Let the Job Search Begin

Today marks exactly 90 days until I graduate with my MSW. 


Not that I am counting or anything.


I was planning on waiting until I was a month or so away from graduation to start applying for full-time jobs. I was recently reading some articles that reminded me what a bad economy we live in and that it generally takes people several months longer than they think it will to actually find a job (and that’s assuming people find jobs at all).

So I decided I’d start sending out my resume now.  This has a potential to pose logistical challenges only if I get offered a full-time job very quickly and they want me to start right away and are unable to wait for me to finish classes and field (I graduate in December). But judging from how long it typically takes employers to actually make hiring decisions, I’m not terribly concerned. Indeed, if my biggest problem is that I get offered a job before I am ready to take it, I’m in pretty good shape.

My fear is that the opposite will happen: That I will send out a bazillion resumes and not be able to find a job. 

I am a “macro” social worker. My work in hospice has been an exciting combination of clinical work and community outreach, but I have a feeling that if I pursue the hospice social work track in an area that is not small and rural, it will be mostly clinical. My emphasis in grad school has been management and community practice, and although I have some clinical interest, my passion has always been the macro stuff. This makes the job search more… interesting.

Direct practice social work jobs are generally pretty cut and dry. They typically require a degree, a license of some sort, supervision, etc. And they are usually in the areas of mental health, medicine, or case management. When it comes to job hunting, direct practice social workers can go to great websites like The Social Work Job Bank, find their dream job, submit their resume and voila! (Okay, it’s that easy to APPLY for direct practice social work jobs; actually GETTING one is another story).

There is no real job bank for macro social workers (that I know of). There are sites offering guidance. One such that I have recently found is The Macro Social Work Blog, which is a great read but unfortunately not updated all that often. A macro social worker’s job description might not say “social work” anywhere in it. Macro social workers might be community organizers, or volunteer coordinators, or program assistants, or a combination of any number of interesting job titles.

Employers of direct practice social workers typically know what a social worker’s job is (although as any social worker knows, we are frequently used inappropriately). Macro social workers often have to explain what their skills are to potential employers. In the last two weeks, I have heard the following quotes from people:


 “Social Workers do something other than hand out food stamps? Really?” (From a random person at Wal-Mart


“If you don’t want to work for the Department of Social Services, why did you get a degree in social work?” (From my roommate)


“I did not know that there was such a thing as ‘macro social work.’ What exactly is the point of that?” (This one was actually a month or two ago, at a job interview, from a potential employer) 

Feeling like I have to explain my passion for social work and why I went into this field despite not really being interested in mental health or social services is draining. I can’t honestly say that I am looking forward to explaining my skills and qualifications to future employers who don’t know what the point of macro social work is.

But the hardest part, I think, will be narrowing down my own pool of interests until I can settle on some options that would be good for me. Ideally, I would like to work for a large non-profit organization doing community outreach. One of the things that the Macro Social Work Blog mentions is that a lot of social work jobs don’t require a master’s degree, and some don’t even require a bachelor’s degree. This means two things for me:


1) I have to teach myself that it is okay to seek this kind of a job even though it may be viewed as “less important” than the licensure-track positions that my classmates are pursuing.


2) I have to learn to put into words the feelings I have about the importance of my education and how it relates to what I do. This is helpful both in order to accomplish number 1, and also to explain why my experience will be valuable to a company.

I’ll tell you what I want. I want to find a job that will give me opportunities for community outreach and advocacy. I want to live in an urban area that has a low enough cost of living that I can afford to live at least relatively close to the downtown area. I’m open to living in a foreign country if such a place needs social workers. 

I want to make enough money to be able to put gasoline in my car, feed myself on a regular basis, avoid the homeless shelter (avoid living in them; I’d be open to working in one), and eventually pay back those pesky student loans. Unless an anonymous benefactor decides that I am terrific enough that I deserve complete forgiveness on those loans. In which case I’d happily accept such an offer. And if any of you social workers out there are reading this blog-post and have a lead on a job for me, I’d happily accept such an offer from you too (did I mention that I am willing to move just about anywhere, provided that a reasonably sized city is somewhat close?)

