualified unless they have a statutory placement.

  9. Nyima Saidy January 14, 2014 at 2:15 pm #

    I graduated in July 2012 and still cannot get a social work role purely due to lack of statutory placement experience. I had a 2:1 classification with a distinction on my dissertation but just don’t seem to mean anything to employers without statutory experience.
    I have recently had 4 social work assistant/newly qualified job interviews, 3 of which were with local authority departments and did not get through due to again lack statutory experience. I asked if there was any particular reason so I could improve on, but they clearly said my interview was infact stonger than the person employed for the role but they had to offer the role to the other candidate simply because the person had a statutory placement experience. The other one was with a charitable organisation (Action for Children) and even they said the same thing.
    I felt lack of statutory experience information was understated by the university although I am aware of their frustration as well because of funding cuts leading to fewer placements with local authorities.
    The most I could currently get is support work. It sometimes feel scarery just thinking about it incase I am not allowed to reregister with the HCPC.

  10. ED January 14, 2014 at 4:32 pm #

    As a student getting ready to go onto the final placement I, and a number of my class mates are concerned about the lack of statutory placements available. We are consistently told that whether you have any stat experience or not has no bearing on your employability and to be fair to the uni, the employment rates are consistently high amongst graduates but it is still a worry. It’s interesting reading here the different experiences of NQSW’s and interesting to hear that some employers are turning down candidates based on lack of stat experience. Something obviously needs to be done about this across the whole country, more stat placements are needed. Service users involved with our university have stated this as an issue they feel strongly about too so it’s not just about the students themselves. I do agree with the others that have mentioned selling yourself and promoting your transferable skills but this is pointless if it’s going to be overlooked by an employer that clearly wants someone with statutory experience.

  11. Sussanah Heywood January 14, 2014 at 4:55 pm #

    I didn’t have any stat experience when I graduated with a BA in July 2010 but managed to get interviews with 4 London LA’s and was offered a job by 2 of them by Sept 2010. In my opinion you need to think about what experience you did gain and clearly identify how that experience can be transferred in to a stat role.

  12. Catherine mclean January 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm #

    I am a 3rd year social work student. I am worried about what happens to my post qualifying year if I get a job in a place that isnt social work. I am working in a non stat voluntary placement. If a job comes up I’d love to work there but I don’t know what to do about my post qualifying year??! I don’t know who to ask about this. Everyone I’ve asked seems so unsure. If I take a non social work poision will it affect my future chances of being employed as a social worker. I’d be so grateful for any advice for me and my peers.
    Many thanks.

  13. Jojo January 14, 2014 at 8:59 pm #

    I did my final placement at CAFCASS after a first at age concern. I qualified in 2010 and was offered two jobs for the two interviews I attended. I work in the north west and We are currently taking on new practitioners some of which are NQSWs with no stat placement experience so don’t get disheartened!

  14. Jim Greer January 14, 2014 at 9:02 pm #

    We try to ensure that all of our students at Teesside get at least one statutory placement setting. For an accredited course you should have got at least one placement which involves experience of statutory procedures and this should be the case for you even if it wasn’t with a local authority. Having been a social work manager I would always be looking for graduates who showed enthusiasm and promise and a positive attitutude.You can give someone the experience and support they need to do the job once they are employed but it is more difficult to improve someone who is not motivated. I think the important thing to do is to sell the qualities and experience that you do have while acknowledging that there are things you still need to learn. That applies to all graduates. I would recommend getting some experience in a children’s residential care setting. This will give you experience of working with children who have been subject to statutory processes and it may give you the chance to make a good impression with a local authority and open doors when a field work opportunity arises .

  15. Louie January 14, 2014 at 10:23 pm #

    I completed my social work degree in September 2012 and registered with the HCPC. During my degree, I was mainly interested in adult social care but my final placement was in fostering. Since registering, I’ve applied for various social care jobs and noticed most the jobs are in children and family type services, with very few being advertised for NQSW or mentioned ASYE. I am applying for job in various children and adult services but I’m haven’t worked as a social worker since registering.

