Questions for Canadians working as social workers in the UK

Hello!
I've been haunting this forum for a while now. I figured I ought to officially join since I've finally decided to take the big plunge and use my master of social work degree to get me somewhere overseas. After doing some research, UK has topped my list of destinations. Therefore, I'd love to get in touch with some fellow Canadian social workers who are living and working in the UK in order to learn from their experiences. I've sent away for the General Social Care Council registration package for internationally trained social workers for working in England. Some questions: I'm wondering about recruitment agencies in Canada -- any that are highly recommended or to be avoided? Also, what kind of jobs are out there and how hard is it to switch jobs if dissatified? I have 3yrs post-graduate experience in clinical work with youth -- what kind of job/salary should I expect?
I have tonnes more questions but I'll stop at these. If anyone knows of a better place for me to be posting these questions please let me know. And thanks in advance for your expertise...

cav

Hiya.
I have been a social worker in the UK for 1 year and 6 days (but who's counting!?) Prior to coming here I had my BSW and 10 years experience in the field. I have spent the last year doing Child Protection work and it was fine up until the last 2 months. (My families have suddenly gone insane!)

There are 4 Canadians in my office. Two of us are permanent and 2 are "agency" (temp). If you aren't sure how long you want to stick around, I suggest you go agency as you get paid more and you aren't locked in for an amount of time. However, there is no holiday or sick pay. On the other hand, if you think you wanna do this for a few years, go permanent. The perks (in my council) were they paid my flight here and 6 months rent. I also have a lease car through work that I pay £40/month for (now that I have a car, I just can't imagine busing it to all my families!). Plus I have 6 weeks paid vacation and sick pay (the wet England weather is no good for ones health!)

If you are looking for work in London, I think you would likely make £25000 minimum, less outside of the city of course. It seems many councils want you to stick around for a while if they go to all the time and expense to get you here. I "owe" my council 2 years, that being said, if I found another council who really wanted me, I could probably get them to repay what I would owe if I terminate early. I work for a small council so there isn't a lot of room for moving around, though I have two possibilities in the new year. It's likely that until you get some UK experience under your belt, you will start off doing CP work. It's actually a good way to get a lot of expereince quickly.

The whole GSCC thing is a royal pain in the ass! I think mine was 30 odd pages when completed. English social workers had to fill out one page! But you MUST have it to work here. You also MUST have your BSW or more.

Are you eligible for a passport from any EU country? I also hold a Dutch passport which would make it very easy for me to move around if I wanted to as no council has to invest in a work visa for me. (Another reason they want you do stick around- that's a lot of expense). If you are under 30 you can get a working holiday visa fairly easy and then you are not tied into one council. However, if the council gets you a work visa, you are tied to them unless another council gets one for you. (Rumour has it that you would need to leave the country until your new work visa comes through- but don't quote me on that).

All in all, it's been a very overwhelming experience (I had never been to England before and didn't know a soul when I arrived!), but I'm glad I did it. I'm planning to stick around for a few more years, though at the moment I am terribly homesick and its only 14 more sleeps till I go home for Christmas!

If you have more questions, feel free to PM me your email addy and questions and I will try to answer them for you.