So, with all that said: Let it be known to the world that the job search has officially begun. May the Full-Time-Job-Gods be on my side. May the We-Live-In-A-Crappy-Economy-And-Most-People-Are-Grateful-To-Be-Using-Their-Masters-Degrees-To-Sling-Burgers-Gods be curiously distracted.

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Posted in: graduate school,Job searching,macro social work

Performance Evaluation

Just when I start to think that I am doing well in life, I get some sort of reminder about all of my vast areas for improvement. This time it came in the form of a performance evaluation at work. Not that it was anything really bad (I do enjoy my job, for the most part); it was just a reminder of how far I have to go. More of the same old… I need to organize my stuff better, document better, etc. Blah. I just want to be the world’s most perfect social worker now, dang it!

Honestly, I don’t know about this whole “being an adult” thing. It’s hard sometimes. I think I chose a tough field to get involved with given the fact that it has such a high burnout rate. If I can just survive this year, which is extra tough because I am studying social work in school, working as a social worker, and doing a social work field placement. I think that when I have time to think about things other than social work, I will be okay. Until then, I just need to pray for better organization skills and find a couple of good social work mentors.

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Posted in: graduate school,hospice

First Day of School!

So, it's only been three months since my last post on this blog. That's not so bad, is it?

When I started this social work blog, it was my attempt to have a "professional" blog that would be kept separate from my "personal" blog. I wanted a place where I could write about work and school and the things that I am learning in an arena that is separate from the place where I talk about my family and friends and other more personal aspects of my life. It is a good idea in theory.

What I have discovered over the last semester is that when you are working on an MSW, working as a hospice social worker, AND doing a field placement in child/adolescent mental health, there is not a lot of room for "other more personal aspects of my life" to write about. Social work has become my life, personally, academically, and professionally. This has made it difficult to separate the two blogs, and so most of what I've written these last few months has ended up on my personal blog, even though it has related to what I am doing in social work.

My goal for the year is to change that. I like this blog, I like writing, and I have a goal to sit down 2 times a week and write about something that is social work related. My hope is for blog to be a record and a resource to me of the things that I have learned while in the beginning stages of my social work career. Tomorrow is the first day of school, and in 11 months, I will have that elusive masters degree. And I want this blog to be a record of the things I have done and the experiences I have had along the way. This is to say... I am back. And I am determined to succeed.

Wish me luck!

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Posted in: Coursework,field placement,graduate school

Educational Experiences

I’ve had some interesting educational opportunities this week. First of all, I had the privilege of hearing Larry Churchill lecture on the healing power of relationships. Mr. Churchill is a professor of Medical Ethics at Vanderbilt University. The lecture was, for all intents and purposes, absolutely fascinating. Seriously, it was. I mean really.

Mr. Churchill and some colleagues did a qualitative study on medial clinicians who have received peer reports indicating that they are very good at building rapport with patients. The intent of the study was to help us develop some understanding of common practices that are used in building relationships. Mr. Churchill and his colleagues identified some common practices. As a side note, I took copious notes on the lecture, and I was actually complimented on my note taking skills, which is a first for me. Note taking is not normally my strength).

He instructed us to take the time to be present, personalize the relationship with the patient, utilize common courtesies, and do things that remind the patient that you are human too.

He also reminded us to be present and listen. When seeking to engage clients, there should be NO MULTI-TASKING (I am the worst at this. I feel like being present is one of my biggest weaknesses as a social worker). Patients and their families deserve our undivided attention when they are with us.

Ultimately, Dr Churchill told us that clinicians need to live out humility. We should be “worthy to serve the suffering.” This means that we live good lives, we carry ourselves in such a way that suffering people will feel safe with us.

I think one of the most interesting ideas that Dr. Churchill shared with us is that healing is not something that flows from the clinician to the client, but it is a feature of the interaction.

