Should You Move into Management?

After every social worker has gained a few years experience, this question always comes up.  It's especially true if the agency you work for constantly has work opportunities.  


Traditionally, for most social work supervisor jobs I've seen, they are looking at three to five years experience and for some, a masters in social work degree is required.


Before I started my first social work job, I was convinced that I would take this route - moving up the supervisory chain.  However, once I saw the level of responsibility required I had second thoughts.  I did not want to have to work through EVERY lunch, and have to take home work with me on evenings and weekends.  They also deal with the most challenging clients while at the same time possibly carrying their own files (yikes!).  They are often stuck in the middle between trying to advocate for their employees and pushing for more productivity (aka miracles!) at the request of upper management.  In either case, their hands are often tied.  They might have to teach training courses and are often expected to push new initiatives on already overburdened employees.


There are many supervisors and managers I have seen that rarely take vacations and as a result of stress have gained physical/mental ailments.  Most times there are little supervisory training programs and the new supervisor or manager has to learn these skills on the job.  Their hands are also in many different pots, like dealing with HR issues if it effects one of their employees, having to be on agency committees, and they might have a more direct role in liaising with the community in regards to social work issues.


I don't have any advice either way whether or not you should move into management.  I only recommend that you think about it very carefully.  Take a look at the workload of your supervisor and ask yourself if you truly believe you can handle it.  Remember, once you move up the ladder, it is much harder to move back down.