    In 2007 I heard it was possible to be employed as a local authority as a social worker / care co-ordinator as a newly qualified social worker in the Learning Disabilities adult social services. In 2013, I saw a similar job, with a similar job description but wanted to two years post qualifying experience. It not uncommon I find seeing the two year time bar for experience or seeing in adverts about having statutory experience. I wish also more adverts specified if they are not looking for NQSW, so I know if it is a job worth applying for or not.

    It upset me they are so many significant changes in the social care landscape for social worker over the last few years. Additionally, not having guidance, advice or support about planning a trajectory during or after the degree beyond the support of a generic university careers and employment service. For example, finding ways to gain the sort of experience which match what employers actually want and the creation of some sort of Personal / Professional Development Plan during the degree. I wish I thought of this during the degree. At the time, my degree was based NOS but I understand in England, it is now based on the PCF.

    My friends had various degrees of success finding employment, but most I am aware are not working as social workers. Some are working in local authorities as social workers and have had statutory placements. I was a student which didn’t have a statutory placement and I feel having statutory experience is important to have in a statutory setting such as a local authority or NHS Trust.

    In my opinion there appears a development of an inform post-graduation 1 to 2 years of just gaining experience. Such as working as a support worker and LA’s appear to be the main employers of social workers. For example, to gain an understanding of day to day of IT systems, working in a LA team and LA procedures. Two of my social work placements, I would be lucky if I saw a social worker; let a lone shadow one.

    Moreover, I go to job fairs or conferences for social care, I visit the local authority stands, put my name of their email lists and sometimes I get a response. It feels like a data collection exercise. In any case, I will keep on trying, I feel my degree has got to count for something; however, my HCPC registration expires in November 2014 and I am pondering if it is worth renewing.

    Lastly, I am wondering, it takes a lot gain the requirements to use the legal title of ‘social worker’ and I am seeing jobs advertised that doesn’t include this title. Such as Family Support Worker, Information Advice Worker, Case Worker and Support Coordinator. They don’t appear to require a social work degree, registration with a regulator and I feel this devalues the qualification I worked hard to gain.

  16. Helen O'Sullivan January 14, 2014 at 10:49 pm #

    I qualified in 2012 and am just finishing my first year in practice, i had a stat placement on a disabled children’s team but this didn’t make getting a job any easier. I went for interviews all over the country as I didn’t mind relocating for the right job, a lot of the replies I got was that i didn’t have enough child protection experience basically meaning they didn’t want to support me as they should as an NQSW. I finally got a job in wales who appear a lot more open to NQSW’s, it is in disabilities but that is were my passion is. My manager commented that although it’s good to have experienced workers she finds employing NQSW’s is positive for the team. Afterwards I thought about all the rejection and now think they weren’t the right employers because they would not have provided the guidance and support needed as an NQSW, all NQSW’s should think is this emploryer going to offer ME! what I need not just the other way round.

  17. Jessica Jackson January 15, 2014 at 12:02 pm #

    I qualified in July 2012 with a experience in a third sector hostel, and a private fostering agency, – I was able to secure a job in a statutory child protection team by setting myself a wide (1hr from home) radius for job applications and applied for a variety of posts. I made 14 job applications and attended 4 job interviews before securing my present position. I think you have to be flexible what area you are going to go into and how far away from home you are willing to travel. Doing lots of research before interview is essential. My lack of statutory experience has meant its been a steep learning curve but fortunately I have a supportive team.

  18. rachel January 15, 2014 at 4:50 pm #

    When i completed my DIPSW both my placements were not in statutory settings. When i qualified, for the first two years i undertook agency work in a variety of places to get used of working in a varity of different statutory settings and to develop my experience and skill base. This also helped me decide which area i wanted to practice in. I have never found this to be a problem.

