I'm thinking about applying for the MSW, but I'm really keen to shadow a QSW before I go ahead. Reason being, I've read a lot/worked alongside QSWs/talked a lot to service users, but I'm very cautious that the reality of SW is very different to what I'm expecting.
I have contacted individual SWs in the LA I used to work, but was given the blanket 'confidentiality issues, no chance mate' reply. Which I understand - teams under tremendous pressure etc - but didn't get me any further forward.
Has anyone who is not already on a Masters managed this?
When you say LA what area do you actually mean?
I managed to shadow a social worker before starting the MA through work connections (in a hospital). I imagine that to get the sort of experience necessary for the MA then you'd have worked in a social care related setting. Are there any links to social workers through there?
Dont bother cold calling people. I tried it and it never worked! There're too busy and as you pointed out, confidentiality issues. Good luck
Morning Jigs
Yes, you guessed correctly, I do have contacts through my experience in social care - but they aren't playing ball, so I don't want to press it.
Each LA will have a Workforce development lead. You could contact them for advice and ask if there were any shadowing opportunities.
That's not a bad idea.
To my knowledge there's not a central contact list. You could try the CWDC, but I have to say I think they'd refuse to share theirs....but worth a go.
You'll probably have to end up taking a day out to Google them.. start off with your preferred locations if i were you.
Issues of confidentiality will minimise any usefulness. Unless you are on a Course / CRB checked then I think that the chances are nil.
Which is a shame and short -sighted in my view.
I do have a current enhanced CRB from volunteering work, but of course they aren't transferable at the moment.
They don't make it easy to enter the citadel, do they? I wonder how many potentially good people they lose this way.
Don't give up before you've even asked :) I think the suggestion to talk to the LA person in charge of workforce development is a really good one. If you can't find a name just ring up the front desk and ask to be put through to the training team who deal with internal social care training. Tell them that you have a current enhanced CRB, it's not transferrable but still useful info for them.
I think when I did my shadowing that the social worker I shadowed actually had something about getting involved with training as part of her personal development plan, so me shadowing her for a few days was part of her training (from their point of view) rather than mine.
Elllk: Which is a shame and short -sighted in my view. I do have a current enhanced CRB from volunteering work, but of course they aren't transferable at the moment. They don't make it easy to enter the citadel, do they? I wonder how many potentially good people they lose this way.
Would you have Jo Bloggs from the street coming to see you when you are at your most vulnerable and discussing your most personal matters? And all that just so Jo Bloggs can decide whether this is a career for them or not? there are reasons why opportunities for shadowing this line of work are extremely limited and only to very specific tasks and after a lot of scrutiny. What's to stop you from gossiping later down the pub with your mates ablout what you've seen? Maybe I would make a perfect Army officer too, but they are not going to let me shadow a meeting involving secrets of the state just so i can decide whether it is for me or not... Even after youqualify the opportunities for shadowing will be judged accoridng to the impact on the service users, i had to negotiate with my colleagues which visits and meetings our NQSW could observe precisely because a piece of social Work will ALWAYS be about what is best for the service user, anything else comes second or third. I have never been able to get a student or NQSW to shadow CAMHS either - for these exact reasons. There are opportunities to observe Social Workers in action if you volunteer with organizations like Home Start - although i do know that there are serious pressures on charities at the moment due to funding cuts. I am also sure you can get a fairly good idea of what we do and how we do it from this forum - whether you would actually believe and accept when you are told what it is really like, is a completely different matter.
Woah there, Nelly!
Firstly, I have said nothing about just rocking up to observe a service user in their most vulnerable state. Of course I understand that the priority in any situation is the service user - and that they may not wish to have a stranger 'observing' them, on what may seem like a whim.
I have worked closely with social workers, so understand the complexities of the work.
When I said, I wasn't sure about the reality of social work, I did not mean that social workers are trying to pull the wool over my eyes about what they do - rather that, my work with social workers to date has prompted me to interrogate the glossy brochures about social work 'as a career' - that it is in fact more complex and difficult than the marketing of this profession suggests. So my uncertainty is actually borne of sympathy with, not hostility to, your profession.
Regarding shadowing - of course there are some interactions which are just too sensitive for a non professional to attend. However, I know that there is some work which a person in my situation could attend, with the service user's understanding and permission. I know this because I have actually done it - when I worked for a LA. I was not a social worker, but because I had been through the LA's HR procedures (CRB check etc), I was allowed to do this. I would like to continue to do some of this kind of shadowing, but now I no longer work for the LA, it seems this isn't possible.
Of course you don't let anyone in off the street. You conduct rigorous and sensitive selection - starting with the CRB check, but equally importantly with a thorough interview that assesses motivation and attitudes, references and confidentiality agreement - so that the applicant understands they shouldn't be 'gossiping', as you put it.
Having worked in other sectors, I would also say that other professions aren't like this. It is possible to volunteer at a hospital, for example, after undergoing these rigorous checks, to gain work experience.
Well said...first and foremost as social workers we must be aware of our own values and the judgements we can make. I hope you are able to find some form of shadowing opportunity to inform your decision making about following a career in social work, it’s good to know people recognise it’s a serious decision requiring a level of personal research and serious contemplation...
Thanks BB.
I've come across a few social work students who are shocked by the reality of the work - and they did read the forums, journals, talk to people. So I feel taking steps to get more experience is in fact more respectful to yourself - and to your potential future service users.
Is there a particular University you have in mind if you do decide to take up the qualification?
The reason I ask is that at my Uni there is one member of staff who arranges the placements for students, and that member of staff has numerous contacts. It may be worth trying to contact the person that does this role at the Uni you are considering, explaining your predicament and they may be able to give you some advice or at least give you a contact name at a LA they use.
If there is some form of selection procedure, a letter of introduction from a reputable organisation and a full CRB check undertaken then I believe that there should be shadowing opportunities available.
Can't really understand why some people are so negative about the idea as I think that it shows initiative and we have given shadowing opportunities in the past.
Many of our service users are vulnerable but if you explain the situation and ask them if they mind someone shadowing them at then you give them the choice if they have capacity to make this decision. otherwise you don't allow the shadowing to happen.
The idea that somehow you can protect service users all the time is quite naive in my view and for many of them whilst we are not there between the hours of 9-5 from Monday to Friday they are still leading their lives in the community and sometimes very risky lives. I hardly think that someone interested in being a social worker and shadowing is one of the greatest risks they will have to face.
If by allowing shadowing to happen you find people who either find they want to do the job or people who realise that it is not for them you are helping to ensure that those who go in to the degree are doing so with their eyes open.
Your experience and motives are very valid and you are correct in my view that not enabling shadowing is very short sighted.
Sorry for late reply, but thank you for your input. Couldn't agree more. Thanks for the idea of contacting the uni - I may try this. As discussed, I find it strange - I have friends/relatives in other caring professions, regularly in contact with the vulnerable - they actually encourage this kind of shadowing (given the proper checks) for the precisely the reason you cite - they would rather people know what they are letting themselves in for.
Thanks again, armed with this input I shall plough on.
I am not sure how beneficial observing one SW on one visit would be. You would not be able to be present on a Safeguarding or Mental Health Assessment which leaves a very limited range of SW activities. Also pot luck how useful that would be. on any given day. You say you have spoken to social workers and have some understanding of what we do. Reading Community Care and blogs on this site should enable you to gain further insight as to current issues also by attending Community Care Live. Sorry to appear negative. Good you are thinking carefully as to whether you want to become a social worker.