Having only just qualified and geared up for using these skills in the workplace I have suddenly become disillusioned with the whole thing, a job opportunity from final placement fell through at the last minute, and I am now cast adrift in the mire of the job seeking masses. Even on community care website there is only 1 newly qualified role, with all other jobs, including on all other sites stating at least 2 years post qualifying experience necessary, i.e don't even bother wihtout it. Having applied for many support worker roles without success (only feedback I have had says I am over qualified) I am rapidly running out of options. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? And have others had the same experience? May be a warning to all those excitedly starting out on their social work education, it is a worthwhile experience for personal growth but with only 1 single job available for the thousands qualifying this year, I wouldn't be holding out much hope for an actual career at the end of it.
Mackers, I'm in exactly the same boat. When I started my course 3 years ago we were told we were "guaranteed" a job at the end of it provided we did well on the course.
Having recently finished the course and just waiting for results in July before I can register as qualified, I'm finding there are NO social work jobs in my area, none at all. There are a few (literally) a bit further afield, but they're telling me not to both applying due to my not having had 2 years post qualifying experience.
I do wonder how we're expected to get those two years when nobody will even give us the benefit of the doubt and an interview?? It's all very frustrating.
The few more substantial "people" jobs here haven't even bothered to reply to my applications. It's so rude in this day and age not even to acknowledge people - an email is free and instant and could be sent "en mass" so to speak.
So like you, I'm forced to look into care work - something I have plenty of experience of already and am not in a hurry to return to. Currently I have a bank position at a local nursery, earning £6ph before tax... less than I was earning 3 years ago before the course.
I agree what you say about others just embarking on the degree - I'd be very concerned if I were them :( It's all very sad when teams continue to be overworked and understaffed, and there are good, enthusiastic workers out there desperate for jobs... x
Hi Mackers,
I'm just about to finish my degree in a couple of days and I have the exact same concerns!!! I've applied for 4 jobs and heard nothing!! Slowly losing the will! Absolutely ridiculous about you being turned down for support worker roles...i currently do a relief support worker role as a part time job and they see my qualification as a bonus! Keep perservering with support work jobs as they can provide excellent learning and experience for a social work role!
Seems like there are a lot of people in the same boat! If all esle fails...at least we are all in it together!!
If its so hard to get a job after qualifying how come when the brown stuff hits the extraction equipment the first cry from those seeking to avoid responsibility is "we are understaffed, we cant get the staff"
All social work courses should be suspended.
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Unemployed Social Worker: All social work courses should be suspended.
Not sure what you are saying................
Do you mean that because there are no jobs- continuing to provide training is just producing an unnecessary excess of workers?
Or do you mean that you do not feel your course made you a sufficiently competent worker?
Both
Not sorry for myself more anger that the system/profession is not working properly which has caused so many social workers to chase less and less posts. There should be a more organised way of getting the experience.
Are doctors left to their own devices in order to get experience?
I feel your pain! I am about to embark on my final year in September and already dreading the thought of finding a job (and this is before I qualify!!!!).
I currently work in a childrens residential home on a terrible wage, it is beginning to look like I will be begging them to keep me employed!!
Does anyone have anything positive to say about my future career??????
Unemployed Social Worker: Not sorry for myself more anger that the system/profession is not working properly which has caused so many social workers to chase less and less posts. There should be a more organised way of getting the experience. Are doctors left to their own devices in order to get experience?
sadly they prolly are -also sure there was a rthing about newly qual doctors not being able to get posts a while ago - its happened in nursing physiotherapy and psychology - none of which makes you feel better i appreciate
i do agree that there seems to be a pointless conveyor belt of NQSW who cant get jobs - i suspect what will happen is that the bursary will be withdrawn and social work applications will fall thru the floor very very soon whether bursay goes or not.
i know this may not be the job that people trained to do but im quite excited by some of the big society roles that are coming out - the rhetoric they give at least sounds like what social work is supposed to be - hopefully that doesnt become some govt machine to oppress people !
Also try the civil service - social policy etc would be relevant for a sw qual
whispers:@unemployedsw- thank you for clarifying. You really are feeling sorry for yourself, huh?
to be fair USW isnt saying anything revolutionary - its much much harder to get jobs now and the course - especially the placement experience doesnt prepare you for the job you actually do if you work for an LA
Hi, I was in the same position as you when I qualified, not enough experience for social work and over qualified for support work. That was until I joined some agencies and applied though support work through them (family support work) employers were snapping my hand off as they percieved my social work training and experience to be extreamly valuable. Im currently working as a family support worker, gaining lots of child protection experience (core groups, conferences etc) and earning £15 per hour. Join some agencies and specify that you are specifically interested in support work
I seriously could have written this post. I actually had to look at the name to see if I had
I also lack the appropriate experience.
