Finding a job after graduation

[LittleDarlings]

I start my program next month! I know I am getting super ahead of myself but I am worried about finding a job post graduation that I can get the supervision hours at. I have looked on indeed and read horror stories about people with MSWs who can't find jobs (mostly the ones I read focused in macro though). I have also looked at job listings for LSWs and most of them prefer LISWs or LCSWs. If you have your Masters already when did you start applying to postgraduate jobs? How soon before you were hired? Also how soon after graduation did you get your LSW? What did you do in the time between?

Edited July 30, 2014 by LittleDarlings

[TLC]

I am still a student yet wanted to respond. I would begin networking immediatley at your field placement (if you like it) and attend the career fairs/alumni networking events that your program offers. Plenty of folks in my program began receiving job offers in Feb/March/April and they graduated at the end of April. I would also plan to get your LSW as soon as you can. I hope to do the same as I get married a month after I graduate and I want to get it out of the way

[Lifesaver]

Take things one day at a time. If you start freaking out about the job hunt now, surely you will make yourself crazy by the end of your program. As said above, network. Make yourself some business cards, give them to everyone you meet. Talk to everyone, and be polite as hell, even if it's someone you think has no connection to the field. You never know whos mother, brother, uncle, dog walker, etc, is in the field and can be your winning connection. You can volunteer, join a networking group, attend conferences. write a paper for publishing. The list goes on and on. Never miss an opportunity to market yourself. And make sure that when you're doing so, you're doing it positively.

[citychild]

First and foremost, relax.

I was a macro student. I did not have a macro focused internship entirely. I graduated in May 2014.

With that said, I networked like crazy. I constantly updated my resume and I took it to career services for look overs a few times. I also updated my LinkedIn. I asked for everyone's business card and wrote on the back of it how I met them. I then added them on LinkedIn and added into the message invitation how I met them.

I started sending out my resume in January, sounds crazy right? But it got my name out there. I made an Excel sheet with the jobs I applied to and related information, because sometime I'd get emails and forget about what went to what. Around March, I got phone calls for interviews and I went on my first interview in late March. I researched the organization like crazy and proved it in the interview. One of the jobs I went on an interview for in late March I got a call back for a second interview and started the job May 1 (graduation was May 8!)... I got this job through someone I met when I networked. I saw they had a job opening on their website and that person gave my resume to their boss directly.

I also recently got a job offer through LinkedIn for consulting.

I do know that some of my classmates still do not have jobs, though :-/

[briefinterviews]

...also here to rep the macros:

 

I had a job offer from my second-year field placement, but I was set on returning to Los Angeles, so I was doing a semi-long distance job search; from resume submission to job offer, it was just under 6 months, starting in January. However, I had my eye on a very specific agency, and ultimately only applied to 3 jobs total because I was being very particular in the type of work I was after. Also, something in my gut told me this one job was just it.

 

I had a phone interview within mere days of submitting my application in early January, but it was 2 months before I flew down for an in-person interview. Another 2+ months went by before I was asked to send updated materials, then shortly after that I had back-to-back interviews with the unit director and then the executive director, who subsequently walked me over to HR to make an offer. Very slowly-then-suddenly. While I was anxiously thumb-twiddling, I followed up with the manager every month to let her know I was still interested and what my status was (graduated, moving, etc). There was also some circle-intersecting happening with some of the work I was doing that I am sure played a part, and I had some great mentors on my side who helped advocate for me and position me in a place where this agency could see me in action. There were also a lot of other agency-specific factors that prolonged and delayed the process, but I feel nailing the first in-person interview and staying on their radar in the months after sealed the deal.

 

My advice is if it is your dream agency/position, hold in there, be persistent, and use your network and the support of your mentors. 

 

Many of the macro students in my cohort are now gainfully employed (we graduated May 2014), with others either still on the hunt and doing something short-term, or purposefully taking some post-graduation time off. We were heavily advised to actively network, arrange informational interviews, etc. 

Edited July 31, 2014 by briefinterviews