I was also privileged to attend a Q&A session with Elie Wiesel, distinguished professor, Nobel Laureate, holocaust survivor, and political activist. It was a very intimate conversation; only me and a handful of other students. The students asked Dr. Wiesel how he felt about various issues the world is facing, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the conflicts in Israel and Palestine, the recent suicides of homosexuals, and many other things. He shared with us his mantra: Whatever we do in life, we need to think higher and feel deeper. He encouraged those of us who want to be lifelong servants and humanitarians to remember to enjoy our own lives, but consistently be thinking about those who are unable to enjoy it.

Dr. Wiesel also made a comment about God that resonated with me. A student asked him if he felt that God was indifferent to the suffering in the world. Dr. Wiesel pointed out that the world’s definition of injustice may be different from God’s definition of injustice, due to the fact that God may have a different perspective than those of us on earth. It’s an idea that has been rolling around in my head for a few months now, but he managed to put it into words that make sense other people as well as me.

I’m so grateful for the educational opportunities I have received. I love being able to learn from great people. Great clinicians, great activists, just plain and simple great people. My goodness, I love Social Work!

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Posted in: direct practice,graduate school,hospice,Social Work

Signs of a Sleep Deprived Grad Student

Full-time work, seminary teaching, graduate school, and part-time interning are starting to their toll on me. I’m a lot punchier than I usually am when I’m not sleep deprived. See, I’m generally the quintessential night owl. I like to go to bed around two or three am and sleep until ten am. Lazy? Nah, just bound and determined to get eight hours of sleep a night.

Since school, early-morning seminary, and my internship all started the same week, I’ve been waking up around 5 am and trying to go to bed by about 10 pm. So far, it hasn’t worked out well for me.

Anyway, I generally know when I am sleep deprived by the fact that I find the world considerably funnier. Case in point:

I was sitting in class yesterday, thinking about my errands I needed to run after class. I remembered I need to pick up a part for my computer (a Mac book). I don’t live in the area where I go to school, and I am unfamiliar with the city. I turn to my classmate who lives in Winston-Salem and I ask, “Do you know if there is an Apple Store anywhere in town?”

“An apple store?” he says. “I think there’s some fruit stands around.”

At that point I burst into uncontrollable giggles and pointed to my computer. My classmate laughed too. Here is where the sleep deprivation comes in. Instead of giggling at our miscommunication and then refocusing my attention on my professor’s lecture, I giggled uncontrollably (albeit quietly) for ten minutes while my classmates and professor stared at me in confusion. Even after we explained the joke to the class, no one could quite understand my uncontrollable laughter.

“ANYWAY…” my professor said, and resumed her lecture, and the class went on while I struggled to regain my composure.

See, even as you read it, I’m sure it’s not all that funny. I have countless examples of laughing hysterically over nothing when I am tired.

This is why the majority of us social workers need to sleep more. When those hours are going to come, I’m not entirely sure. Probably not for the next 15 months while I get through this program. Do you think if we put together a petition and got 10,000 signatures, we could successful convince God to give us longer days?

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Posted in: Coursework,graduate school

Changes in the Air

I finally secured a field placement for the duration of my MSW program. Incidentally, did you know that “MSW” says the same thing when you turn the word upside down? I discovered that in moment of boredom at a church meeting and immediately had to text all of my MSW friends.

Anyway, I will be doing my field placement at a day treatment center in another rural town not far from me. My new boss at the hospice is being nice enough to let me work some crazy hours in my feeble attempt to be superwoman for the next year. So these days my day begins with early morning seminary (a religion class that I teach for high schoolers) at 6:30am and ends when I have completed 4 hours of internship and 7 hours of work. But then I have to make lesson plans and prepare for the next day.

Crazy? Yes. Is the elusive MSW degree worth it? I sure hope so. Will I find time to do my homework? I sure hope so. Can I do hard things? I think so. Will I slack off on writing this blog? Probably. Will I slack off on nearly every other aspect of my life that isn’t directly related to either my eternal salvation and/or my social working aspirations? Probably.

