Social Workers — Get Your Money - The Good Men Project

If you’re a social worker, I know I just fanned the flame of anger deep inside your soul by merely writing that tile. Before you stop reading at this point, let me quickly tell you that I have 13 years of experience in the social work field. I am currently a therapist. I am not where I want to be as far as my salary goes. So this isn’t some overhyped, devoid of empathy, get-rich-quick scheme. I hate seeing titles like the one I just typed. It made me cringe just writing it out, but that feeling is directly tied to the overall issue I want to address.

Free Guilt

I remember sitting in my undergraduate social work program (quite) a few years back and receiving the same message from almost every professor. I already know you can probably tell me what it is before I even write it out. Regardless, the message was as follows: “Don’t plan on getting into this field for the money.”. There was some truth to that statement, but it also fed into a relatively toxic cultural norm found within the social work field.

It immediately taught us to devalue ourselves before we even stepped foot into the field.

That may seem like a stretch, but I have noticed this in my career, and I have noticed it in many other social worker’s careers. I have had multiple conversations surrounding this, and we frequently all come to the same conclusions. We are constantly berated with the idea that we should never bring up the discussion of pay in a job interview or when offered a job.

We feel guilty asking for a pay raise. We feel guilty asking for higher starting pay. We feel guilty counter-offering what agencies offer to us.

The Cost of Silence

I need to share some of my own experience; because I think it will help resonate with what some of you have experienced as well. I never spoke about the salary in any of my job interviews. I never had the guts to counter-offer when I was offered a job. I didn’t find out until this year (2020) that I could request to be paid within a salary range if the company posted it. I didn’t know that I didn’t have to accept the lowest end of the pay scale when I got job offers.

There was a deep, distorted thought that I was unethical for asking for more money.

I am the king of making lateral moves. I cannot tell you how many jobs I have gone to where I made the same amount that I made at the last position. I felt that I did not have the right to ask to get paid more. I didn’t even share what I got paid at my previous job. I felt that I was somehow demonstrating arrogance if I requested higher pay. Something inside of me fiercely scolded me for even considering asking those questions.

If we do not value ourselves, then we work with a certain standard that we accept for ourselves. Not only can we suffer from that, but our clients can as well. If we are in a low paying job knowing that we don’t feel valued by our employer, then there is no reason to put in our best effort. Some people may be able to put in their best effort regardless of the pay, but once you’ve been in the field for a while, that becomes tiresome very quickly.

If I cannot find value in myself, then I will accept the lowest pay that a company offers me; because I feel like I have an ethical obligation to serve my community while I barely make a living wage.

That’s simply unacceptable. The majority of us enter into this field knowing that we were never getting into it for the money. However, that does not mean that we should sit back and deny ourselves a liveable wage just because we think someone else may judge our intentions.

I am my own worst enemy when it comes to this. I can rationalize and justify any thought that tells me I should be asking for more. I tell myself that people will only think I am there to get paid. I believe that somehow my reputation will be tarnished if I request to be paid what I feel that I am worth based on all of my education, life experience, and my work experience.

Fake Love

While I am on this subject, I think it’s essential to give out some numbers. That’s another area that is taboo in our field. We feel as though we should never ask what our coworkers are getting paid. I feel comfortable advocating for higher wages for everyone else in this country. I know that I must stand up and speak out about the wage gap between male and female employees. It infuriates me that People of Color get paid less than white employees, and I have no problem expressing that.

I can find the strength to stand up and speak up for everyone else. I just can’t find the strength to do it for myself.

Let’s be real; the companies we work for are businesses. Some of them will lure us into feeling as if we owe them our lives for being able to work there. Different agencies know they offer considerably less, so they will bait us in with stories about how important they are in the community and will tell us that the “experience” we get there makes up for what they won’t pay. They will manipulate us into feeling that somehow we shouldn’t consider working anywhere else.

They know we are walking two-weeks notices, but they treat us as if we are indeed family to them.

Self-Worth

As I stated earlier, I have been in the field for 13 years. I have a Bachelor of Social Work degree. I also have a Masters in Psychology, and I received my Masters in Social Work recently. I am also licensed to practice social work and therapy. I have worked some of the most intense social work jobs that are available. I bring to the field my direct personal experiences when it comes to mental health and trauma. I am well-versed in being a team player. I know how to connect with my coworkers and clients. I can figure out different ways to empower my clients. I can work under any type of pressure that has been heaped on top of me over the years. I know that I have so much to offer, yet I cannot bring myself to verbalize it in an interview or when I get a job offer.

I made about $9.25 at my first social work job. I have scratched, clawed, been broke, lived paycheck to paycheck, and maintained my silence for 13 years just to get to a point where I am now making around $50,000. Trust me when I say that I am grateful for even being able to get to this number, but it took a long time to get here. There is such a strong urge within me to go back and delete that number, but I know that other social workers must see this.

Once we understand our value, we can begin to serve our clients better. We will find value in working within the field for longer than a year or two. We will stop accepting mediocrity from agencies that will fill our positions 5 minutes after we leave them.

Talk is Cheap

We do not owe any company anything. We jumped into this thankless career because we are passionate about giving back to our communities. We stick it out in the most difficult of circumstances. We do jobs that a vast majority would never consider doing. We experience things that will traumatize us for years to come. We give of ourselves until there is almost nothing left.

If a job can’t recognize that, then it is time to leave. If you can resist the urge to accept any job offer you get and you can afford it, then do not allow yourself to settle for anything less than what you value yourself at. If you do not know what your value is, then start asking your coworkers what they make. Start looking at salary trends. Hunt down your old college professors and get insight from them. Let them know that you value yourself now and that you will no longer allow different agencies and supervisors to devalue you. Let them know that you will no longer let those companies and supervisors instill even more guilt within you when you ask them to provide a living wage to you.

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Many of us quite literally put our lives on the line when we walk out into the field. We do so silently, but with a strength that is not found in most people. We fight battles in our own lives and then willingly choose to fight for those that we serve, even if those people hate us with a seemingly undying passion.

We all must choose to value ourselves from here on out.

Supervisors and agencies can tell you all day long that they are grateful for you and that you are a valued employee. However, if all they offer you is a pizza party once a year, please understand that they are simply lying to you. I know that may seem like an overreaction, but it is the reality. If they are not actively doing everything they can to show you that they value you, then it is just lipservice.

Verbal recognition of our value does not pay off our student loans or keep our lights on.

I am doing my best to find the courage to express my value and expect that companies will offer me something that reflects what I can offer them. I can only hope you do the same.

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This post was previously published on Equality Includes You.

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