Social Work?

Hi
Am looking for some advice on what to do next in terms of career/study. I've been working with young people with learning difficulties for 2 years. I love it and I've learnt so much and gained new skills. I really enjoy helping people, caring for them and advocating for them. I have a degree in Psychology and went into this current job straight after leaving university. I knew when I started the job that on paper I was over-qualified to be a carer but have nevertheless gained so much from this experience. I'm now starting to consider what to do next. If I continue in my current job the next obvious path would be to go in to management which I am not particularly keen on. At the same time I feel I cannot continue at my current level as soon I will be overqualified in terms of both experience and academic qualifications. Someone suggested to me that I should consider going back to uni to train to be a social worker, this idea is starting to warm to me particularly in terms of working with people with disabilities. I also think it would suit me in terms of doing something slightly more academic. I do have some questions and it would be interesting to hear others opinions.

How difficult is it to go back to university and study (any postgrad course) after having being in employment for a couple of years?

In terms of social work course, how much choice do you have in terms of placements? Can you choose to specialise?

What else could I do with my experience/qualification?

Reply 1

pansypotter

Hello,

I am in the same predicament. I worked in special schools and now work with children and young people with learning disabilities in social care. I think you are in a great position to go back to uni as your experience will help you. From my research, you have to have 6 months to a year (depending on uni) of full time experience. My only problem that I have encountered, is that I have a 2.2 and many want a 2.1. If you have a 2.1 or higher, I would also suggest looking at the CWDC's step up to social work scheme on their website www.cwdcouncil.co.uk

As for what else you could do, there are a few options as your degree is in psychology. There are therapy routes you could go down. I know the NHS are really pushing the IAPT scheme for psychology graduates. I think that's to do with CBT? Other avenues could be speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and other professional careers like that.

Hope this helps.

Reply 2

jellybeanjen

Original post by Greenwellies

Hi Greenwellies,

I'm a current social work MA student so I'll try to answer your questions.

How difficult is it to go back to university and study (any postgrad course) after having being in employment for a couple of years?

I worked for about 2 and a half years between my undergraduate degree and taking up my place on the social work course. It was a long enough gap that I'd forgotten how difficult studying is and was all full of beans with the thought of going back into academia. I've found it really difficult to get back into the swing of studying again and balancing study, placement and a social life. I've also really missed the money from working; it's difficult going from earning a decent wage to living on a bursary. Also, bear in mind that there's no guaranteed jobs at the end of a social work degree, and many newly qualified workers are finding it difficult to get their first jobs at the moment.

In terms of social work course, how much choice do you have in terms of placements? Can you choose to specialise?

There's an element of choice in most unis as in you fill in a placement request form stating your prior experience and whether you'd prefer a children or adult social work placement. Unis try and take this into account but there's a national shortage of quality placements so some people end up disappointed. Some unis are very specific in what they'll give as placements; for example, they may make all students do one adult and one children placement or one statutory and one voluntary placement. Try and look for unis that offer a guaranteed final statutory placement as a lot of employers look for this kind of experience.

With specialisms, you need to look carefully at what different universities offer. Some universities have completely generic degrees - every student learns everything. Others like Brunel have the option to do a children and families module or adults and community care module in second year. Without doing much research, I can't tell you if any other universities narrow it down further; I suspect they won't though as a lot of specialist work is within the Post Qualifying Framework.

What else could I do with my experience/qualification?

Errrm, not too sure about that one! Sorry!

I hope that helps, and feel free to ask more questions if you want.

Jen x

Reply 3

Greenwellies

Thanks guys, thats really helpful. Will look into the nhs therapy options too. In terms of it being difficult for newly qualified social workers to find jobs, I've this from various sources but universities still seem to say that social workers are alwas needed. Is it the case that there are lots of jobs for social workers but that experience is needed so that it is difficult for newly-qualified social workers to get jobs? Is it an option for newly qualified social workers to take 'lower' positions where they are still using their social work skills in order to gain experience?

Reply 4

jellybeanjen

You've hit the nail on the head - although there are plenty of jobs out there, most employers want workers who have a couple of years' experience behind them and can "hit the ground running" with big caseloads and complex cases rather than a newly qualified who might need extra support or a limited caseload. It is possible to take support worker/social work assistant jobs to build up experience, but some places view you as overqualified if you have a social work qualification or may think you'd be looking to leave quickly if you found a qualified post. Also, there are certain statutory tasks that only a social worker can carry out, so in a "lower" role you may be deskilling (i.e. you're qualified to undertake statutory tasks but your job title and job description mean you can't). It's also really demoralising to work for two or three years doing the social work Masters or Bachelors where you've been told you'll get a job at the end of it, then have to work in a post you could have got without that qualification.

Reply 5

Greenwellies

So I suspose if one was happy to work in a lower role for a couple of years it could be worth it because after gaining experience a lot of opportunities could open up. Even if initially it would be quite frustrating to be over qualified for a position. What type of jobs would be the 'lower' jobs that newly qualified social workers could take while gaining experience?

Reply 6

jellybeanjen

I wouldn't like to say either way whether a year or two of unqualified work would open up opportunities it as I'm not an employer. I would venture that seeing as it's the sort of experience an admissions tutor looks for on a uni course, it may not be enough for an employer, but I don't really know. The sort of posts you'd be looking for are things like social work assistant or support worker. In children and families, these posts come up pretty infrequently and therefore attract an awful lot of applications.

Sorry for being such a negative Nelly so far by the way. There is of course every chance you might be one of the lucky ones who gets a job right off, or the situation for newly qualifieds might improve over the next few years. Also, if you have a 2:1, you could apply for the Step Up to Social Work scheme which would tie you to a local authority throughout your course and guarantee you a job, or see if any local authorities near your chosen uni do a graduate scheme offering a bursary and/or guaranteed job. That's what I did, and following a disasterous interview, I have a post secured for when I qualify.

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