Do not feel like a qualified professional- feel like educated support staff.
I have also been turned down for support work/floating support work (over qualified) and family centre work- when I asked for feedback there they said they had over 200 applicants and had to be 'ruthless' with their shortlisting...
I keep saying it 6 years of study . 30k in debt and potentially faced with earning the same wage as I was before I embarked on all this.
Wish I had never bothered some days...
Yep, me too - I qualify next month and there's not even any jobs to apply for let alone be given an interview for. Would I have bothered doing three years' training if I'd known I'd probably be better off staying as a support worker? I'm really not sure.
Sorry to hear some of the posts on hear.
I also get my papers in July, Touch wood, and have applied for between 20 – 30 jobs without even a sniff of an interview. Have also been advised by the two job agencies I attempted to sign on with that there was no point in signing me up as they can’t do anything for NQSW.
At the time of starting training I was advised that there was jobs galore and would have my hand bitten off once finished. Then the economic downturn hit. To be fair it’s not just social work, I have met people from all types of different career paths and they are also finding it hard to find work. I think NQSW alongside many other professions are just going to have to ride out the next five years or so until things get a bit better.
It’s true for many students that the lack of quality placements are hard to come by, but don’t let that put you off of training. if you are reading this post as the best thing to do for the next few years is to get into education and out of the employment market and try to ride it out.
Hang in there
Hi Robbietor
To be honest I think it’s about the staff team and practice assessor you get. I know from an employment angle everyone says get a stat placement but you can learn lots from a voluntary agency. However, there are also pressures for the university’s to find placements and some of the people in my year were given some odd and unsuitable placements to learn about the role of social work. If you can I would suggest getting at least one placement with a children and families team as this seems to be the area with the greatest employment chances and also where most social work takes place.
Thinking about it I could see the funding for training being withdrawn in the next few years and with the fees going up to £9000 a year the degree could be changed back to a diploma. It stands to reason as I can see many people getting in forty to fifty thousand pounds worth of debt for a job that does not have the same £ rewards as law or medicine.
So anyone who completed the degree traing may well end up being in a select few.
I think this is perhaps an almost univeral issue and repeated across many professions. I know of qualified teachers and nurses who gave up full-time, permanent employment to retrain, and are now struggling to find any work (even minimum wage) They have families are are not in a position to relocate, and are increasingly disillusioned and questioning whether their journey was worth the effort!! I am currently undertaking my degree, and am clinging to my P/T job no matter how tough it gets as I can't risk finding myself jobless at the end!
I have had a very positive experience finding work in a NQSW role. Infact I started my new job in chidren and families four weeks ago and am not even finished uni yet!!
''Those who imprison themselves within the confines of one model only have the perspective of the keyhole''
whispers:wheyayehinny; This is not about numbers of social workers available ...........statutory social work these days needs experience, cos just about all of it 's complex work and when the poop is about to hit the fan it's hardly the task for the newly qualified.
Then how are NQSWs going to get the 'two years experience reqd" if they arent going to get the chance of employment?
This is the problem I have come up against. Have lots of experiance in support worker roles, from housing to mental health, youth offending. But none in childrens and families. So if any future students are reading this try and aim to get one of your placments in a families team.
wheyayehinny: whispers:wheyayehinny; This is not about numbers of social workers available ...........statutory social work these days needs experience, cos just about all of it 's complex work and when the poop is about to hit the fan it's hardly the task for the newly qualified. Then how are NQSWs going to get the 'two years experience reqd" if they arent going to get the chance of employment?
That is the problem. Expecting an answer to it? Then you prob never worked in stat SW.
Hi to those who are about to qualify & well done.
I graduated last year, and as yet still haven't managed to get a social worker position, so i share your frustration.
However I have had a few interviews and have gained some good contacts within social service departments that have given me good advice on how to get my foot in the door.
The only advice that I can give you is to try and look at 'community worker / outreach worker jobs' or any unqualified social worker jobs to gain the experience they are now asking for, it is the only way you are going to get prospective employers to look at you seriously these days.
I have loads of pre- qualification experience but have found that its almost useless, as employers are looking for you to prove that you can use your new acquired skills after qualification, especially now employers can have the pick of the crop.
So, those of you who thought all the hard work is over, well I'm afraid to tell you that's not the case. I personally wouldn't bother with agencies as I have found they are very good at promising you work to sign you up, but this never materialises. seek the job-centre sites, NHS, council, partnership trust sites etc, for unqualified roles, ensure that you mention on your application that due to the current climate you are looking to gain further 'practical' post qualification experience, to reduce to the risk of being told your over qualified. Also being employed, even in a lower grade positions open many doors to future positions.
