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.