Social Work -for spring 2010 -planning ahead

[triniInUK]

Hi!!!
Thanks for your time in reading this.

I’m wondering about the UK job market for Social Workers right now. I plan to apply for jobs next spring when I finish my Social Work degree. I’m Canadian but was born in London -just need my passport.

I've been employed in child protection since Oct 2006 and work as an Intake Worker (investigations, risk assessments, etc.) Through school placements, I have experience in a distress centre and this coming fall in Addictions (individual/group counselling, treatment therapy, etc.) Other past work experiences was in Corrections.

I also have a degree in Criminology and Sociology as well as Certificates in Addiction, Counselling and Crisis Intervention.

My questions are:
--Is there still a demand for social workers, especially the fields I am educated and experienced in? Despite economy, I still hear there’s a need for social workers.
--Would you recommend it best to get a job through one of the agencies that visit Canada to recruit? I think it’s best.
--Would locum/temp jobs that offer L24/HR (L46,000/YR) be enough to live on and still save in London? Some offer up to L30/HR (L58,000/YR). I’ve read some temp end up being permanent or extended.
-Are those really nice apartments on Craigslist for real? They look too good!!!

I’m giving myself ONE YEAR to plan. I've started saving (exchange rate -crazy!!!), researching banking (HSBC?) and reading the forums about cost of living. My job is secure, well-paying and allows me 1yr off unpaid. I am excited to experience London.

Thanks for your time in responding. I look forward to all responses.

Have a great day!!! Take care!!!
triniInUK (fingers crossed!!!)

[Sarah1983]

hey -
i'm in the same boat except i'm planning to leave in a few short months. i'll sent you a pm.

i began looking into recruitment agencies but my friend (who is there now) advised against it b/c of the economy, b/c often jobs with the recruiters are temp positions. also, the temp agency takes a percentage of your wage so you don't actually end up with 46,000 salary. another thing is vacation time and benefits. the recruiter said they don't provide that. when you are a social worker in a temp position you are considered self-employed and have to hire an accountant to do your taxes and another ouside service for vacation time ect. it all sounded too complicated for me so i started looking at jobs to apply to the council directly.

i just put up a post last weekend about recruiters vs. job searching on your own and no one replied.

[Shmee117]

Iam looking at working in London starting this fall-mainly for the experience!

I am an occupational therapist and I am also concerned with salary range and whether there is a demand for this profession (and other health professions such as social work!) at this time-espeically with the recession.

Salaries seem to waiver between 18000 and 37000GBP per year for OT's for full-time positions (depending on experience of course). I worked it out that I may be taking a potential pay cut to the equivalent of $15000CAD-which worries me!

Also, I am concerned with different things i've heard about the UK's view of health care professionals. I now work with a nurse that moved to Canada from England, who was completely shocked and pleasantly surprised by the respect that she is granted as a nurse here in Canada-she said nursing is very much looked down upon in the UK. This has led me to question how other healthcare professionals may be viewed!

It is a heavy financial commitment to work there as a health care professional, with Health Professions Coucil application fees being 420GBP alone for international applicants just to apply for licence to practice! And that is not counting yearly membership fees and mal-practice insurance! But it seems it's the initial start up costs, which are shocking, as our licence is then good for 2 years of practice.

But the experience and adventure of it all still is calling my name (and your guys' as well!), despite how financially irresponsible it would be (that's what your 20's are for, right?)

Wondering if there are any other health care professionals in our boat? What they may be making in their respective professions?? I hope the prospects for social work are brighter then what they seem for occupational therapy in the UK!

Cheers!
Shmee

[Sarah1983]

hi guys -
i`m in london as we speak. i was invited here for an interivew (that sadly, didn`t go very well in my opinion). i didn`t get a good feeling when i arrived at the building and once inside i noticed things are quite different than my current place of employment. it made me question why i decided to do this in the first place. i took some time today to walk down south bank along the river and think. i guess it just wasn`t a good fit (me:position:organization) if it made me question the move. i`m hoping that when i get home i will look more seriously into my first choice and explore that more.

[Huntmar]

Hi there TrinInUk

Good luck on your move overseas. You certainly are qualified, if not overqualified with 2 degrees and multiple certificates. I am sure you will have no problem finding work.

I started inquiring about moving to the UK before I finished my BSW and got a lot of interest from recruiters. A LOT of interest. No jobs in my Canadian city, but lots of offers in the UK.

Your child protection experience in particular will serve you very well. I am sure you could take your pick of London boroughs if that is where you want to be.

One thing of interest is that they are closing down (or tightening up) the intake of immigrant social workers -- you must be going to UK for child, not adult, social work positions. So child protection work will definitely get you in the door.

If I were like you, a UK citizen familiar with the city of London and the country, I would just go over, stay with somebody for a couple of weeks and apply for jobs. You don't sound like a typical agency candidate -- you have the citizenship, you probably have family there, you know the country, etc.

Agencies, I believe, are hit and miss. Plus, they may lock you into a contract for a year or more. They also skim off of your salary -- although you may still get paid more than being a 'staff' worker.

Good luck!!!