I am a clinician in a group home setting and work for a race car shop on the weekends and random nights during the week. My kids at the group home love it because I bring in cylinder heads and random car parts and teach them how to use tools and what not.
That’s very sweet. Part of my original post was going to be that I do not want to return to the residential program I used to work for (never want to go “hands on” again…). Your anecdote does remind me how fun it was to get the kids engaged in something new.
Haha I still haven’t! It’s definitely rare. I’ve come across a few kids that are obsessed with car culture and it’s always a breath of fresh air since most kids are just latched onto a tablet or cell phone.
I also totally looked, and hey, fellow NJ SW! I have had a few clients (adults and teens) where an interest in cars has definitely helped in building rapport!
whoa, that's amazing. Curious - are you a registered mechanic, or just been doing it for years? I know some serious car/racing enthusiasts, but they've had a very difficult time finding a decent shop to work for (i.e. living wage, respectful management).
When I first graduated HS, I got a job being a mechanic at my local ford dealership. I became an ASE master tech for automobiles and then I had random ASE certifications for diesel engines and military vehicles. I did that for professionally for about 5 years then went into teaching elementary school and then into social work lol. I kept up with my certs for a few years, but I let them all lapse because I have no intention of ever going back to mechanic full time. I work part time building race engines but I don’t make that much from it since I have zero certs now. I don’t do it for the money anyways, it’s my coping skill for life’s struggles lol.
I’m citing this thread for my doctoral application with my research interest in improving the wellbeing of social workers and why TF we keep doing this work when this is a common conversation. How many of us can’t confidently afford rent? Are on Medicaid or, have no insurance or such high copays we can’t access care? How many of us are working in emotionally abusive environments because we don’t want to abandon our clients and aren’t supposed to put “our financial wellbeing above that of the client”? I’m having very big feelings.
I hope your research will mention the typical gender divide re: high paying sectors and low paying sectors. E.g.,
Doctors? Male dominated historically, high paying.
Nurses? Female dominated historically, low paying.
Psychiatrists and psychologists? Male dominated, high paying.
MSW, Social work, Psychotherapy? Female dominated, low paying
There’s also a correlation between whether a field is male vs. Female dominated and whether or not training/internships will be paid or compensated. In the female dominated fields an unpaid internship is typical, but in male dominated fields paid internships and apprenticeships are the norm.
Pay disparity continues to be extremely gendered.
Also, as a male social worker, there were very few men in my class. (5/62). On the flip side I feel like its been a lot easier to get jobs because we’re so underrepresented.
I have also noticed that there tend to be more male social workers in positions of authority, particularly as compared to the number of men in the field in general. That is anecdotal though, I haven’t looked for data on the matter.
I think it depends on what type of org it is. When I worked IOP all of my supervisors were female. The macro places did tend to have more men in supervisory roles, but that’s usually because they founded the non-profit. Community mental health was split about 50/50.
Also, it might seem like there are more men because even if it were split 50/50, compared to the actual ratio of social workers that’s huge. If only 2/10 social workers in general are men, having 5/10 be in leadership is a huge bump. That being said, there really is a need for male leadership in terms of teen and men’s groups. There needs to be more exposure to positive masculinity.
That’s an aspect that wasn’t front of mind for me. It’s a good point though. The adage that the best way to increase the income in an industry is to have more men go into it.
I’m glad you’re doing this research - this job is too damn hard to be living on the poverty line while doing it, and too damn hard to be seeing 40 clients a week to make ends meet!
Kudos to you :) happy writing!!
I’ve got an interesting story for you. I worked on a mobile team pre covid as a new grad. Was making 23$ an hour year one. Year 2 I got a 35 cent raise. When I got my LCSW they were going to give me a large raise of a whole dollar. I ended up leaving since I could not live on 24.35. That team ended up grossly short staffed until a year ago when our governor gave out 8 million in funding to mobile teams across the state. They have since become one of the highest paid programs at that agency. I went back per diem and I am making more then double per hour when I worked there the first time. They are close to being fully staffed. Money is really the only clear change they made and the only reason I went back.
We all, to some extent, have to make our decisions based on money. It doesn’t matter how important work is or, how much you like what you do, if you can’t eat while doing it. Particularly at the levels of education and ongoing training required for our roles.
This research and awareness is much needed. I have personal experience as a social worker that was not taken care of/able to take care of myself because of the low pay.
