Calling all Social Workers

Thank you for all of your comments.  I'm excited and nervous about coming.  I wish I felt as confident about my organization skills as you do though!!  It is taking organization to do it all, but I don't have much choice as I am coming to wed my sweetheart.  When it comes down to get organized or remain apart, getting organized seems to happen.

I don't have a job set up, and I definitely don't have one in London.  I will be moving to Cardiff, Wales, so I'm working on my CCW right now.  I'm anxious about how I should start.  I've heard some negative comments here about a few of the recruitment agencies, but I couldn't find specifics.  If anyone has recommendations of good recruitment agencies to go to, I'd appreciate them.  I also have a friend keeping an eye out directly with the local council, but I'm not sure how long she will be working there.  I think she'll leave before I come.

The company that I work for now has an agency in England that does therapy in the UK.  They are discussing hiring me part-time to work in Wales, but I still desperately need full-time work.  I think I'm going to try to get accredited with the BACP also since many aren't going to recognize a social worker as a therapist despite my years of clinical experience. 

On a side note, I thought I'd rub it in a bit that I took note of what some of you were saying and went to get another background check done before I left.  Amazingly, I was able to convince my current boss to pay for it saying that they might need it to get my license going in the UK, and where I might be working for the same organization . . .  He was great about it and agreed to cover the $45 it costs here in Idaho.  The nice news?  I just printed my clearance letter.  It took me a whopping 8 days to get it back!!  I love the new system our state has.  My first clearance when I started this job took about three months!  So, now I have my FBI check in hand, and that's at least one less thing to worry about!

Okay, so that's my one less thing to worry about, but can anyone give me better ideas about good places to start for recruitment.  Many of the ones on this board were initially given good reviews, but then as social workers got here, they came back saying that the felt deceived and had bad experiences.  I'm not sure what to believe anymore.  Any counsel on where to go is so appreciated--and with agencies that have experience in all the UK, not just London.  Please help!

i'm sure it will all work out for you. as far as agencies...i can recommend someone that used to work for me in the states. she then came over and worked in oxford...i think...her husband was at university. she's now in new york recruiting i think mostly students to come to the UK. so she does have experience in working in the UK...and her background is mental health...and fostering.

i would recommend her based on my personal experience with her as an employee. but she was great so i'm sure she still is outstanding. here are her details:

Nicole Miller, MSW
UK Pro Senior Recruitment Consultant
 
Syracuse, New York Office
telephone: (315) 637-8754
fax: (315) 637-4060 *please note new fax number*
nicole@uk-pro.net
 
UK telephone: 08702243410
 
www.uk-pro.net

as far as other ways to find jobs...you can look at the local authority website. it's expensive to advertise so some only post jobs on there own sites. also ...as i think someone has mentioned...the guardian.co.uk has a job search. that's where i found my first post. local authorities are recruiting from other countries and will sometimes offer support.

good luck

Hi Everyone!
This is my first post...bear with me!! I will be finishing my undergrad degrees in December and have been seriously looking into starting a Masters of Social Work in the UK--I've worked alot with kids in social care settings but have never studied the subject (i do a degree in international relations at the moment!) and was wondering if anyone had any info on what life is like in this profession, especially in the UK? I'd like to see some impressions from others before I dive into this career!! Thanks guys.....
Laura

Hi Everyone!
This is my first post...bear with me!! I will be finishing my undergrad degrees in December and have been seriously looking into starting a Masters of Social Work in the UK--I've worked alot with kids in social care settings but have never studied the subject (i do a degree in international relations at the moment!) and was wondering if anyone had any info on what life is like in this profession, especially in the UK? I'd like to see some impressions from others before I dive into this career!! Thanks guys.....
Laura

I think it really depends on which aspect of social work one is working in. Overall, I love being a social worker and am much happier working in the UK than in the States. Of course, work is very, very stressful right now so I could cheerfully do something else at this point in time    but I wouldn't be happy, I think. I'm in child protection and we're very, very short staffed right now so the pressure is tremendous. But, overall, I wouldn't choose to do anything else! Feel free tp pm me if you want to chat about it.

