There is a very good reason why this blog has not been updated in a long time and that is that I have never felt so far away from social work, even when I was in college I was studying Health and Social Care at A-level and felt like I was continually growing and learning.
I have been applying for many different jobs as a social worker and have not had any responce. It has come to the point where I have been checking the contact details on my CV to make sure that I have written them up correctly. This has definatly been something that has knocked my confidence. I left my final placement with every hope that I would be in full time employment as a social worker within two months. This has always been my thoughts on the matter and now, almost 6 months down the line with no interest at all.
With every month that has gone by with no call backs from jobs for a social worker, admin worker, carer, retail worker, voluntry sector worker or call center my self worth has taken a major beating. However there has been a new development that has given me some sort of hope and that is that I am applying for a job in Australia. This is something that I have thought about over the past couple of days and am thinking that in some ways this is only something that other people do, but at the same time it couldn't come at a better time. I am fully prepared for a very drastic change in lifestyle and I am thinking that this could be my ticked out of the drudgeny (sp?) of everyday life in Britain.
I am looking forward to new challenges and hoping that someone, out there will give me a chance to be the social worker that I want to be.
On a completely different note, watching the documentry at the BBC has made me realise that working with children might be something that I am interested in, although I have always stood firm that I wanted to work with adults and not with children, I think that I would enjoy the long term working with a specific family. This is something that I need to think about in more depth and the concequences to my own mental health/maybe prepare for in the future.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Almost qualified
I am almost there. 3 years in the making and I am an almost graduate, 22 year old female who is raring to get a job, to pay some bills. The one question that is playing on my mind mostly is...
Am I prepared?
Yes, I have written the assignments with good/average marks. I have (almost) completed two amazing placements where I have learnt so many things. I have learnt about legislation, policies, guidelines and theories to the point where I have wanted to strangle Thompson, but the question remains, I am ready for all of this?
At this current point, I am flitting between "Yes, well of course I am, I have had all of the relevant training and experience that everyone has had before becoming a social worker" and "Oh god no, I am not responsible enough to do this yet", although I do feel like this might be a very common thought at this point, as people are bragging that they have finished placement and that they are starting a job. Every social work graduate (I hope) is sat at home, thinking "How will I manage without all of the supervision and the guidance?"
The new proposal of having a four year degree is seeming very appealing to me at this point as I feel that there is a big jump between being a student and then being a newly qualified social worker with a full case load and only monthly supervision, although.. learning journals for another year? That thought does not fill me with excitement!
Another of the worries at this horrible stage is "Will I get a job?" The fact that I have found it almost impossible to find any jobs in the adult sector and those that are advertised are for managers is not filling me with the best of hope, although working in a call center is always an option (I joke, or do I?) but seriously, who would employ a trembling wreck who is newly qualified against someone with 20 years experience? Hopefully someone with a heart! Someone who would think that the 'newbies' of social work have the passion and the drive to change things.
Lets imagine an interview.. Interviewer - "So, what would you bring to the team?" Interviewee "I bring my passion, my passion to change things in social work to being one that works with people for a higher percentage of the day and enables the social workers to get out of this climate of being in the office 80% of the time"
How well do you think that would go down? Probably like.. "This is old news, we've come to realise that social work is no longer about working with people, but just about being sat behind a desk, typing all day, worrying about if we've met the latest personalisation targets"
But alas I digress.. my point, If my supposedly educated mind can get there is, "Am I prepared?" and I guess that only time will tell and that I still have a lot of learning to do, although I hope that my passion for change, a sense of humour and a big smile will help me to get there.
Am I prepared?
Yes, I have written the assignments with good/average marks. I have (almost) completed two amazing placements where I have learnt so many things. I have learnt about legislation, policies, guidelines and theories to the point where I have wanted to strangle Thompson, but the question remains, I am ready for all of this?
At this current point, I am flitting between "Yes, well of course I am, I have had all of the relevant training and experience that everyone has had before becoming a social worker" and "Oh god no, I am not responsible enough to do this yet", although I do feel like this might be a very common thought at this point, as people are bragging that they have finished placement and that they are starting a job. Every social work graduate (I hope) is sat at home, thinking "How will I manage without all of the supervision and the guidance?"
The new proposal of having a four year degree is seeming very appealing to me at this point as I feel that there is a big jump between being a student and then being a newly qualified social worker with a full case load and only monthly supervision, although.. learning journals for another year? That thought does not fill me with excitement!
Another of the worries at this horrible stage is "Will I get a job?" The fact that I have found it almost impossible to find any jobs in the adult sector and those that are advertised are for managers is not filling me with the best of hope, although working in a call center is always an option (I joke, or do I?) but seriously, who would employ a trembling wreck who is newly qualified against someone with 20 years experience? Hopefully someone with a heart! Someone who would think that the 'newbies' of social work have the passion and the drive to change things.
Lets imagine an interview.. Interviewer - "So, what would you bring to the team?" Interviewee "I bring my passion, my passion to change things in social work to being one that works with people for a higher percentage of the day and enables the social workers to get out of this climate of being in the office 80% of the time"
How well do you think that would go down? Probably like.. "This is old news, we've come to realise that social work is no longer about working with people, but just about being sat behind a desk, typing all day, worrying about if we've met the latest personalisation targets"
But alas I digress.. my point, If my supposedly educated mind can get there is, "Am I prepared?" and I guess that only time will tell and that I still have a lot of learning to do, although I hope that my passion for change, a sense of humour and a big smile will help me to get there.
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