  19. Nigel January 15, 2014 at 6:21 pm #

    I graduated in 2012 without a statutory placement. Since that time I have been invited to interviews but not been able to obtain employment. Having been invited to interview, I have always considered that whoever is interviewing has already concluded that I could fulfil the role. At no time, has the lack of a statutory placement been raised during those interviews. However, I have seen vacancies advertised by local authorities in which it has been stated that applicants without statutory placement training will not be considered, raising concerns on discrimination.
    Overall, I think that there are a number of important points to consider. One of those being that the university curriculum stated that a statutory placement would be guaranteed. In the absence of that guarantee, there is little now, post graduation, that can be done to resolve that.
    Secondly, with universities increasing their fees, there was a substantial increase in the number of students. At the university which I attended, the numbers doubled in the year before the tuition fees increased. Thus creating a massive increase in the number of graduates, who at some later stage will look for employment.
    Thirdly, with the cutbacks in funding for local authorities by the present coalition givernment, the number of vacancies for NQSW has declined. My local authority has advertised 1 NQSW vacancy in 3 years, whilst the local university is graduating 60 students each year.
    In my opinion, the employment market is massively squewed and will continue to be so until the level of demand and supply for NQSW reaches an equlibrium.
    At one recent interview, the local authority stated that 600 NQSW had applied for 6 vacancies. I doubt if the private sector (voluntary or charity) will be able to take up that many qualifying students for some time, if ever.
    Finally, unless I am able to obtain employment (soon) my registration with the HCPC becomes void and I’ve no idea yet how/if that may impact on my ability to join the profession. In the meantime, I will continue to apply for roles, as and when I find a vacancy but after a year and a half of looking, I’m no longer hopeful that employment will occur soon.

  20. Emma January 15, 2014 at 7:11 pm #

    I’m a first year student social worker. We have been told that our first placement is likely to be in the voluntary sector (mine is in a housing support service), but that our final placement is likely to (not guaranteed to) include some statutory work (although not guaranteed to be with an LA, maybe a private agency doing statutory work).. Overall not very clear, and the fact that there are no guarantees and little choice has been heavily emphasised!

  21. Shanti Boafor January 15, 2014 at 7:44 pm #

    Hi everyone,

    I am a final year Masters social work student at Kingston university. The simple advice that i’d like to share with fellow students and NQSWs is:

    if you have been placed in a non-statutory team for your placement (s) do not be disheartened. The most important thing is to express to your PS and PE that you would like STATUTORY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES such as being responsible for two or three case loads where you will have a learning agreement to write care and support plans and risk assessments etc.

    What you have to remember is that such a learning agreement is not only limited to students who are working in statutory placements such as the Local Authority or NHS but to non-statutory placements such as charities and other Non-Governmental Organisations. My first placement was with a charity but I negotiated with my PS and PE to gain real social work experience and my request was listened to and supported.

    Good luck everyone! x

  22. ashley cayzer January 16, 2014 at 3:40 pm #

    Hi all

    I qualified in 2011 and thought I was the only nqsw out there struggling to find employment. I even had a stat placement in my final year but that did not help in my quest for a sw role. I even applied for family support roles in a bid to gain more experience only to have the emphasis of the interview be around when I would be pursuing a sw career. So as it appeared I was under experienced for the role I trained for but over qualified for any role under that of a social worker. As I continued to work in my support work job that I had throughout uni I decided I would have to change the area of the jobs I was applying for. The job was giving me experience in the adult sector and I managed to get work in a secure mental health hospital to increase my chances of getting work in adult social work. This ultimately paid off as I am currently waiting for a start date for my 1st role. It is a community care position but it is the job I have been dreaming of within the hospital discharge team.

    I think it is such a hard task to find employment once qualified you have to be either 2 things in my opinion outstanding or experienced these will stand out on application I dont think placements are overly considered but maybe that was my bad experiences.

