HongDou
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- Joined
- Nov 23, 2012
- Messages
- 5,191
- MBTI Type
- ENFP
- Enneagram
- 6w7
- Instinctual Variant
- so/sx
Hey guys! It's been a while. Quick update on my life - I've been working in the field of child welfare for almost 4 years now after graduating with my BS in psychology and I just got into grad school to get my master's degree in mental health counseling (so I can eventually get my LMHC). I plan on working while attending school because I can't afford to go to school full time, but I'm ready for a much needed career change and need some advice on where to look.
I loved working with youth in foster care. I felt like I was really empowering them, making therapeutic relationships with them, and giving them the confidence to get their lives together. But working there was SO underpaid (I was only getting $36k and the only way that was remotely livable was living with 3 other roommates). The hours were crazy, as there were multiple occasions I was at a hospital until 1 AM with a child voicing suicidal thoughts. I knew if I kept working there I would never be able to manage school on top of that. So I turned to preventive services where I worked with families to help prevent their children from being placed in the foster care system in the first place. However, I'm realizing that came at the cost of doing what I really loved, which was counseling and doing work around clients' behaviors and emotions. Now I'm a pure social worker, mostly working with the families (not with a parent or child individually) on referring them to the right medical services they need. And while I'm making more money, I'm still basically living paycheck to paycheck without really saving any money because I moved in with my boyfriend to a nicer area of the city. Plus, in the grand scheme of things it's still a meager amount of money to live off of ($42k). I get to work from home 3 days a week because my office is far out in another borough, but I find that flexibility isn't worth the small wage and the stress that comes with knowing I'm potentially liable for these medically fragile families. So I'm realizing this job is not going to be sustainable (emotionally and physically) to get through grad school either.
I want to be somewhere where the hours are more solid like a 9-5 and also that pays AT LEAST $50k so I can start putting more money in my savings account. But because child welfare is such an underfunded industry, I know it's not worth looking for anymore positions there with the experience that I've had. But the problem is I feel I've boxed myself into social work and don't know who else will take me going forward. So basically I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on where I could look for new job opportunities with my job experience and level of education. Thanks in advance to whoever reads all this lol
I loved working with youth in foster care. I felt like I was really empowering them, making therapeutic relationships with them, and giving them the confidence to get their lives together. But working there was SO underpaid (I was only getting $36k and the only way that was remotely livable was living with 3 other roommates). The hours were crazy, as there were multiple occasions I was at a hospital until 1 AM with a child voicing suicidal thoughts. I knew if I kept working there I would never be able to manage school on top of that. So I turned to preventive services where I worked with families to help prevent their children from being placed in the foster care system in the first place. However, I'm realizing that came at the cost of doing what I really loved, which was counseling and doing work around clients' behaviors and emotions. Now I'm a pure social worker, mostly working with the families (not with a parent or child individually) on referring them to the right medical services they need. And while I'm making more money, I'm still basically living paycheck to paycheck without really saving any money because I moved in with my boyfriend to a nicer area of the city. Plus, in the grand scheme of things it's still a meager amount of money to live off of ($42k). I get to work from home 3 days a week because my office is far out in another borough, but I find that flexibility isn't worth the small wage and the stress that comes with knowing I'm potentially liable for these medically fragile families. So I'm realizing this job is not going to be sustainable (emotionally and physically) to get through grad school either.
I want to be somewhere where the hours are more solid like a 9-5 and also that pays AT LEAST $50k so I can start putting more money in my savings account. But because child welfare is such an underfunded industry, I know it's not worth looking for anymore positions there with the experience that I've had. But the problem is I feel I've boxed myself into social work and don't know who else will take me going forward. So basically I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on where I could look for new job opportunities with my job experience and level of education. Thanks in advance to whoever reads all this lol
