Final year student looking for work

I am a final year MA social work student who finished placement and lectures in May, however I don't hand in my dissertation until September so won't officially be finished until then. Does anyone know of local authorities who would take me on as an unqualified worker and pay me say a social work assistant rate until I finishe, or whether it's not worth looking until my dissertation is in?

Any advice would be appreciated! 

 

Thanks

• Filed under: Careers, work, Student

GlitterIsLove:

I am a final year MA social work student who finished placement and lectures in May, however I don't hand in my dissertation until September so won't officially be finished until then. Does anyone know of local authorities who would take me on as an unqualified worker and pay me say a social work assistant rate until I finishe, or whether it's not worth looking until my dissertation is in?

Any advice would be appreciated! 

 

Thanks

really not sure how it works at the moment but last year that was basically how youd be taken on as a social worker - they interview berfore the qulaification and then take you on while employing you at a lower rate (social worker asistnat/ family support worker) untill you were fully GSCC registered. 

Ive never seen in all my job searches over the last few years social worker assistant advertised but Im sure there must be some out there that have?

My advice would be to apply for qualified SW posts. I did this in my first post qualifying job, even though I was finishing late and had to wait for my qualification to come through. So, my title, until the qualification came through, (about 4 months) was 'community care worker' and I became SW when I got the certificate. It was an automatic transition, I didn't need to re-apply for the post or anything like that. If they want you, they will wait. Incidentally, the pay was the same- as they gave top of the CCW scheme, which was the same as starting pay for SW.

I qualified last year and have just been offered my first job! So my advice is to start looking now. Any permanent roles that you apply for take a good few months for you to be put into post due to CRBs taking ages and HR generally being slow. I have one friend who was offered a role in May last year and began in October. She had not finished the course when applying, so I think that the LA would take it into consideration, as Im sure you would need to include that info in your person spec.

Good luck, and I hope it doesnt take you as long to get a job as it has me and most of my friends!!!!!

GlitterIsLove

Things have got quite tough out there recentlyand a good few NQ's are having very real difficulty getting their first pre qualifying job. I would apply for anything and everything that you are willing to do and if it's unqualified be prepared to do it a little bit longer than you might hope to.

There are posts on this site from NQ's from last year who are still trying to get their first pre qualifying position and even people with loads of relevant PQ experience who have had a career break and are having problems getting back into the workforce.

Best wishes and good luck.