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The Survival Guide for Newly Qualified Child and Family Social Workers

The Survival Guide for Newly Qualified Child and Family Social Workers

Hitting the Ground Running

Helen Donnellan and Gordon Jack

Paperback: £18.99 / $34.95

2009, 234mm x 156mm / 9.25in x 6in, 224pp
ISBN: 978-1-84310-989-1, BIC 2: JKSN JKSB1

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'Whilst structured and presented as a practical handbook for new social worker, it also succeeds as a stimulating read for anyone who wants to think about how one initially upholds, supports and promotes the value base of social work against a context of organissational complexity and societal expectation. Quotes from some 41 NQSWs grounds the book in everyday practice and make it interesting to read... In line with its aim to be a 'route map', the survival guide is clearly laid out and easy to skim and bowse. Clear tables and figures work well alongside the index and end-of-chapter keynotes to help the reader target details on particular areas of advice, without having to read the whole book. This is a positive, upbeat book that seeks to inform and assist NQSWs in their first year of practice. It reminds those responsible for practice development that successful transisiton to professional status is not only about provision of enabling structures; engagement beween the organisation and the individual is the key to survical for the new social worker.'

- Seen and Heard

'This book is a breath of fresh air. It takes the reader through the journey of the initial (and often most challenging) part of their career in a light-hearted and informative way... I would recommend this guide to all newly qualified social workers. It is easy to read and makes you think about the issues you will face.'

- Children & Young People Now

'Expectations of social workers, particularly in children's services, have never been higher from clients, the public, politicians, partners and employers. Academic qualifications and work placements obviously provide the bedrock for newly qualified social workers, but sometimes they do not fully prepare graduates for the realities of what is demanded of them in their first job. Helen Donnellan and Gordon Jack have produced an eminently practical survival kit with strategies to help new entrants in their first few months as newly qualified social workers, and I found it to be a welcome and helpful piece of work.'

- Anne Whitely, Executive Director of Children and Young People's Services, Devon County Council