However this doesn't mean to stop applying for qualified roles, as even if you don't get the job it's great experience in gaging what employers are looking for and help you to fully master application & interview skills.
Always remember to study up on the sector your applying for as you will be expected to display a good knowledge of the sector, the team / agency you are applying to.
But most of all, believe in yourself. you are not the only ones struggling to find a position, it doesn't mean that there is something wrong with you, it's just the way things are at the moment.
I hope this information comes in useful to you, so please don't give up & good luck.
Hi redana
its a catch 22 of sorts
It's the fall-out from the Bankers and Gordon Brown plus the global recession.
And NO, I don't think the present Government is any better than the last one, or the one before that, or the one before that, or the one etc. etc.etc.
I qualified last year and began work three days after I finished the degree. Most people have found work, but not all.
It is definitely harder this year.
Some jobs may not say newly qualified but this does not mean you can't apply. Look for the for the grading of the job as this will tell you how experienced you need to be. can't remeber the scale though sorry.
I got a statutory job with no placement experience in childrens work (placements were both voluntary adults). Get that interview and knock em dead!! You have a degree and who's to tell you you're not good enough?
out of intereset is it always statutory social work experience that they look for now or would experience in other services count - like family support or counselling - it used to just not sure of the job market now ....
Statutory experiance has been asked for in all my applications so far. Although I do know of people wwho have landed jobs without it, but that was last year.
It's the same in all of social work- and probably elsewhere too. No one is prepared to invest in you unless you have the experience- it's too much of a risk.
When you are working as a Social Worker it's also the same. If you want a management position (not that I ever have- I am a practitioner, not a manager) then you need to evidence that you have managed staff and managed budgets. Yet, you are unlikely to get that experience until you are doing the job.
When workers are in abundance, employers will cherry pick........harsh, but that's life. I don't see how you can change it ?......other than wait for a shortage of social workers.
Oh no this doesnt sound too good.
i'm about to start my ma in september. and im wondering is there any point. with a house and car to run two years of not very much income seems way too much of a sacrifice if im not guaranteed a job at the end of it.
is it worth putting myself through the stress???
Hi
Just picked up on this thread. This may not be the advice/answer you are looking for but I hope it helps. Use the CQC/Ofsted sites to look for companies that specialise in areas of social care such as supported living for people with LD or school for children with EBD. I accede that that pay and conditions will not be at the same level as LA but you will be able to use your skills and maintain your registration with a view to gaining the expereince required for the social work roles in the future. You will also be able to continue to build you network of contacts.
Hi Lady B
Go for it if its something you really want to do, but if its not and your in a well paid job I would think twice about it.
Thank you all for some words of wisdom and some useful advice!
Not sure it does make me feel any better to know that there are many more in my position, just makes me think of all the other newly qualifieds vying for the same post, but that may just be me being a little pessimistic.
I have been beavering away for the past few weeks applying to nearly a hundred jobs, some of which only vaguely fit the bill or anything like it. Hoping for at least some response soon. The time it takes to modify each application is probably akin to full time work, with a little overtime added here and there, so at least I'm keeping up the working routine.
As far as statutory placement experience goes I'm not sure there really is much of a difference when applying (I was lucky/unlucky enough to have stat placements for both mine, in adults and in childrens) and it hasn't gained me any response from either the local authorities I'm applying to or the agencies I've attempted to sign up to. It seems to be the huge "newly qualified" sign above my head that seems to be causing me the problems rather than a lack of previous working experience or statutory placement experience.
On a side note, and trying not to sound too bitter here, but it seems that the majority of my peers from the university course who have managed to secure jobs have had the contacts in place all along. Aunties who run stat teams, fathers who provide training for L.A's etc, seems even the supposedly non-discriminatory, equal opportunities world of social work still lives by the rule of "its not what you know but who you know". Damn you dad and your bus driving occupation!
Hi Mackers
Funny you should say that "its not what you know but who you know". Thats the last thing I was advised by my college in responce to me asking what I could do to improve my employment chances. To be honest I cant see myself going into social work at this rate, but on the positive still got the degree at the end of it.
Hi Hugs - I have a feeling we may know each other ;-)
Anyway, I'm having the same trouble as you - I haven't even got interviews for social work posts. It's just soul destroying that we've been working so hard for three years and I'm now looking at positions at the same level as when I started! What was the point ?!
Let's hope things pick up soon and those jobs we were supposed to walk into soon appear...
Hi,
I just wanted to add some positive news to this thread for NQSW's. I too have just qualified in fact I graduated yesterday and I have secured my first social work position with a local authority.
I did not have a statutory placement during my degree and I applied for all the jobs I saw advertised even if they asked for PQ experience - this is the advice we were given at uni.
I know that i am very lucky but i think if I can do it, anyone can - just keep job hunting and apply for everything.