What constitutes "relevant experience"?

[dlr129]

I've only been out of school for a couple months and I want to apply for next fall (2014) to go back to school. Not too much luck on the job front, and I'm more and more convinced that this is the field for me and don't want to wait around any longer.

 

My biggest piece of "relevant experience" is 6 semesters of service learning teaching/mentoring in urban school. It ends up being around 200 hours classroom time and another 100+ hours with peers and professors in the program. I have a strong recommendation to back up my work here and its relevance to the field of social work, but I'm just unsure of the perceived connection of teaching to the field. Additionally, I'm unsure of if this limited amount of hours is really enough.

 

Is my experience too limited? Too tangential? Would it be enough to volunteer part-time this fall while applying (currently working full time in a completely unrelated job/field), or do I have to wait another year or two to apply until I get more work experience?

 

Has anyone else applied with "relevant experience" like this that can chime in?

 

 

[Kristopher]

It really depends on how you "sell" your skills and how well your recommendation letters sell your skills too. I applied to Ohio State with no direct "relevant experience". I have experience only in customer service/sales. But in my personal statement I discussed how a lot of those skills are applicable to clinical social work (field I want to get in to). I think it is important to be able to identify what you want to do with an MSW and link it directly to what you have already done. It shows critical thinking about your skills and future goals, which I am sure means a lot to admissions.

[awright228]

I've only been out of school for a couple months and I want to apply for next fall (2014) to go back to school. Not too much luck on the job front, and I'm more and more convinced that this is the field for me and don't want to wait around any longer.

 

My biggest piece of "relevant experience" is 6 semesters of service learning teaching/mentoring in urban school. It ends up being around 200 hours classroom time and another 100+ hours with peers and professors in the program. I have a strong recommendation to back up my work here and its relevance to the field of social work, but I'm just unsure of the perceived connection of teaching to the field. Additionally, I'm unsure of if this limited amount of hours is really enough.

 

Is my experience too limited? Too tangential? Would it be enough to volunteer part-time this fall while applying (currently working full time in a completely unrelated job/field), or do I have to wait another year or two to apply until I get more work experience?

 

Has anyone else applied with "relevant experience" like this that can chime in?

 

I think you have a lot of good things there to work with! And volunteering even if it is just one Sunday a week at a soup kitchen is never a bad idea. I really don't think I had a lot of experience when I applied, but I had 'something' I could talk about in my personal statement and tied it into what I want to do, like, the last poster said.

I think MSW programs def. want some experience, but it's not like you have to have a TON if your other credentials are good/solid as well.

 

[MsDarjeeling]

The experience you have is great and will definitely be favorable.  However if you have the desire and time in your schedule to volunteer with a different population then I'd say go for it.  There is no such thing as too much experience and differing experiences develop new skills, demonstrate an openness to the unknown, and expand cultural competency.

[mpainter]

From my perspective, as someone who will be applying next year, it is good to have some relevant social services experience which you can draw upon. There are many social service companies who are looking for someone who can work part-time or full-time in uban, and especially rural areas. And the service you provide can go to the young, the old, and the disabled for these companies. There are no one thing to look out for unless you specialize in some skill. (nursing, etc.)

 As for you Decaf, I would say that you can parlay your experience as a valuable experience that is relevant to what social work can entail. Talk about the skills you learned and regularly used ( staying detail-oriented and organized for students from a lower socio-economic background) I only say this because I too worked part-time at an urban charter school for a year and I believe it is important to stress the cultural diversity and experience you now have.