Check Up
by Elizabeth J. Clark, Ph.D., MSW, MPH
If you graduated last spring, you are about at the 6-month mark in your new position. If the agency required a short probationary period, you may have just finished that and received your first employee evaluation. At the same time, you may be doing your own informal evaluation of the job, your boss, your performance, and the fit with your career goals.
In the best case, you love your new job, and you feel comfortable and valued. You are certain social work is the right career for you and that you made the right decision in accepting your current position.
Not everyone will find that scenario applicable to their own situation. Following are some of the possible concerns you might have that need to be addressed.
Issue 1: The job is hard.
The job is harder than you expected. The hours are long, there aren’t enough resources, and you seem unable to keep up.
Action: Most jobs in social work are demanding. The needs are great, and there is seldom a slow period. Many agencies have to work with inadequate resources, including staff levels. Given these parameters, think about what you were expecting and why. Were you misled during the interview process? Did something happen at the agency since you were hired—a grant wasn’t refunded, or budget cutbacks became necessary? Or, were you so excited (or relieved) to have a job that you didn’t do an adequate assessment of the position before accepting it?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by your job requirements, speak with a co-worker or two who have been at the agency for a while. They may be able to help you put things in a better perspective. Also, it might help to speak with other recent graduates to see what they are experiencing. Keep in mind, however, that people often exaggerate a bit, and the “grass always looks greener” in someone else’s backyard (or workplace).
One of the hardest things to realize as a new social worker is that you will never get “done.” You simply do the best you can for today, and come back and do your best again tomorrow.
Issue 2: Impostor Syndrome
You feel like an impostor. You aren’t a “real social worker,” and you can’t imagine what made you think you could do this job.
Action: The concept of Impostor Syndrome has been in the literature for a long time. It is the belief that you don’t deserve the job that you have or that you are incapable of doing it. It frequently occurs with new professionals, after a job promotion, or when changing jobs. It can result from some combination of factors, such as a lack of awareness of one’s capabilities, a need for perfection, and a lack of patience.
In social work, feelings of inadequacy often occur after a difficult case, or when an intervention doesn’t go as planned. This may especially be true if a supervisor points out something important you missed, or if your first performance evaluation is less glowing than you expected.
Social workers just entering the field as professionals are equipped with good theoretical grounding, but they have limited experience with practice. Therefore, it is foolish to compare yourself to experienced workers—you will always fall short.
Many agencies do a poor job of onboarding new staff, relying instead on having you read manuals or talk with others doing the same job. This is rarely sufficient when you are looking for clear goals and professional support. If you are in this situation, seek, and gladly accept, supervision and suggestions. Be open to the input of others. Listen closely and ask questions at case or team conferences. Find some relevant continuing education online or in the community. The more you learn, the more comfortable you will be with your role.
Given a bit of time, your feelings of being an impostor will fade, and you will proudly acknowledge that you are a professional social worker.
Issue 3: Sadness
There is such sadness in the job that you are afraid you will burn out.
Action: In many settings, social workers witness loss, grief, and suffering at various levels. They deal with illness and injury, poverty, homelessness, addiction, child abuse, domestic violence, crime, and abandonment. You chose your field because you wanted to make a difference. Sometimes, however, witnessing suffering is much harder than expected.
One of the most important skills you will learn as a practitioner is how to protect yourself emotionally while still being emotionally available to others. This doesn’t happen easily or quickly. Both good supervision and good mentoring are big helps.
Burnout is a documented syndrome of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, disengagement, and feeling ineffective. Today, the word seems to be used interchangeably with job unhappiness, but that is not burnout in the clinical sense. Take some time to learn the signs and symptoms of burnout so you can guard against it and seek support whenever needed.
In your social work classes, you may have been taught the significance of professional and personal self-care, and its importance cannot be overstated. There are excellent books (see resources at the end of this article) and online classes that can help you achieve work-life balance.
You might also try keeping a journal of the ways you have helped others, and review the entries when you are feeling low. Include any notes, letters, or acknowledgments you receive from clients and family members. This may seem like a trivial exercise, but as your list grows, you will begin to realize that although you may not be able to prevent a death from cancer, or keep an addicted person from relapsing, or keep a family intact, your interventions are important and meaningful.
By nature, most social workers are resilient, and burnout is preventable. If it does occur at some point in your career, it is almost always reversible through better supervision and better self-care. You didn’t expect the job to be easy—if it were, anyone could do it, and the years of specialized training that you obtained wouldn’t be required.
Issue 4: Your Supervisor
I like my job, but I really dislike my supervisor, and I think she is unfair to me.
Action: Outstanding bosses are hard to come by. Ask some older colleagues how many good bosses they have had in their careers. You might be surprised at how few they mention.
