I stumbled upon a really cool website that I love reading many of its articles. Come and pop by Real Life of an MSW, find out why I am a fan!
I love this comic strip. I had to smile that I found it so early on in the year; it was as if God was saying it’s a new year full of hope and opportunity. Whenever I find this strip between the pages of my journal, I find myself laughing (I get the joke) but I also see a new path, perspective and encouragement. I find myself rising to the challenge and reflecting on my professional life. My current job description would read: “Master level clinician trained to work in a high stress, fast paced milieu. Must possess empathy and strict boundaries to interact with mentally incapacitated young adults.”
I enjoy my career, but when I reflect on professional growth- creating a new path of what interests and excites me and how to continue to be my best self- I know without a doubt my dream job description would read: “Creative individual to develop innovative workshops, educational activities, therapeutic and life skill programs for homeless, foster care and mentally incapacitated young adults.”
I also know dreaming is not enough and growth is not about resume format. It’s about having the right mindset (adjectives, anyone?), taking your career seriously, and doing a whole bunch of little things, day in and day out, to ensure you make your dream job a reality. So, if you’re looking to boost your marketability and create new career opportunities for yourself this year, stop and ask yourself what your proudest professional contributions and accomplishments are. A mentor once told me to track how many people you advise on an interdisciplinary team, how many presentations you give and on what topics, how many candidates enroll in a study because of your flier and methods, etc. The reason behind this advice is that it’s going to be really hard to recall it down the road when you suddenly need to start bragging to a potential employer or asking for a promotion. After all, how many of us get caught on the question what’s your strength and weakness? I say all that to ask what would your dream job description be, and could you write it in 25 words or less?
Through divine inspiration (and many saying I should tell my story, and my thinking when the hell am I going have time for that?), I came up with this brilliant idea to write a blog chronicling my undertakings as an MSW, LICSWA, and LICSW (I know! Can one person have any more letters behind their name?!)
If you like to find out more about Real Life of an MSW, check out the website!
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