IS anyone a social worker? Do you enjoy your job? how did u decide to become one?....?

Question

im making a career choice between social work and anthropology, so anything will help! whats ur typical day like? pay?

Answer 1

I'm beginning my career in social work from an interpersonal practice/mental health perspective. I do outpatient psychotherapy with children and adolescents at the University of Michigan Health System.

I decided to become a social worker when I realized how little I care about doing work that does not show immediate benefit to a client or consumer. I've always been idealistic, and my decision to pursue things like business in undergrad were basically an exercise in following the herd.

I do like my job, but 1) I'm still idealistic, 2) I went straight through undergrad getting two bachelor's in 4 years flat and then straight into my master's program, so I want a variety of experiences before I settle down with a steady job. Therefore, I don't like my job enough to keep doing it indefinitely. I want to try some different things like wilderness therapy and outdoor behavioral healthcare.

The pay in social work depends on what you're doing. If I were to get licensed as a clinical social worker and begin my own private practice, I could make between 50,000 and 110,000 a year, depending on the case-load I can maintain (I'm not interested in doing this at this point in my life). If you're a social worker doing community organizing, policy, hospital work, child protective services or other governmental work, however, you will certainly make much less than this. Most social workers earn around 30-35k starting, and between 40 and 60k throughout their established careers.

Answer 2

There is an excellent resource out there for a person like yourself. It is called Days in the Lives of Social Workers (http://www.socialworker.com/days2page.htm) and is 50 stories about social workers and what they do.

This book was written for someone like yourself who is thinking about the career or new to the profession.

Part of how I made my decision was to volunteer and interview social workers in my community.

BSW's make 20-40 and MSW's 30-60 depending on WHERE (e.g. New York you make more than Little Rock) you work and with the populations or type of job you hold (e.g. working in a hospital will pay better than working in a small non-profit - being an adminstrator will pay more than being line staff).

DA