Just because good bosses are scarce doesn’t mean that your boss isn’t mean and miserable or unfair to you. In fact, one of the major reasons employees leave a job is because of a bad boss. However, quitting—especially quitting a job you like or that has good potential—is rarely the answer. Before you leave in haste or anger, determine whether you are truly being singled out or if everyone is treated the same way. That doesn’t excuse the boss’s behavior, but if others have found ways to work effectively with her, how have they done so?
If your boss is just a miserable boss, perhaps being less sensitive to criticism and developing a thicker skin will make a difference. In your lengthy career, you will have many supervisors and bosses. Learning how to deal with different styles, difficult personalities, and unfairness will go a long way in advancing your career, and will serve you well when you become a boss yourself.
An important exception to the above is if you are the target of racial, gender, or age discrimination, or if you feel you are being sexually harassed. If this is the case, ask to meet with your human resources or union representative as soon as possible. If needed, seek legal advice.
If the boss situation seems untenable, and you do decide to look for a new position, do so quietly and don’t quit before you have secured a new job. Also, keep in mind that many fields and agencies are interrelated, so don’t burn any bridges if you leave, and don’t publicly say or post anything about your old boss, no matter how tempted you are to expose her bad behavior.
Issue 5: Unequal Pay
You recently discovered that some of your colleagues who are doing the very same work you do are being paid more. You think you should receive equal pay for equal work, despite work experience.
Action: As a profession, we believe in the concept of pay equity, but there are some gradations. If you are a woman and your starting salary was less than that of a man who began at the same time in the same position, that is clearly unacceptable. But there are numerous other differences related to salary, and skill level and longevity are two of them. Many organizations (particularly those in government or those that are unionized) have a base starting salary for a position, and there usually are annual cost of living increases or step raises based on performance evaluations. This results in a range of salaries that an employee moves through over a period of time.
In the best case scenario, when you were negotiating your job offer, you discussed how salary increases at your organization were determined and on what schedule. Surprisingly, few new professionals do this. As a result, they may find themselves disillusioned when confronted by what they perceive as salary discrepancies.
If this has happened to you, think carefully about how to proceed. First of all, did you obtain the salary information in an ethical way? Did a colleague tell you her salary in confidence? Or did you stumble across it somehow? You will probably be asked how you came to have the salary information, and you will need to be able to provide an honest answer. What won’t work is accusing your boss or agency of unfairness and demanding that you be paid the same amount as someone who has more experience or who has worked at the agency much longer than you.
You may think that six months on the job has prepared you to handle the most difficult cases and that you are now equally skilled. You simply are not. We learn our profession mostly by doing, and experience is an important differentiator.
Even if you feel you are more talented or that you work harder than others, confrontation almost never works, and threatening to quit will generally just make you appear inexperienced and petulant. Instead, ask to meet with your boss, but do your homework. Prepare good questions, and be ready with clear examples of your efforts. When you do meet, ask how salary increases are determined, and how you can receive one now or in the future.
Most importantly, don’t do less or slack off because you are angry. This will not have the desired effect and may work against you when annual evaluations and salary increases do take place.
Issue 6: Boredom
You are bored on the job. It is not what you expected, and you have trouble finding productive activity and filling the hours in the work day.
Action: Boredom can be a serious issue that requires an action plan. First of all, be objective and assess whether you really are meeting the work requirements and giving it your best effort. Be certain that you aren’t avoiding tasks (like paperwork) simply because you dislike them. If that isn’t the case, talk with your supervisor and explain that you are looking for a bit more to do. Check to see if the scope of your position can be expanded, or if you can undertake a special assignment, or join a team and work on a project. Ask colleagues who seem busier than you if there is any way you can help them with their backlog or be of some assistance. If there is a work-related community event, see if you can get involved in it. Take some relevant online courses and ask to attend continuing education offerings whenever possible.
If none of these work, you will need to have another, more serious conversation with your boss. They may be so busy that they aren’t delegating effectively or they don’t have time for the necessary oversight. Sometimes (rarely) there simply isn’t adequate work because of operational changes or reorganization.
If after all your efforts, you find yourself dreading going to work because there just isn’t enough to do, you might begin to use some of the down time to look for a better position. Life is simply too short to be bored and unproductive at work.
Final Thoughts
In a career that will span 40+ years, a six-month assessment may seem insignificant, but it’s not. You want to be certain you have chosen the right career and that you are on the correct path. It is predicted that new professionals will change jobs often over the years. Some of your jobs will be outstanding, and some may be mediocre, but the work you will do as a social worker will always be important. Be certain it is also meaningful and fulfilling for you.
Resources
Greene, R., & Dubus, N. (2017). Resilience in action: An information and practice guide. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Grise-Owens, E., Miller, J., & Eaves, M. (Eds.). (2016). The A-to-Z self-care handbook for social workers and other helping professionals. Harrisburg, PA: The New Social Worker Press.
Smullens, S. (2015). Burnout and self-care in social work. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Dr. Elizabeth Clark was CEO of the National Association of Social Workers from 2001 to 2013. She currently is the President of the Start Smart Career Center.