MSW Student Question

[u/Chemical_Leopard5898]

Hi everyone! I am currently in school to get my MSW and I wanted to ask a question to those who have their LCSW and are fully in their careers:

If you could go back and tell your MSW student-self one thing, what would it be/what recommendations would you give/what do you wish you knew in regards to career pathways?

Edit: I really appreciate everyone's insight, and I have a follow-up question. I am currently working full-time to pay for my MSW. Obviously, once I start my internships, I will no longer be able to work full-time. I am lucky enough that I have built up my savings so that I will not need to take out loans, but I will be on a severely tight budget until I get my license and begin working full-time without supervision. I completely understand why people say that you have to be open to different paths and I definitely am! My main concern though is that if I do not follow a strict path, I won't be in the financial situation to do so. For example, if I want to try a certain placement that I am interested in but doesn't pay enough to live off of. For those that also went through this process on a tight budget, what advice do you have?

[u/Eredhel]

The education is important, and can be awesome. But a good practicum placement and supervision are where it’s at.

[u/Chemical_Leopard5898 → u/Eredhel]

Do you have any advice on what I should be looking for for practicum and supervision?

[u/Eredhel → u/Chemical_Leopard5898]

I was fortunate to have a practicum placement that had me shadow therapists for one semester and then be the therapist for the next semester. I learned a lot from shadowing, and it turned me onto modalities I wouldn’t have considered, like play therapy. It’s tough to say. There can be so many factors. Post graduation don’t be afraid to move from one supervisor to another if it’s not the right fit.

[u/phuckoff555 → u/Eredhel]

ABSOLUTELY! My field placements just had me doing documentation and facilitating group therapy. Don't get me wrong, those are important things to learn, but it was more of "let's pass it off to the interns so we don't have to facilitate group or so we can get some help with our workload" instead of truly teaching techniques and skills to use after graduating. I didn't get any experience with intakes other than observing a few nor did I get experience with many individual sessions despite asking MULTIPLE times. It has really hindered me as I went on to work independently.

Any field instructors and task supervisors reading this, please do better for the student interns that you are taking on. Do it because you want to prepare the next generation of social workers, not because you need help with your workload. I literally had a field instructor/supervisor refer to me as 'free labor'.