A couple of questions for MSW grads/current social workers

[momo38]

I have 2 questions for current social workers..or for anyone who knows one pretty well.

1) Ever since I've decided to pursue an MSW degree (I start this fall), I've noticed something quite interesting. When people ask me what line of work I will be doing/what I will be going to school for, I tell them "social worker" or "going to school to get my MSW." To which they respond with this odd look, and say something along the lines of, "Oh, so you'll be working with homeless people." It's quite frustrating to me. Not that social workers don't serve underprivileged communities, but why do people automatically think social work=helping the homeless? Obviously, they do a lot of other things too, from hospital to legal settings...why do people seem to not know this? Am I right to assume that most people are ignorant of this field? I wouldn't mind explaining to them the wide range of work that an MSW can do, knowing how versatile and broad the field is, but 1) most people don't find this interesting anyway, and 2) it would be a very long explanation/description. So, my question to MSW grads/current social workers is this: If you've ever encountered what I have, how do you explain what you do? I don't think I'd be so bothered by this if it happened once or twice, but so many times I have felt like I can't take pride in what I want to do because I get the sense that others look down on this. Do you often see people's eyes get glazed over with boredom when you tell them you're a social worker? I'd just like to know whether this is something that only happens to me!

2) And this is second question is related. Of course, there's that stereotypical idea of a social worker who, all he/she does is paperwork, makes very little money, and works in a high-stress environment taking care of other people (of course because they're working with the homeless all the time, because that's the only thing social workers do *sarcasm*). But, how much of this stereotype is actually true? I know that salaries range very widely depending on what kind of organization/company/field you are in. So I take "average salaries" and surrounding statistics with a grain of salt. But everyone I know tells me to expect to make $30K a year as a social worker. Honestly, I didn't decide to go into this field because of money (I would've gotten an MBA instead maybe), but money is still important for, well, survival and paying off my student loans! To be more specific, I am starting a clinical social work program at Simmons (Boston), and would obtain my LICSW to do therapy, ideally in my home state of NY. Should I be worried about financially making ends meet as a social worker in therapy?

Well, that was quite long winded. Any feedback/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks all! 🙂

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[JustNoticing]

1) I've found a good degree of knowledge about MSW and MHCs in the mental health friendly region I live in. On the other hand, my best friend still tells people I am becoming a psychiatrist (I am not). As a whole though, people tend not to be well versed in the details of titles in mental health care. But on the same note, I don't know much about many professions outside of health care. I personally turn on the snooze button when people start talking to me about their jobs in finance, accounting, banking, hedge funding etc, so if one or two people don't think that my line of work is interesting, so be it. I think there could be worse stereotypes of your degree than helping the homeless, and don't see too much of a reason to be offended by that. Rather than give an long explanation of the range and scope of the MSW, why not just tell people how you plan to utilize your degree? For example "Yes, many social workers do work for social welfare agencies, but I am planning on doing vocational counseling for adults struggling with mental illness"

2) Like you say, all of this varies by agency and type of work you are doing. From paperwork to salary, there is a wide range. The salary you describe is closer to what a poorly paid bachelor's level case manager would make. Not that there aren't a lot of MSWs out there working for beans. I would advise you to search indeed.com for the type of job you would want post-graduation and see what the listed salaries are (only a few will actually have them posted). This will also give you a sense of the skills you may want to gain during your studies.