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Forum -> Working Women
Was your degree in social work worth it? Why? Why not?
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pesek zman




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jun 18 2017, 1:10 pm
octopus wrote:
My parents discouraged me from going into social work. So I didn't.


My parents discouraged me but I did it anyway (and am happy I did)
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Sun, Jun 18 2017, 6:09 pm
I'm in debt. A lot of debt. I still think my MSW was worth it. Am I ever going to be wealthy? No. But I'm very personally fulfilled and my job is interesting, flexible, and very suited to my personality. I make enough (about 40k, OOT) and I could make more if I didn't work in nonprofits. It's a trade off.
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ILOVELIFE




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jun 18 2017, 7:16 pm
I'm very curious about this. My husband is going to school for social work and there are two huge motivations: 1) Having a flexible schedule in the long run 2) Making a good salary.

The social workers I know take on roughly 12-15 clients a week at minimum and 18-20 at maximum. (I'm talking private practice) They make an average of 95-105K a year on this flexible schedule. (they could make more if they took on more days to see more clients)

Sure they did 3-4 years in clinics at a low pay but eventually in private practice they make a very nice salary.

For those of you saying it pays pennies: are you an LMSW or LCSW? Are you working at an agency or private?
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 3:49 am
ILOVELIFE wrote:
I'm very curious about this. My husband is going to school for social work and there are two huge motivations: 1) Having a flexible schedule in the long run 2) Making a good salary.

The social workers I know take on roughly 12-15 clients a week at minimum and 18-20 at maximum. (I'm talking private practice) They make an average of 95-105K a year on this flexible schedule. (they could make more if they took on more days to see more clients)

Sure they did 3-4 years in clinics at a low pay but eventually in private practice they make a very nice salary.

For those of you saying it pays pennies: are you an LMSW or LCSW? Are you working at an agency or private?


Can you please explain the fiffernce between an LMSW and a LCSW?
Ty
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 3:52 am
amother wrote:
I was originally going for clinical psych, which is a five year degree full time, but got nervous and instead did an MSW, which took me four years part time. (MSW programs are also easier to get into and cheaper.) It was a compromise that I wouldn't make in retrospect, though it felt necessary at the time. Nobody in my family encouraged one or the other; I chose on my own.

We also didn't realize at the time that dh's work schedule would not allow for him to be home/available for most of those nights and weekends. We had thought we could just push through those first couple years.


With an MSW does insurance pay for your clients?
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 6:09 am
amother wrote:
Can you please explain the fiffernce between an LMSW and a LCSW?
Ty


I believe an LCSW is licensed; and LMSW has not yet gotten their full license - they have exam but not hours. There are clinical hours involved (in order to be licensed you need a certain minimum number of clinical hours, plus exam.)
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 6:21 am
ILOVELIFE wrote:
I'm very curious about this. My husband is going to school for social work and there are two huge motivations: 1) Having a flexible schedule in the long run 2) Making a good salary.

The social workers I know take on roughly 12-15 clients a week at minimum and 18-20 at maximum. (I'm talking private practice) They make an average of 95-105K a year on this flexible schedule. (they could make more if they took on more days to see more clients)

Sure they did 3-4 years in clinics at a low pay but eventually in private practice they make a very nice salary.

For those of you saying it pays pennies: are you an LMSW or LCSW? Are you working at an agency or private?


My research yielded much lower salaries.
I made a quick Math calculation . A salary of $100k would be for about 60 hours a month at around $140 a session. That's not a very flexible schedule - that's pretty full actually considering yomim tovim etc., and not everyone with a private practice has a completely booked schedule like that. Most people going for social work do NOT go into it for the money. It is not a high paying career.
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 6:22 am
Chayalle wrote:
I believe an LCSW is licensed; and LMSW has not yet gotten their full license - they have exam but not hours. There are clinical hours involved (in order to be licensed you need a certain minimum number of clinical hours, plus exam.)


This.
3000 hours under supervision IIRC.
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 6:37 am
cnc wrote:
This.
3000 hours under supervision IIRC.


So thats after you get the license you still have to do what seems like 2 years under supervision?
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amother
Aqua


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 7:04 am
amother wrote:
So thats after you get the license you still have to do what seems like 2 years under supervision?


Yes, 2 to 3 years.

The way it works is that when you graduate with an MSW (which includes 60 credits of coursework and 1200 internship hours), you need to take a test to be licensed. That gives you an LMSW (in most states, NJ is LSW) and allows you to practice social work in any format except private practice. You can work under someone else's private practice but not own your own business providing social work services.

After 1,920 hours (in NJ, other states may have different amounts) of direct client contact with weekly supervision and taking a more difficult exam, one can apply to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who can open a private practice and potentially supervise other social workers.
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kugelzlady




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 7:12 am
LSW or LMSW is when you have a Master's degree and passed a test and a few other requirements to be a licensed social worker. Licensed social workers cannot take insurance for private therapy.

