Review: Jobs That Matter: Find a Stable, Fulfilling Career in Public Service (2010)

Jobs That Matter: Find a Stable, Fulfilling Career in Public Service (2010), by Heather Krasna, provides job seekers with important tips on how to pursue a public service career in the non-profit, public, and private sectors. It also includes a foreward by Max Stier, President and CEO of Partnership for Public Service. Krasna is Director of Career Services for the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs. She has more than 11 years of experience as a career advisor and employer relations specialist in colleges and universities.

This book helps you pinpoint the right public service career for your interests and talents.It provides details on major career areas in human services, health, education, civil rights, the environment, infrastructure, finance, international development, security and law enforcement, religion, and the arts. It also includes profiles of 26 professionals in all areas of public service, demonstrating how they got the job and what they like about their current position. It also includes listings of more than 250 professional associations, job search sites, and books, and career exploration exercises to help you pinpoint the right area for you.

In the last two chapters, content focuses on resume writing (including tips on writing a federal government resume!), cover letters, interviewing, salary negotiation, and getting offers in public service. This is a great resource for students, recent graduates, career changers, and veterans. I like the exercises in the beginning of the book that helps you unravel your personality type: What did you study in college? What kinds of issues do you feel most passionate about? What is your preferred work style? What are your personal and career goals? I also like the quotes by famous individuals throughout the book because it is both inspirational and uplifting.

Once you read this book, you will feel more prepared than ever because her advice and tips have helped hundreds of people pursue public service careers. If this sounds like the right book for you, I highly recommend it.

More Career Advice from U.S. News

Job searching and interviewing for a new position in this economy is never an easy task. Do you ever wonder how can you ace your next interview? I discovered more valuable career advice articles from U.S. News below:

• 7 Signs You Bombed Your Interview
  
  
• 10 Ways Job Searching Is Like Dating
  
  
• Don't Make These 10 Internship Mistakes
  
  
• How to Really Answer the Most Basic Interview Questions
  
  
• What You Need to Say to Land a Good Job
  

Meanwhile, Mother Jones recently published this blog post, A Good Job Is Hard to Find. Sadly, the news isn't positive:

A good job is one that pays $37,000 (the median wage for men in 1979), includes at least some health insurance, and some kind of retirement plan. It doesn't have to be generous health coverage or a generous retirement plan. Mediocre health plans with big copays still count, and modest 401(k) retirement plans count. The job just has to include something.
...
Overall, the number of workers with good jobs has declined from 27% to 24% since 1979.

If you love these tips, then visit the On Careers blog on U.S. News.

SWT: ‘Case’ and ‘Cause’ in Social Work Education — A Balancing Act

In case you missed the March/April 2012 issue, Social Work Today magazine published a story about the challenges of teaching both micro and macro approaches in social work education.

I never read this book, Unfaithful Angels. However, I agree with Specht that contemporary social work has become too engrossed with clinical training methods and neglected its macro practice roots (social reform and political action). I believe social workers don't truthfully follow the NASW Code of Ethics because we're not visibly involved in political matters that resonates with millions of ordinary people in America (e.g., Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Student Debt).

In the preface of Harry Specht and Mark Courtney’s book Unfaithful Angels, Specht laments what he sees as social work’s drift away from social justice: “When I first came to know social workers half a century ago, they had a mission that was, to me, appealing and significant: to help poor people, to improve community life, and to solve difficult social problems. But times have changed. Today, a significant proportion of social workers are practicing psychotherapy, and doing so privately, with a primarily middle-class, professional, Caucasian clientele” (p. ix-x).

As long as states only mandate licensure for clinical training, many prospective social work students will not pursue the macro social work concentration route. For instance, while Michigan is progressive in providing licensure options for macro practice, a majority of social workers in the state still focus on clinical training. The dominance of clinical work programs across the country will continue to erode the perception and significance of macro social work in real-world settings.

Despite the historical debate about social work’s role as a case or cause profession, it is clear that the majority of students entering educational programs today want to pursue careers as clinicians. The popularity of clinical work may have more to do with practical matters than any conscious decision to reject social activism. For example, some students believe they will not be able to pass state licensing exams unless they take classes focused on service to individuals and families. Another concern is the earning potential to be had in a clinical career vs. one focused on macro-level service.

The predominance of clinical work also is reflected in the method concentrations offered by master’s programs nationwide.

How do you feel about this dichotomy between micro and macro in social work education? Should all master's social work programs offer a generalist program, or there needs to be greater awareness of macro social work among the general public? Personally, once state boards recognize the legitimacy of macro practice in the licensure process, this will encourage students to concentrate in management, communities, and social policies.