The social work career services community is very small. Cindy Snell, director of career services and alumni relations at the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW), is one of only 20 to 25 in the nation focused on career development for social work students. The more there is, the smaller the scale.
“I belong to a professional organization, but it’s a small organization like mine that does this work,” Snell said. “We get together every year to talk about how to share tips, but we also have a mission to support all social workers who don’t have access to a career services representative. I think that’s where the idea for the book came from. Masu.”
Snell has been working with BCSSW students and alumni for nearly 20 years at the University of BC, and recently published a book, Social Work Career Guidebook: Finding Your Ideal Job and Legacy, which aims to guide readers in their career development. Published “How to Build a Business.” In social work.
Snell published the book with two co-authors: Jennifer Luna, former director of the Dinit Center for Career Services at the University of Texas at Austin, and Michelle Woods, currently director of career services at the University of Michigan. . School of Social Work.
“Collectively, we have decades of experience supporting students and graduates, and we have put all of our expertise to use to help individual social workers and social worker advisors make progress with this book. I really wanted to put it all together and share it in book form. It’s our career,” Snell said.
Snell emphasized that the book was written for people at all stages of their careers, not just college students.
“Certainly, there are a lot of sections for people who are just interested in social work and what it means to begin with, or who are thinking about majoring in social work from the undergraduate level to the master’s degree,” Snell said. “But after 10 to 15 years, there are people who want to change direction or make a different contribution, or who don’t know how to proceed with their career at that point.”
The book is also designed to be interactive, thought-provoking and reflective rather than being skimmed from cover to cover, she said.
“We start each chapter with an action plan,” Snell said. “There are four or five things I hope you get out of this chapter. There are four or five things you should try when you finish reading this chapter.”
Many of the exercises ask readers to answer key questions about their career, such as what their values are, what they enjoy doing, what their skills are, and how they fit with potential jobs. Encourage them to think about questions. Other exercises focus on specific topics, such as evaluating job offers.
“I encouraged some of my supervisors to turn it into an exercise they could do together, share what they learned as a group, and get informed that way,” Snell said. Ta.
Marian Concepcion (BC ’19, BCSSW, CSTM ’24) was previously matched with Snell through the Graduate Assistant Program and worked as her graduate assistant. Part of her work included editing parts of Snell’s books.
“My role was to read portions of several chapters from a student lens,” Concepcion said. “The material was already complete, so I was part of a lot of other people, other students, who were also looking at the final look after everything was done and making sure that it was meaningful for the students. I told her whether or not.”
Prior to earning master’s degrees in theology and social work, Concepcion earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and information systems. But when working with Snell and reading the book gave him a new perspective on his career search, Concepcion changed direction.
“I think I realized how transferable and important the skills I learned at CSOM are because they will continue to be important to me,” Concepcion said. “I think all of those[skills]are really important, but in Cindy’s book she’s very specific about taking the time to really figure out what you’re good at, what your strengths are. I also liked what you said.”
Concepcion currently runs a search retreat at the University of San Diego, which she described as a similar experience to the Kairos retreat in B.C. She said she was grateful for Mr. Snell’s guidance as she gained Double Eagle status and solidified her career.
“Cindy really helped me through the process,” Concepcion said. “We talked a lot about negotiations and that stage of the work process, and we understood what the non-negotiables were in the job, what was important to me, and what my goals were both short-term and long-term. I did.”
Social work offers a wide range of career paths and practice areas, but it can be difficult for students looking to stray from the traditional clinical social work path.
Marielena Feliciano, BCSSW ’24, said students in the social work field face unique challenges upon graduation. Feliciano was part of the Global Practice Program within BCSSW. This program allows students to explore different routes from traditional clinical social work with a more macro or global perspective.
“In the macro field, there is no specific goal like a clinical social worker. Therefore, it can be difficult to find positions that require a macro social worker because there are no macro social workers and there are no qualifications. Because it’s different than some clinical social workers,’ social workers,” Feliciano said.
Through the program, Ms. Feliciano had the opportunity to work with the International Catholic Immigration Commission headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, where she learned a variety of skills that overlap with and add to the social work field.
“I was coordinating, managing and communicating a lot of projects for them,” Feliciano said. “I learned skills during that internship, and I still reimagine myself as a communication social worker.
Currently, Feliciano works as a recruiter and project manager in the Department of Social Work at his alma mater, La Sierra University, in Riverside, California. Like Snell, Feliciano said she wants to educate students about career possibilities in the social work field.
“I’m basically promoting the program because it’s so small,” Feliciano said. “I go to various college fairs, high schools, and community colleges and give talks about the field of social work.”
One of Snell’s major goals is to encourage students to think about what they are passionate about and explore a wide range of possibilities in the field of social work.
“All of our students come to us with a strong passion for changing the world, but it depends on the type of passion they have,” Snell says. “I’m a big proponent of teaching people how much different things they can do with an MSW degree.”
BCSSW is planning an exhibit in the Social Work Library next semester in conjunction with this semester’s reunion on November 13, 2024, with the goal of showcasing the diversity of social work careers.
“My mission this year is to get the word out about it,” Snell said. “And I think this book will help you take your stand, understand what’s important to you, and move forward with that.”