I’ve been wanting a dog lately, but something tells me that now is not the time due to the fact that I am never home. I didn’t see my turtle (Fluffy) all week. Good thing he is fairly low maintenance. I can’t handle a dog right now. Maybe I could get a fish. And another turtle.

So I am adjusting my hours at work to accommodate my field placement, but my caseload and other responsibilities will remain the same. Currently, our hospice program is small enough that it will be manageable, but as it picks up, it will definitely be very difficult. My boss who quit a few weeks ago decided to stay on in a different capacity. She will be our clinical coordinator (we’ve never had one before) and the director will be someone else. That “someone else” is thus far quite nice, reasonable, approachable, and fair. Most people are one or two of those qualities, but very few are all four. I’m excited about that.

Our hospice has been through a lot in the past few years. We’ve been through a lot in the few short months I’ve been a part of it. There have been a lot of trials and changes that we have weathered. We are still grieving the loss of some great people. Hopefully the changes we are making now will be positive.

When I was first deciding to move across the country, one of my friends asked me if I was really ready to be a professional. She said: “if you take a job like that, you will be a professional. Being a professional isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You have to deal with way more politics and other things that you might not want.” I thought she was probably right, but that I was ready for the challenge. Being that this is my first post-college job, this is my first time really dealing with office politics and such. It’s difficult. I’m not always a fan of being a grown-up. But I suppose that’s just the way is.

I’m curious about what office politics are like in other people’s jobs and lives. What other styles of officehood are out there?

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Posted in: field placement,graduate school

Here's where I've been

So, when I started this blog, my hope was to post once or twice a week with my thoughts and experiences as a young social worker working in a rural hospice. The last month has just gotten away from me and I must admit, I haven't found too much that I really want to write about. Life is just hard right now. Our hospice program is understaffed, and I found myself handling volunteer coordination, bereavement efforts, hospice social work patient care, and home health social work patient care. In other words, trying to do about four people's jobs while going to graduate school. So making the time and the clarity of mind to sit down and write a blog post has not been high on my priority list.

Here's what has been on my priority list: I found out that my out-of-state tuition will be higher than what the program advertised. Instead of $6,000 a semester (expensive, but reasonable... it's only for 3.5 semesters and I'm willing to shell out 20 grand for this program), it will be $10,000 a semester (outrageous, and somewhat unreasonable... there's a big difference between going into debt $20,000 for school and going into debt $40,000 for school). Crap. One of the reasons I chose this program, despite the fact that it is an awesome program at a great university, was because of its reasonable out of state tuition rates. So much for that plan.

I have been trying to locate a field placement that will allow me to continue to work at my job. On top of all of that, my job has continued in it's tumultuous pattern. Last week our director and one of our nurses resigned within hours of each other (for unrelated reasons). Now we are short two staff members and they have already told us that they will likely not be hiring to replace them. It's not been the most pleasant work environment these past few weeks.

So I have to come up with an unplanned 20 thousand dollars, and at the same time I will also most likely have to cut back on my hours at work (or find another job altogether...a hospice in a neighboring town contacted me last week for a part time position, so we'll see what happens there) to do my field placement. Oh, and I found a field placement that I would like to do... I just need to figure out the logistic of it. If I were to do this particular placement, I would be working in a day treatment center for children and adolescents. Then this blog would likely become a combination of hospice social work/child and adolescent mental health/MSW program blog. I can handle that. Lots of things to think about.

Oh well. I'd say life is still good. I'm counting my blessings and am grateful for the fact that I have a job. A job, by the way, that I am falling in love with. I never, not even for one second, wanted to do medical social work. When I went into social work, I imagined working for a non-profit organization doing macro-level social work and community development in some urban neighborhood. But can I just say, I love the hospice program? I really do. I love holding patients' hands and talking with them about life after death. I love that this is a field where I can be open about my faith and my belief in God without feeling like I am stepping on toes (I moved here from Utah, and discussing religion in a public way is a no-no there, so it is very refreshing). Ultimately, I love the fact that families are willing to allow me to be a part of their lives during a time in their lives that is so sacred, and when they are so vulnerable.