I have heard that Bluecare, Quantica, Entrust, and BBT are some of the better agencies.  If you check out the Community Care website, there are alot of agencies listed there, as there are ads in Community Care magazine, if you can get one it is well worth a look.

Quick question that I don't think I've seen answered in this forum yet:  In the UK, what is the pay difference between a QSW with a BSW and a QSW with an MSW?  I know an MSW makes more, naturally, but I'm wondering if the gap between the two is as big in the UK as it is in the US...if that makes sense.   

As far as I am aware, there is no difference between an MSW and BSW for QSW position in the UK.

What you will see is the pay grade level difference based on experience and/or education. The gap isn't a large as in the states.

all councils have a different way of doing the pay grades but in general, the lowest level of pay will be those newly qualified and then gradually increases with experience and/or education.

so for example, in London you may see an ad saying £25,000-32,000. £25000 being for the newly qualifieds and £32000 for those with experience and education  and a combination of things in between.

Thanks for the input.     I was going to go for my MSW (I'm currently working on my BSW), but since I want to work in the UK, I was thinking about just getting the BSW.  Instead of taking two years to get the MSW (and going even further into debt, since I already have a BA), I was thinking about using that time to get some actual, full-time work experience under my belt.  Beef up my resume a bit, and then start looking for UK work.

But I've still got a while to decide exactly what I'm going to do.  Thanks again for giving me some solid info to work with. 

or what you could do... come over on a BUNAC visa, work for 6 months, see if you like SW here and just find a job and area you like and apply straight away. BSW work can very greatly in the US... where I was in CA it was assistant work and BORING. You had to have your MSW to be taken seriously and with an LCSW you were generally well respected. You might as well start gaining experience first hand in the country you want to practice. the UK is in dire need of qualified social workers now so you may as well make the most of it.

Hmm, I never thought of that.  I guess since the need for social workers is so high in the UK, you don't need to have years of experience under your belt to find a job.  It's just too bad I'm looking at it being 2009 before I get a chance to look for work out there.  Such a long way away...   :\\\'(  If only I hadn't spent the first year as a part-time student.  Blah. 

I do plan on doing BUNAC this summer, just to get a feel for the UK in general.  But if going the UK right off the bat after graduation would be the better option, then I'm not going to complain. 

After a summer away from 'civilization' working at summer camp, I'm back to the real world and ready to start working on the last year of my MSW   

I was going back through my bookmarks the other night, trying to clear up duplicates and such, and was taking a look at Sanctuary Social Care's site.  They say that "To work in the UK you must have three years post qualifying Social Work experience."  I haven't found this on any other site so far.  Is this common with the recruitment agencies, or just particular to Sanctuary?

I haven't read the entire thread so some of my questions may be repeats.  I can't catch up on all 22 pages in a single sitting!

I graduated from a Univeristy in the US with a BSc in Psychology.  I've worked in child protective services, domestic violence, and rape crisis through paid work, internships, and volunteer in the past 5 years.

I'm attempting to become a certificated social worker but have been told that that can take up to 16 weeks.  I need a job in the meantime though.

1 - How should I word my degree?  I technically graduated from a "college" and am afraid that using the word college rather than university on my CV turns them off. 

2 - I'm going through an agency (Morgan Hunt, recommended by my friend's parents who do social work) that is requiring me to have CRB Disclosure at a cost of £36.  Is this normal?

3 - I've been looking for work as an unqualified social worker.  Where is the best place, besides the Guardian and on counsil's websites, to look for this type of work?

4 - I keep getting rejected and when asked I'm told that I don't have much experience outside child protective services so I should really try for that area.  How can I avoid getting sterotyped to CPS?  I'm not sure I'll always want to do it and in the US it was was to move from CPS to Juvenile Probation to Housing, etc.

I'm not a SWer in the UK just yet so I can't really answer any of your questions, but I just wanted to say that I didn't know you could get hired as an unqualified social worker - aside from being a social work assistant.  Or is that what you're applying for?

If you have a 4-year degree, I would say University.  But that's just me.   

I was wondering here in Kent we have a Ready for Practice Programme.  It is where KCC pays a salary and the univeristy placement for people to study social work.  Is there something like that in other regions?