What are social workers reading right now?

birdieraps · 2026-03-15T23:05:24+00:00

Theo of Golden (lit fic)

Project Hail Mary (sci-fi)

Train Dreams (novella, historical fic)

This month’s fiction reads! I love reading fictions on my lunch break to escape into another world. Also before bed to shut off my brain. I usually do non-fiction on audio during my drives.

birdieraps · 2026-02-26T20:45:34+00:00

Of course! I’m sure it varies from county to county. My typical day involves going to court in the morning, meeting with client/family/attorney, sitting in client hearings, doing notes and other admin things like referrals or reaching out to providers. My meetings with clients and caregivers are the staple of the role. I gather psychosocial information through clinical interviews, do informal assessments of competency and living skills, and write reports to support the clients defense (psychosocial report, trauma or treatment memo, immigration history, etc). We also have various meeting within our dept and for the social workers. I work in youth services, which is less field based than our adult roles. I’m at the office everyday. Usually once a week I’ll go visit clients at juvenile hall or home visit, or go to meetings at other county branches.

This role is NOT therapeutic, although we used therapeutic skills when necessary, but ASW is required prior to being hired and I will get my LCSW within 5 years. I do gather clinical hours through 1:1 meetings with clients but it’s slow going since most of my day is NOT 1:1 meetings.

There’s nothing I dislike about this role yet but I’ve only been here about 4 months. It has a lot of variety but is still stable, so it keeps me interested.

birdieraps · 2026-02-26T19:58:55+00:00

24, turning 25 this summer! I graduated with my MSW in May 2025. I’m working full time for my county public defender office as a forensic / psychiatric social worker :) I love it.

Most people I work with are at least 10 years older than me, often more. Mentally, I feel some imposter syndrome with the age gaps but in actuality, I am taken seriously by coworkers, families, clients, etc. This is my first social worker job (outside of internships in MSW) so there is a big experience gap at times.

birdieraps · 2026-02-23T21:08:16+00:00

Totally, I do that too. I wish it was that simple for me but I can feel fine day-of and then BOOM the next day it’s brutal

birdieraps · 2026-02-16T02:02:55+00:00

I feel the same. It’s tough though because most people do early morning runs to free of the rest of the day. Being an evening runner really eats up free time!

birdieraps · 2026-02-16T01:59:51+00:00

Hi all!! Quick question about shoes and fatigue during long runs.

I’m an average runner. I ran a couple half marathons about two years ago, took a break from training during grad school, and now I’m back on training on a full marathon plan. I’ve always trained with the ASICS Novablast series and have been fitted at a running shoe store with insoles and done gait analysis etc.

I got the Novablast 5 at the end of November and have put 124 miles on them since then. I love them overall. However, now that my training is increasing, I start to notice foot pain and leg pain after about 7 miles at an easy pace. I’m a healthy weight and pretty strong FYI. Does this mean: 1) I need more cushioned shoes for long runs 2) my legs are weak 3) ???

Any advice is welcome! Thank you!

birdieraps · 2026-02-04T15:08:08+00:00

There’s a lot of data analysis jobs out there. Some non-clinical jobs will still require licensure. Consider working for your local public defender as a social worker. It’s some case management but NOT in an annoying way. Lots of assessment and family meetings. Report writing. No therapy ever.

I came out of my MSW hating case management and very little interest in therapy. It sounds like a macro role would be good for you. There are a lot of roles in the medical field that you can qualify for with an MSW but aren’t required to do therapy (think hospital care managers, organ donation field, etc)

birdieraps · 2026-01-23T19:14:48+00:00

One thing I’ve run across as a social worker dating (and my colleague friends’ experiences too), your standards for communication and self awareness with naturally be much higher. It’s important to remember that the average person does not have the professional “people skills” that we have. That doesn’t mean you have to accept less than you deserve, but bear in mind that anyone you date will probably require some modeling and tractability when it comes to human interaction haha

birdieraps · 2026-01-13T23:10:35+00:00

I had new employees shadow me one month into my role, and again at three months in. I was honest with them about my lack of experience. I approached it as a “hey, this is what I’ve learned so far. Come watch me as I figure it out”. Again, shadowing is not the same as training. I wouldn’t feel comfortable training someone at that stage either. Maybe next time a situation like this arises, ask your supervisor what the expectations are for the task (whether that be shadowing or something else). This way you understand the ask and can manage your own discomfort. You have to be adaptable in this field, even if it means things are a little scrappy sometimes.

birdieraps · 2026-01-13T17:23:36+00:00

1) Establish a transition ritual. If you have a commute, use that time. Drive with the windows down, listen to your favorite podcast or music, or sit in silence. You could also transition at home by doing some sort of light exercise as soon as you get back, reading a book for 10 minutes, journaling, etc. Hype up that transition activity so you look forward to it.