    Good luck to all who is searching for that chance to prove what you know and put it into practice.
    X

  23. Ruth January 16, 2014 at 10:34 pm #

    I qualified in 2012 with no statutory placement or statutory experience whatsoever and am now working in an LA safeguarding team, which is what I went into social work for. I spent my final year placement worrying myself sick about the employability issue. I would advise anyone in this position not to waste energy worrying about it but to focus on the area of social work you are interested in and gain voluntary and other experience that is relevant to the service user group you want to be working with. For example I gained voluntary experience in counselling children and young people. LAs do vary in their attitude to statutory placements/experience. I suspect that it is often the LAs that are struggling who insist on statutory experience – they haven’t got their acts together enough to invest time and resources in inexperienced NQSWs and want it all handed to them on a plate. Shop around and you will find the LAs which are willing to invest in your potential and enthusiasm and these will ultimately be the better employers.

  24. AL January 17, 2014 at 6:58 pm #

    Unfortunately there is much more competition now than when I qualified. Sadly, now if there is a choice between numerous NQSW’s with stat placement experience vs those without, those without will not be employed. There are expections to this rule but those are few and far between. Stat placements in particular in children’s services are a must for all students, especially given generally the jobs available to nqsw’s are children’s social care jobs.

  25. Ali ahmed January 18, 2014 at 8:40 am #

    Many factors influence anyone’s opportunity to get job as a qualified social worker. I am a new qualified Social worker graduated on 2013. I have been to two interview and it did not brought me any change. I had one statutory placement and one private company placement. I don’t agree with those who stated above that nowadays there is no social work positions in local authority due to austerity measures. But most of social work positions specially children and families are protected from budget cut. What I found out was local authority very much rely on agency workers instead of supporting newly qualified social workers to strength their workforce. As you know, agency workers are paid significant salary compared to those directly employed. The big issue is that the local authority is not thinking about the improvement of their social workforce in long term. They are carries away by the day to day actives happening around them. My local authority to which I applied most my application recently criticised by the Ofsted for their extensive use of agency social worker instead of investing on the workforce they need. Moreover, although black and ethnic minority disproportionality represented in all social work related public provision as service user, most of the local authorities didn’t encourage social worker with diverse background. I found interview, feedback and facilities in interview beyond the standard of what most of time Local authority boast off as equal opportunity employer. As black and ethnic background from different culture I found difficult to understand why the local authority simply engage in dealing with the issue at the moment rather than plan ahead by investing on people.

    Therefore, I am the opinion that many factors impact on your opportunities to secure job as social worker. Having placement with statutory authority might the reason that may determine whether you get job or not, but other also affect. Lack of cultural difference and disregard of critical thinking also play a role vein offered job or not. I worked in most of local authorities as a social care worker for the last 2 years and I came across unwillingness to work in a way that address the issue from different perspective. You have to blend with preexisting way of doing things of you want to continue being employed.

  26. Ali abdi January 19, 2014 at 10:29 pm #

    Thanks at least you have posted my complaint. I thought a place where progressive social worker congregate will be more understanding than other places. Anyway let me talk about my mind regarding the question posted on this forum. From my point of view, recruitment and employment in social work does not only depend only whether you have a statutory placement or not. It depends on many factors. Sometimes you can say this recruitment process is blighted with a lot of hidden agendas that it might become a process that exhaust you and loose trust on the whole system. I had a statutory and third sector placement both in adult and children. Initially I concentrated to apply to positions I thought I would be strong. Although I graduated in June last year, I had two interviews. But I was not lucky enough to be offered the job. Were I the weakest not to get the position? I doubt. The recruitment process is not transparent. Although I replied all the questions correctly, I did not got the position. What could be the reason I was not offered the job? Many reasons I can offer. One of them is our reluctance to accept people with cultural difference. We don’t also want people with more critical mind. We like status quo and the way things have been done in the last hundred years. In one of my interview, a panel member commented if I am not too political. As a social worker, we have to be more political because politics not only affect our profession and professional but also service users, I.e. People we work and advocate for. Some local authority are operating as if they are doing their job in emergency situation. That means in other words, they don’t think in long term. They use too much agency workers without investing to create a strong work force. This has contributed to reliance on short term workers. As a result, newly graduated social workers don’t have place in the system.

