Hi,
I am beginning my MSW in the fall and having SERIOUS doubts. I have worked in the mental healthcare field for over four years- a good deal of that time in case management roles, and I am feeling beyond burnt out. Even feeling bitter and taken advantage of by clients using our services. I’m not proud of this, and know that I need to address this burnout first and foremost and have been working on that quite a bit.
My biggest concern with beginning this program is the money. I get It we don’t go into this profession for the money and all that, but I feel like I’d like to have a good chance of making ends meet and paying off my student loans and saving for retirement without working a full time job and a part time job to supplement that. I’d like to have a work life balance or this absolutely isn’t worth it. I am looking at 100k TOTAL student loans from undergrad and grad school combined if I do this program. I’d like to hear from other social workers. Are the loans worth it? Do you make enough to have a good work life balance and feel prepared for the future?
I’d also like to hear from those who left social work or knew people that did? What are career paths you chose instead and why? How was that process and do you have any regrets?
I am beginning my MSW in the fall and having SERIOUS doubts. I have worked in the mental healthcare field for over four years- a good deal of that time in case management roles, and I am feeling beyond burnt out. Even feeling bitter and taken advantage of by clients using our services. I’m not proud of this, and know that I need to address this burnout first and foremost and have been working on that quite a bit.
My biggest concern with beginning this program is the money. I get It we don’t go into this profession for the money and all that, but I feel like I’d like to have a good chance of making ends meet and paying off my student loans and saving for retirement without working a full time job and a part time job to supplement that. I’d like to have a work life balance or this absolutely isn’t worth it. I am looking at 100k TOTAL student loans from undergrad and grad school combined if I do this program. I’d like to hear from other social workers. Are the loans worth it? Do you make enough to have a good work life balance and feel prepared for the future?
I’d also like to hear from those who left social work or knew people that did? What are career paths you chose instead and why? How was that process and do you have any regrets?
