Hello all,
I'm just about to graduate this year with a Social Work MA from England. However, my plans have changed in that I may have to move to Scotland with my partner for his job.
I understand that there are different laws and regulations in Scotland so I was wondering what the chances are of me gaining employment up there?
What would I have to do to register as a Social Worker and develop my knowledge of Scottish practice?
Thanks
Student Social Worker
www.sssc.uk.com
Yes find out how to register with SSSC, read the "Social Work Scotland Act 1968, and then onwards through hundreds of separate peices of legislation outlining the Childrens Hearing System, the system of District Courts Sheriff Courts Stipenary Magistrates Courts and the High Courts that back them up, the various Criminal Justice and Management of Offenders Acts and the whole Criminal Justice Social Work system and how that links to the Scottish Prison Service and the Young Offender Institution and how you get there if you are between 16 and 18 years old and still eligible to be dealt with by the Childrens Hearing system.....How to find a Sheriff in the middle of the night to ask for any of the various orders required to protect children, ....then go to the Mental Health ( Scotland ) Acts and find out how that differs from England and the processes and the various powers and detainable sections thatMental Health Officers can use, and perhaps the Adoption Process and its links to the Childrens Hearing System and Sheriff courts, and well as what constitutes an offence or grounds for referral to the Childrens hearing in terms of Childcare or neglect.......the State benefits are almost universal across the UK..except for education fees and bursaries, oh and of course the legendary free care for the elderly has huge implications for Community Care Social Workers....what else..oh yes you need to know all the words to both verses of Flower of Scotland, and all six verses of Auld Lang Syne....you need to know if you are a Rangers supporter or a Celtic Supporter, even if you didn't think you were either!!
Other than that its a doddle!!
Except all the employers are skint and have cut back on recruiting, and the Newly Qualified Social Workers are struggling to get their first post, though if you are experienced in a specialism and have post qualifying qualifications that should certainly give you a good edge.
Have a look at this site...https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/home/
It has all the Social Worker jobs in any of the 32 Scottish Local Authorities and will give you an idea what is about...and the names of the councils. You will need a map to visualise where each job is .....some are scarily remote ...some have an unfair reputation for scary inner city deprivation and deep fried mars bars......it is a great place though...I spent a lot of time there.
Its where I learned to drop punctuation and paragraphs!!
Hey there! Some excellent advice from Silver Sage there and although some of it slightly tongue in cheek (rangers/celtic etc) sectarianism is a huge issue in Scotland and you should certainly attempt to gain at least a basic understanding of it. I work in a community mental health team in Scotland, I only qualified last May, went for 2 interviews and was offered both positions...so there is hope! I believe most of my cohort are now in full time employment in a variety of settings. Similarly to most places you'll find most of the vacancies are in children's services but if this is what you're looking for you shouldn't have any issues.
As far as I am aware you do not have to complete any additional training to practice in Scotland when you qualified in England but it may be worth double checking with the SSSC. You would of course however have to demonstrate an understanding of the differences between practice in both countries, largely outlined in the post above. I worked in England before I qualified and I do remember the legislation relating to people with mental health issues, incapacity issues etc being quite significantly different; check the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 for example, such provision is not enshrined in legislation in England.
Anyway, sorry I'm probably not offering you much advice, I think Silver Sage covered most things but if I can help at all just drop me a line! : )
Perhaps your lack of initiative in trying to do some research yourself is worrying 'Hope2betc'.
Rupert M: Perhaps your lack of initiative in trying to do some research yourself is worrying 'Hope2betc'.
Ah G'wan ...give her a break......isn't asking us researching? Risky, true! cos I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, but but unbeatable prices! There you go!!
Rupert M-
Perhaps you shouldn't be a social worker if you're making sarcastic comments like that. Social Work is meant to be a non-judgmental practice, clearly you have not shown enough initiative to do research into your own profession.
You must be one of those people who delight in upsetting others under the mask of an internet name.
I dread to think what you are like to actually work with if you're this horrible online.
I believe that you learn better and remember more by using initiative and undertaking your own research first - by all means ask afterwards but not as the first resort. Too many people use this Forum to seemingly avoid making any initial efforts themselves first.
I do not 'hide' my identity.
Philip J Measures
Former Registered social worker.