    I don’t specify the difficulty of getting a social work position for newly qualified to only whether they have statutory placement or not. There are many other factors they impact on you chance of landing on one of your dream job. As long there is no reform in recruitment and interviewing process, I doubt newly qualified social workers specially those from black and ethnic minority will encounter serious employility problem for the foreseeable future. Black and ethnic minority is not a monolithic structure. Some of black and ethnic minority suffers a lot within the current system. The diversity of our service users would have required us to recruit from some black and ethnic minority. Sometimes the equal opportunity slogan in every employer declaration seems to be a tokenstic gesture. Britain social service will remain unconcerned to the plight of the hard to reach community as long as it ignore the few professionals from this social group.

  27. Janet Cornmell January 21, 2014 at 2:49 pm #

    Reading all of the comments so far regarding experiences relating to having statutory placements being linked to being successful at being offered posts after qualifying as a Social Worker, takes me right back to when I was training in the latter part of the 1990’s and generally, the same issues were apparent then – on my course we were all worried about the shortage of good quality, statutory placements. The message I would give to current and future trainee Social Worker’s is to remain as positive as possible, be confident in your achievements, and remember your transferable skill’s. Consider relevant voluntary work linked to an area of Social Work in some way that you are interested in, say at weekends and evenings, and keep up a consistent search for work every weekday. Try to be as creative as you can be, and think outside the box as you look for opportunities. If possible, it may be worthwhile considering moving to another location in order to gain employment with forward thinking local authorities for a while, to gain the necessary statutory experience for local jobs later on in your career.

    Some of the voluntary sector posts can offer excellent appropriate experience so consider applying when posts are advertised.

    Never give up hope of finding the job you really want, if you are persistent, enthusiastic, well motivated and determined then you are likely to succeed, completing good job applications takes a lot of time and effort which is going to be worth it. Once in a Social Work job you will probably wonder why you were worried, and you will realize what an amazing job it is which is just the reason you chose it as a career in the first place!

    Statutory Social Work as much as I personally like to work within this area, is certainly not the only option available to high calibre Social Work graduates, who usually bring with them so many skill’s and also an up to date, sound knowledge, skill’s and values base too.

  28. Berni January 24, 2014 at 9:36 pm #

    I think it helps to have had a statutory placement but i do not think it is essential to get that elusive job. I qualified in 2012 and had 34 interviews last year. True , not all of these were social work roles but i was quite picky and focused in terms of job leverage and getting experience that would help my personal development. I went to a LA ( Liverpool ) interview just before Christmas for an adult substance misuse team. I knew that another candidate from the agency was going and he had fifteen years of experience in front line social work . Neither of us got the job.

    Its sad but you do tend to feel unwanted and rejected by your own profession. Managers have said that thresholds are so high now when a case is taken on that someone without the right amount of experience would not be able to cope and teams can only cope with so much in terms of NQSW and providing support to them. The cuts are ongoing and here in the north west we have been stripped right back in all , and i mean all services. I currently volunteer for two organisations and do have some unrelated paid work thankfully but i have to say that i am very concerned that my HcPc reg will not be renewed. I have taken on as much as i am able in terms of support work and voluntary work but i have just about arrived at the conclusion that if i want to preserve my sanity and sense of self i may need to give up my dream job , as how many times can a person be told the same thing before the penny drops. Social workers will return in numbers , they always do.

    Good luck to us all

  29. PS January 26, 2014 at 5:31 pm #

    I qualified in 2013, neither of my placements were in a statutory setting. However, I got the first job I applied and interviewed for as a social worker in a safeguarding and family support team. The jobs are there, especially in safeguarding so prepare well for interview. I have found a lot of LA’s are willing to take on NQSW, and all my friends who qualified at the same time have found qualified posts. Don’t let not having statutory placements put you off applying, just concentrate on transferable skills and know the legislation and frameworks!