I have roughly three years experience in adult social work but am realising that this isn't the vocation for me. There appears to be a lot of difficulties within the profession, inexperienced managers, LA's not knowing the direction there taking, no career structure and a general lack of appreciation from government of the role of social workers. I have heard and read that many social workers are leaving the profession. I wanted to know if anyone knows of anyone leaving the profession and the kind of jobs that they have gone on to have that isn't social work. Any advice on alternative career options with an MA in social work would be appreciated.
Could get yourself a companion and go fight injustice in the wild west. Might be a bit easier.
Cheers.
Shirack: Could get yourself a companion and go fight injustice in the wild west. Might be a bit easier. Cheers.
Shirack:Could get yourself a companion and go fight injustice in the wild west. Might be a bit easier. Cheers.
Sorry to hear you have had enough.
I know some people who do a contract to get them enough money to live on and then take time off and do other stuff.
These include ski seasons, allotments, sailing,spending the summer enjoying the summer where they live, travelling, not doing social work, having a laugh.
Things are not going to get better as the country is skint. There is always work for experienced locums who can handle walking into teams that are all over the place.
Social work is always something I have done on a sessional/locum basis and I feel happy in life and as long as you can downsize and the lure of having SKY HD, the latest fashions and a sports car are resistable, living a simpler life is just great.
I might sound like Lester Burnam of American Beauty (without the murder and schoolgirl fantasies I should add) but "I suddenly realized that i felt, well, sedated, but then I realized, its never too late to get it back".
Go locum my friend and claim your freedom from all the nonsense you are experiencing. The pay is often better and its very good experience.
After having worked in child protection for 20 years I had enough of social work. I have worked in teams where children have been killed by their parents , cases which were widely reported in the press and the allocated social workers villified by the public. I knew first hand that these workers were actually excellent at thier job and that it could have been me who had been the allocated social worker and my life destroyed instead. Also I was sick of standing up for myself and as a result frequently recieving poor references by disgruntled managers who were usually fairly incompetent I became a manager myself for a time in local authorities and in charity organisations and realised that in order to meet all the required targets I would have to abuse my staff ( by allocating cases they realistically could not safely work) or risk being disciplined myself or lose my job. Some time ago I realised that I wanted to make decent money to prepare for my retirement which social work could not offer me. I am now a property developer. I have never been so happy. I enjoy a very good income without having to exploit anyone. It is possible to earn serious cash and at the same time help people. I know my new career would not be for everyone but many of the skills I learned in social work have stood me in good stead in my new role.