Looking to Interview a Social Services Worker

Happy Thursday Folks!! As some of you may recall, I'm in the process of trying to go back to school. After some soul searching, back in May, I decided I wanted to go back to school. I've been working on doing just that ever since. Ontario Employment Insurance has a program called Second Career. There's a lot of work involved to get an application sent to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU). It's now crunch time and I'm having some trouble. I thought I would do what I do best and that's blog about it and ask you all for help.

I'm registered at Everest College for the Addictions & Community Services Worker program. The Second Career application is to determine if I'm eligible to have the cost of school covered by MTCU. I have completed everything but I'm still missing two informational interviews. The idea is to talk to someone who is currently in the field and to show the ministry that I've done my homework. They want me to see if this is really what I want to take and that getting a job is feasible. 

My first question is are you in the addictions, community or social services field? If you are, can you pretty please email me the answers to the questions below? 

• What skills are required to be competitive in this field?
• What type of training is generally needed to work in this field? Is a certificate or diploma required?
• Has your company ever hired a graduate from Everest College?
• In your opinion, how rapidly is the field growing? Can you estimate future job openings?

Some of you may be wondering how a girl like me comes to the decision of becoming an addictions & community services worker? Well, I took journalism and web design but didn't have the confidence in  myself to pursue those careers. Instead, I ended up at a call center - and if you've ever worked in one yourself you know what happened next - I got stuck. Once you have one call center job, ALL the jobs end up being at a call center. So it's now 11 years later and I'm no further ahead then when I first started out. 

Ah, but that only answers half the question doesn't it? Well. I've been through a lot in my life. I've had a lot of experience living with addictions, from an alcoholic step-father to an alcoholic ex. There have been other situations that I won't get into, but thankfully I've managed to personally only be addicted to chocolate. However, the biggest reason is that I feel "called" to this profession. I feel a real need to help people. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.  

So, I thank you for your help and I thank you for listening! Stayed tuned for tomorrow's Faith Friday. 

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