Oh, and I started teaching an early morning religion class at my church. I meet three teenage boys every morning at 6:30 am to study the scriptures. It's good times. No, really, it is. But it does occupy much of my time and mental energy that I once channelled toward blogging.

All of that said, the new semester of school begins in t-minus three hours. Now that it is costing me almost twice as much as I budgeted for, I am feeling slightly more motivated to succeed. And the new semester will give me even more interesting things to write about. I will put forth every effort to not go for this long without posting ever again.

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Posted in: field placement,graduate school,hospice

Give a man a fish

An old (I believe it's Chinese) proverb of some sort says something to the effect of “give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for the rest of his life.” Or something like that.

We’ve all heard it a whole lot of times. I was helping a friend write a paper a month or so ago. I’m kind of anal when it comes to spelling and grammar and punctuation errors in writing, so after I basically picked his whole paper apart with a fine tooth comb and corrected all his errors, I sent it back to him. He texted me saying something to the effect of “wow, you’re feeding me; I’m not fishing,” in reference to that proverb. A week or two later, I was sitting in class and one of my classmates referenced the same proverb and how it relates to social work: that one of the purposes of social work is to teach people how to fish so that we do not have to do all their fishing for them.

I don’t know about you, but I know that I am in the best place to learn right after a good healthy breakfast while my belly is full. If I am hungry, I have a hard time focusing on the tasks of the day. I don’t disagree with the concept of proverbially teaching people how to fish. But I’ve often wondered if we occasionally allow someone to starve to death while they are learning. Case in point: I had a patient who refused to get medications that she needed because she couldn’t afford the $4 that her insurance didn’t cover. This was a little frustrating because the woman is spending probably a good $20 a week on gourmet cat food and kitty litter. I pondered bringing in some information on creating a budget and helping the women figure out where she could cut back. Problem was that helping an old women create a balanced budget wouldn’t make any difference if she didn’t get the medications that would keep her alive and healthy through the weekend.

As annoying as it is to me that people choose to put luxuries for their pets before necessities for themselves, teaching this woman how to prioritize financial resources and allocations (teaching her how to fish) needed to take a back burner to securing her needed prescriptions (giving her a fish).

I think that we do that at times. We spend so much energy focusing on the long range goals that we forget to make a plan for short term needs. Short term needs are important. They are what keep people around long enough to accomplish their long term goals. Maybe I shouldn’t have spent so much time fixing my friend’s paper. Maybe I should have sent him a grammar book and made him fix it himself. But if a good grade on a paper or two will give him the boost he needs to continue to progress in school, I feel it is worth it. Maybe I shouldn’t have helped that patient get her medications. But I feel it is necessary to keep patients alive first, and give them financial advice second.

Hmm… It gives me something to think about. Do I teach a starving man, or do I feed him first, then teach him while his belly is full?

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Posted in: graduate school

First official day of graduate school

After two weeks of orientation, on Friday May 14, 2010, I celebrated my first official day of my MSW program. I will now bring your attention to the first page of notes I have taken as a graduate student...

Drumroll please...

Looks like my note-taking skills... um... leave something to be desired.

Oh well... I'm working on it. When I moved out here three months ago, I spent a lot of time wondering if I was big enough for all the responsibilities I was given. As the only social worker in an already floundering hospice, I consistently find myself bombarded with any project that is even vaguely "social worky." It is demanding, yes, but I am learning new things every day.

Now that I have officially started graduate school, I feel the same way. Am I really "big enough" to be a graduate student? In 1.5 years, will I really be "big enough" to be an MSW? So many questions on my mind. But for now, I have to get to work writing my paper and about twenty case notes in preparation for the coming week.

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Posted in: graduate school