thumb twirling time.

I apologize for the lack of posts. Aside from being busy with the family and holidays, I've been kept quite busy with this job search and cover letter writing which by the way, I'm so over cover letters. Ugh.

But there's hope that I won't have to write another cover letter for a while as after a panel interview, informal phone interview, and second interview complete with them providing me with their company benefits information, I am just awaiting to see if I'm the lucky person selected for the position! It's between myself and another applicant who I am praying is older more experienced so that I may be choosen because they can pay me an entry-level wage and work me more than they should!

Today the day I should be hearing back so I'm on pins and needles. Just plugging away here at work and hoping I can start on that 2-week notice.

Fingers crossed.

Looking on the bright side.

As much as I complain that I'm over my current paraprofessional position and am ready for a real social worker job, I have to admit I'm lucky and happy (most of the time.) The pay is decent, I have a lot of freedom to be creative (my boss has no idea what I really do), and I have a lot of resources at my finger tips that I can absorb and use later on in my career.

Today is a good day. It's also Friday.

Confidence doesn't always equal success.

So yeah, I failed the child support officer exam I was yaking about in my post below...by ONE point! I actually studied for a few days prior to it too even though they said I didn't need to. Boo. It was an intense multiple choice exam on a computer but I gave it my all and thought, 'hey! I totally aced it!'...only to have the human resource lady come back with a sad look on her face.

Sigh.

So we are back to square one in the job hunting process. I'm still waiting on another job I had applied for to respond back. It's killing me waiting. I'm impatient. Just a yes or no will do please.

Can't believe it's only Tuesday.

Take what you can get?

So here I finally am with my BSW in hand, ready to be a "real" social worker and put all that I have learned and do all that I have watched, into use. Except...social work jobs are...nowhere to be found. You see when I was still in school (and even when I had graduated but was 9 months pregnant), social worker jobs seemed to pop up left and right. It killed me that I couldn't apply. And now that I can, I can't because they are no longer "popping." What the heck! Okay, okay- in all honesty, there are some social worker or similiar positions avaliable but either they are like 70 miles from where I live or pay lower than someone working at Walmart. And I won't get started on the social worker job salaries I have been seeing posted. I'll save that rant for another day.

Anywho back to my point, now that I'm ready, there's barely anything to be ready for.

I have applied and applied for whatever there is avaliable. I have applied for 5 positions. 3 of them are not "official" social worker positions. And of course the 2 that I am hearing back from are 2 of the non-social worker jobs. They are similiar: county child support officers. The first one, I turned down because the pay was blah. I make more at my current paraprofessional job now than what they were offering. Now the second county child support officer job is paying decent....about two dollars more than what I am making. Not what I am seeking as far as the position, work, and pay goes but ya gotta take what you can get, I guess. I have no experience in child support (or much interest in it either) but it is at a county agency which I currently am in and am seeking. Ideally, I don't want to work for the county for so many reasons that it could (and probably will be) another post by its self but the benefits and job security is great. Plus for where I am in my personal life right now (young adult, first time homeowner, hubs wants to go back to school, have 2 kids under 5), a stable county job is perfect.

So wish me luck. What happens first is an exam (ike a real exam with a calculator and pencil and bubble sheet which I suppose to work in child support, you must know basic math and laws), then I'm assuming they take the top scoring applicants and do a formal interview. And although I'm bitching about how this position isn't a real social worker position, I do hope I get it.

I take the exam on Monday. Will keep you posted.

Social Worker-That's so messed up.: Social work blues

Love love love this post about the public's view of CP social workers.

Social Worker-That's so messed up.: Social work blues: "I had to re-think posting such case specific blogs. I never use real names when discussing people but being that specific about my cases is ..."

I'm back.

I'm alive.

Just had a baby so I'm trying to make the transition from burping and onesies to the social work world.

Be patient with me here ;)

Thanks. Will be back this week (hopefully) with an update on what's been going on (or at least a complaint about lack of.)

What field?

So the first step in my post-school journey, besides horrifying myself by looking at the amount of student loans I will have to pay back in 6 months, is to figure out what field of social work I'm interested in.

Let's start with what I have experienced. My junior internship was at a battered women's shelter. My senior internship was at a county human service agency.

At the battered women's shelter, I obviously worked with domestic violence. The clients were voluntary single women and mothers. It seems the work I was involved in during my time there was very basic and on a very very micro level.

At the county human service agency, I worked with the issue of teaching parenting and social skills. The clients were voluntary and sometimes involuntary parents and children. Again the work there was basic and on a micro level.

Although my experience seems to be micro level and centered around women, families, and children, I would like to explore more of a macro level work possibly research as I enjoy writing. I'm also thinking about the field of adoption, in particular pregnancy counseling as I have some personal life experience with that issue.

It may be important to think about what causes are important to me. I know that if I had to pick one, it would be the prevention of child abuse. It is a subject close to my heart professionally and personally as I have encountered cases of abuse in my work as well as the simple fact that I am a mother myself. Other topics I'm passionate about are the care of orphans in international countries, teen pregnancy, refugee family transitions in the US, and teen girls.

Welcome!

I have decided to start this blog as a way for me to document my journey in the social work field. If I get readers and can share my experiences with other new social work students and grads, then awesome. If not, then at least I will be able to vent and process on here. My hope is to remain anonymous in this blog as I want to be able to write as much as I can without compromising my social work ethical duties of my profession and clients. I also hope in this way I can separate my professional life from personal.

To give you a little info on myself and where this blog will be going, this is me: I live in the midwest, am a young adult, wife, and mother, have been in and out of school since 2003 but have finally graduated May 2010 with my Bachelors degree in Social Work from a private college.

I am currently employed at a state agency in a paraprofessional position. With my degree, I am now seeking an entry-level social work position. And here's where my story begins.....