Social Worker
(Female, Age 31) from quincy, MA
This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 31 who works as a Social Worker in quincy, MA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.
At a Glance
Current Job
Basic data on your current job
| Job Title | Social Worker |
|---|---|
| Salary | $45,000 |
| Other Compensation | None Set |
| Hours/Week | 40 |
| Company Size | (not answered) |
| Location | quincy, MA |
| Years Experience | 3.5 years |
Career Ratings
Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)
| Years in Career | 0 |
|---|---|
| Education | (not answered) |
| Income Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Interest Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Work-Life Rating | 0 / 10 |
| Fulfilment Rating | 0 / 10 |
Current job Q&A
Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work for the Weymouth Office of the Department of Children and Families (Formerly Dept of Social Services or DSS) This is the state wide child protection agency in Massachusetts
Describe your job role and responsibilities.
բ__??? Provide professional child welfare social work services within the Dept of Social Services
բ__??? Assess, develop, evaluate and monitor client service plans and programs
բ__??? Assess for risk
բ__??? Respond to emergencies and initiate court action
բ__??? Track and monitor individual caseloads
բ__??? Make home and foster care visits
բ__??? Coordinate visits between children and family members
բ__??? Transport children
բ__??? Provide services for the protection of children
Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
2 weeks vacation, 3 personal days health insurance, 401K
Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under
Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
It does- I like that aspect of my job as my collegues are great and we get a lot of insight from each other.
Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes
Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes
Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
The nature of my job has me working closely with my supervisor as any significant desicions on a case have to be run by her. I have weekly supervision with her as well. I work collaboratively with my co workers as we all have different skill levels and knowledge and are able to gain that from each other.
Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 7
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 3
Supervisors: 4
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 6
The Actual Work: 1
A day in the life of…
Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:
| 5am to 6am | |
| 6am to 7am | |
| 7am to 8am | N/A |
| 8am to 9am | N/A |
| 9am to 10am | check my voicemail messages and my emails |
| 10am to 11am | I picked up 2 children at their daycare and brought them back to our office so I could supervise a visit with their parents |
| 11am to 12pm | same as from 10am-11am |
| 12pm to 1pm | drove the 2 children back to their dayacre and picked up lunch for myself |
| 1pm to 2pm | I caught up on my “dictation”, notes from what I have done with my clients in the last few days |
| 2pm to 3pm | went to a home visit for one of my families |
| 3pm to 4pm | went to another home visit for another one of my families |
| 4pm to 5pm | came back to my office and caught up on my documentation |
| 5pm to 6pm | |
| 6pm to 7pm | |
| 7pm to 8pm | |
| 8pm to 9pm | |
| 9pm to 10pm | |
| 10pm to 11pm | |
| 11pm to 12am |
Table of Contents
How you got your job
How did you get your current job?
referral
What was the application process?
submitted a resume and cover letter
Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I did- I had an initial interview and then was called back for a 2nd interview with our Area Director
If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I got a scenario and had to explain how I would handle it and I had to talk about my resume expierence
Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
The training was very in depth but very much “book information” The actual job is very different
Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
There was training- we had a 4 week training with 1 day out of each week we spent at the office and shadowed other social workers
Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
In some ways- you mostly learn when you are actually on the job and doing the direct work with the families
If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
I would recommend they really look into what the job entails and make sure they are able to handle the responsibility
What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
patience, compassion, empathy, and organizational skills,
Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
you need to be familiar with the issues that affect families today
What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Utilize your co workers if you get stressed or overwhelmed as they know exactly what you are feeling and going through b/c we have all been there
Long-term career plans
Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
It is- I am challenged daily by my job and learn new things all of the time
What are your current career goals?
to continue in this field
Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
N/A
Prior work history
Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:
| Title | Length | Salary | Description | |
| Prior Job 1 | Victim Advocate | 5 years | 40000 | |
| Prior Job 2 | Direct Care Staff | 6 years | 11.00/hr | բ__??? Answer a 24 hour hotline; provide crisis intervention and referrals to women and children affected by Domestic Violence
բ__??? Provide supportive counseling to women living at the shelter |
Educational background
Please list your educational background:
High School GPA:
| GPA | School | Degree | |
| College (Undergraduate) or Technical/Vocational |
2.8 | Northeastern University | Criminal Justice |
| Graduate or Professional (Masters or Doctorate) |
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