LCSW is when you were an LMSW and passed another test and got years of supervised experience to be a licensed clinical social worker. LCSWs can take insurance for private therapy and can make much more money. The requirements vary by state but generally it is 3000 hours of supervised work which is 2-3 years full time. If your job doesn't provide supervision you need to pay privately for it (150 hours) which can be a huge expense.
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pippy93




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 7:19 am
I am an LMSW (for 15 years) and I don't think my degree was worth the two years full time that I went to graduate school. I had two internship, wrote 55 term papers plus a 32 page thesis... And basically learned nothing. I laugh when I meet Social Workers that want to "help" in hospitals.... You basically learn on the job and as long as you have a little bit of sechel, you're ok. The starting salary for Social Workers in some fields/ agencies is pathetic. I am now in administration (I don't meet with clients. I am the Director of a department) and I fought for every dollar of my salary. If you want to earn bog bucks-- go to law school or become an accountant, not a SW! This is just my opinion. don't yell or berate me.
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amother
Brown


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 8:51 am
pesek zman wrote:
My parents discouraged me but I did it anyway (and am happy I did)


I didn't ask my parents because they discourage me from everything, and I'm thrilled that I did it.
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amother
Violet


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 11:45 am
I'm a social worker, graduated about 10 years ago. I love my job and make a decent salary (approx 95-100k depending on the year) for a very flexible, fulfilling and rewarding job. That having been said, I have many colleagues who are making half that much and are very unhappy in the field. If you love the work, go for it. I'd tell you though to find a population or particular challenge that you have an affinity for and get a lot of specialized training and supervision in that area. I've done lots of postgraduate training in trauma and attachment, early childhood development, and floortime play therapy. This has allowed me to do very specialized work, and get compensated accordingly.
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amother
Red


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 12:05 pm
amother wrote:
Wow.
If so, why do parents encourage children to get a degree? I see people here don't make ends meet. What's the calculation?


There is no degree that 'prints money' for the person that earns it.

In most cases having a degree in a field that you want to work in will give you both (1) the education you need to do the work (2) a leg up on those who don't have a degree. Also many fields require certification for a licencing board which is impossible to get without a degree.

Inevitably there will be course work that will be time consuming and seem superfluous.

There are so many different jobs that social workers do (unlike say, dental hygienists) that 'average salary' for a social worker is a bit misleading. As another poster suggested (via herself as an example) a well situated Social Worker can earn 6 figures.
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 12:18 pm
OP here. The responses today are so different than yesterday.
Yes. I want to do Social work because I love it. I can't think of another job I can be good at.
I tried Jewish Federation. I don't know which location the poster was referring to but I don't see anything on thier website that said job training. The only thing I see about careers is that they train leaders for the federation.
I can take the WOWI test online. But I still feel that if I want to embark on a different journey then, I need to have regular career counseling, not just an online test.

I need to be the breadwinner, also.
That's why I want to consider all my options before plunging in to something that will not cover.
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amother
Magenta


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 12:25 pm
There are six figure jobs out there but you're going to be working really really hard to get them. Maybe. That means more time, more money taking extra courses, getting supervised, working in clinicals and low paying jobs to get the experience on your resume. And still paying the cost of a masters degree. An accountant or nurse can make much more with just a bachelors. So yes not every CPA will make 300k but most will make 100k. And with less degrees than a SW. So I would not go into social work if money is a big issue. It's not your ticket to paying for your kids weddings and supporting them in marriage iyh.
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 12:30 pm
But if a CPA doesn't know accounting they won't be making money anyhow.
The point is that I can't cut myself into a very different shape. Math is not my strong point. Intuition, understanding and having a knack to releasing pain and trauma, are.
I would love to hear from that poster who said I can use intuition in more types of jobs than SW.
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amother
Red


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 12:42 pm
amother wrote:
OP here. The responses today are so different than yesterday.
Yes. I want to do Social work because I love it. I can't think of another job I can be good at.
I tried Jewish Federation. I don't know which location the poster was referring to but I don't see anything on thier website that said job training. The only thing I see about careers is that they train leaders for the federation.
I can take the WOWI test online. But I still feel that if I want to embark on a different journey then, I need to have regular career counseling, not just an online test.

I need to be the breadwinner, also.
That's why I want to consider all my options before plunging in to something that will not cover.


If you want to consider all of your options, take the WOWI test to get some ideas of things other than Social Work Or read What Color is Your Parachute.

this is just the beginning of your journey.

I think what you are concerned about investing time and money into education that doesn't lead to a good starting salary right out of school... Is that right?
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Mon, Jun 19 2017, 1:23 pm
amother wrote:
I'm a social worker, graduated about 10 years ago. I love my job and make a decent salary (approx 95-100k depending on the year) for a very flexible, fulfilling and rewarding job. That having been said, I have many colleagues who are making half that much and are very unhappy in the field. If you love the work, go for it. I'd tell you though to find a population or particular challenge that you have an affinity for and get a lot of specialized training and supervision in that area. I've done lots of postgraduate training in trauma and attachment, early childhood development, and floortime play therapy. This has allowed me to do very specialized work, and get compensated accordingly.


Wow! Thanks for sharing all of this!
May I ask what is the specialty work you're being hired for? Your niche, if you will?
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