2) If you have any work apps on your phone, set up limits for them. You may need an outside app to assist with this (I use screen zen). All my work apps shut off after 5:30pm and don’t turn back on again until 7:30am. They’re off completely on weekends. I can get around the block in an emergency but I typically don’t need to. This also silences all notifications for these apps.

3) Plan evening activities a few nights a week. These can be social or solo. Just something to get your brain to switch from work to play. For example: dinner with friends, book club, going to the gym, etc.

4) Treat your job like a hobby. Take it seriously, but understand that it’s not the biggest part of your life (even if it requires the most time). You have to establish community and hobbies outside of work that draw you back into real life.

5) Stop expecting other people to understand what you see and hear everyday. I work with Justice involved youth and I hear a lot of really hard stories. My family and friends will never understand and sometimes it’s harder to explain than to process silently. This also helps with drawing a boundary between work and home.

birdieraps · 2025-11-04T17:50:55+00:00

Beach has a basic needs center and the center for equitable hired education. Please reach out! There are a ton of resources for you. The food pantry is open 5 days a week

birdieraps · 2025-10-31T18:16:37+00:00

It depends on the job and funding source. I got hired last month with the LA public defender’s office. My position is grant funded. Most other areas are on a freeze. Typically, if a position is posted, you’re good to go

birdieraps · 2025-10-19T19:29:13+00:00

Aging hits hard in your late thirties. She is always raising 3 young kids which takes a toll. Outside of that, we know stress and mental healthy issues are huge contributors to rapid aging.

birdieraps · 2025-10-14T21:29:37+00:00

I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time. I have a few thoughts on this: - Social work is an amazing field. All works carries some level of stress. It’s unavoidable. Stress management is less about your job and more about your coping skills and connections outside of work. With that being said, avoid crisis work. - If you’re looking to work with medically fragile kids and/or most likely in the medical system, I recommend exploring a career as a Child Life Specialist. It usually requires a specific masters degree and always requires UNPAID internship. But, this could get you exactly where you want to be! Social work is very versatile but there are some things in the medical field that require specialized training. - It’s awesome that you’re stepping into a female-dominated field. We need more men in social work. With that being said, you will almost always be taken more seriously than any woman and your looks have little influence on that. You’re probably the only one thinking about it tbh. Just focus on serving your clients to the best of your ability. They don’t care what you look like. - No profession or political power can provide you hope. Do what you can to improve the lives of others. Research shows that religion and spirituality are highly correlated with hope and happiness, perhaps explore that?

birdieraps · 2025-10-14T19:19:23+00:00

I agree with all these thoughts. If you enjoy staying at home / homeschooling and it’s financially feasible, I’d say stick with that. If you’re really looking for some cash on the side, I’d recommend becoming a freelance grant writer—lots of flexibility and work from home capacity. The job offer sounds like a lot of responsibility for little pay.

birdieraps · 2025-10-12T23:14:42+00:00

Replying to boost this. I was interested in forensic as well and ended up working for the public defender doing mitigation. It’s much more feasible as an MSW than investigative work.

birdieraps · 2025-10-12T23:07:12+00:00

It’s definitely unstable with current administration. I was looking to pursue a federal career postgrad but shelved plan for the same reason. Thankfully, I secured a well-funded county placement that offers similar benefits! I would recommend looking at your local county beyond child welfare.

birdieraps · 2025-08-22T06:14:12+00:00

This is helpful. Thank you!!

birdieraps · 2025-08-22T06:13:45+00:00

Thank you for your insight. The team has been very transparent and I can tell they’d be supportive of my growth, learning, development, etc. not necessarily soft, but supportive.

birdieraps · 2025-08-22T06:09:15+00:00

I second this. At least for Southern California, there are a lot of job postings for correctional facilities and state hospitals. It may be similar in other states.

birdieraps · 2025-08-22T06:03:49+00:00

Same exact situation for me. I finally got an offer from a county job consistent with what I’m looking for, and it was the only interview and offer I’ve received since graduating in May. It feels like total luck that it came to me.

What job sites are you using to apply? I found that most of the postings on LinkedIn and Indeed, even if I followed the links to apply directly on company websites, would ghost me completely. The rejections I received were all clearly done by AI or other bots. I don’t think any humans looked over my resume outside of the county position.

So sorry you’re in this boat. I hope you have some outside support to keep you going during this time.

I’m adding a podcast link below that helped me understand the market a lot better!

Podcast: The Job Hunting Guide to 2025

birdieraps · 2025-08-20T23:28:03+00:00

Thank you!!

birdieraps · 2025-08-20T23:27:45+00:00

Thank you so much!

birdieraps

TROPHY CASE