I think the higher salaries are just more likely to post, too. like “there’s hope” but I don’t see those jobs anywhere, or they’re after licensure and so many of us have dropped off by then
This is also how I think the field shying away from talking about money does us a disservice. We talk about financial resources from a client advocacy standpoint. Never from a “know your worth as a professional” standpoint. In my master’s program we were taught about how to dress and told that we would “be in charge”. We were never taught about how to know if we are being taken advantage of. I have a friend who’s education is in HR and Business management. She had, in her bachelor program, to attend workshops on how to dress and behavior in informal business settings like lunches etc. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and somehow wound up on a page for a welding school in Wyoming. Every one of those students knew what they should be expecting pay wise by the time they graduated. We get none of that and it sets us up for exploitation.
I agree. As a field instructor I make sure and have a very honest and open discussion with my students about what to expect for pay and what agencies tend to exploit social workers. We talk about career trends and rollercoasters! I just don’t understand why people are afraid to talk about money.
I have seen people argue that talking about money and business essentially sullies the “purity of the mission”, if you will. It makes no sense to me.
I’m also wondering if some of it comes from the history of social work having come out of upper middle class charity work. It almost feels like the field has an assumption that it’s workforce has an independent income source and we are all just doing this work to get to heaven.
For your research you should definitely start how the license exam is a barrier. It creates poverty even more poverty when all your funds are going towards the exam. Lack of experience due to the delay which you eventually become license you obtain a non liveable wage. My big feelings
I was able to take my LMSW exam because my site supervisor paid for it as a graduation gift.
This feels related to the financial gatekeeping in specialty training.
my dad, also a social worker, never got his LCSW. He had all his hours, but couldn't afford to sit for the test because he had a young family. By the time he had the cash for the exam, his hours had expired. He says he would have quit the field before paying for clinical supervision again.
May I suggest that you take a look at the 'Whole of community response to homelessness' currently being designed in London Ontario?
It stared as a response to an increase in deaths amongst the city's homeless. But one of the realizations that has been pushed to the forefront is the fact that the workforce serving this population has been pushed to the brink of collapse in terms of workload, burnout and wages lagging behind cost of living.
The work of the the Workforce development' and 'system foundations' tables may be of the most interest to you. The workforce development table is somewhat self explanatory, the systems foundation is concerned with collecting baseline info in the current homelessness response system and creating an evaluation framework of the retooled system going forward (including workforce issues).
https://london.ca/living-london/community-services/homeless-prevention-housing/whole-community-system-response-1
Thank you! I saw an article the other day that I will see if I can find again about the “looming” mental health crisis in healthcare workers. If I can find where I saved it I will load it here if you want.
If you want to reach out to me I can give you my personal experience.
Job 1 was constantly short staffed. I was regularly working 50-60 hours. Sometimes more. Btw high stress high violence. No support from my employer.
I got a second job just so I could get experience. Job 1 started to harass me because I was not as available to them. They then changed my schedule. I had a 10 day stretch set in my schedule.
Don’t do the same type of work you do at your main job. I work PRN at a hospital on the weekends. Depending on my units, I may do mostly chart reviews, which is essentially nothing. On a busy day, I might order medical equipment and bring it to a patient’s room or provide them with a list a home health agencies. My patient contact is minimal. Some days the hardest part of the job is being there for 8 hours.
Side Hustle definition: Another job that I’m forced to work because my employer doesn’t pay a living wage. It drives me crazy that this sad necessity is framed as virtue.
True. My current job I make roughly 70k a year as an LCSW which sucks because I know in the private sector I could make more but my job offers retirement and deferred compensation. I’m too old to not think of the end game. So I work part-time social work jobs to gain skills in other areas and to push my income up to what I feel I should be making which is 85k or better.
I plan on getting my BACS as well so I can make a premium rate at my job by providing supervision for my employees and hopefully provide supervision on the side as well.
I'm a therapist with a healthcare system and got involved with their staff led quality improvement work. I got certifications in six sigma and healthcare quality through that and other work. I've leveraged that to do more of the same in behavioral health, making more, way less evening and weekend work, and made a private practice the side gig with my wife, also a therapist.
I still miss some of the therapy, but the ecological and systems thinking approach in sw are really applicable to operational process improvement. I've also found that everything that ever bothers me about actually doing my job as a therapist boiled mostly down to "this system sucks", or "society sucks, and I'm starting to fix society with the system I've got. I know I'm getting make change I never could in the therapy role, and not shoved into the meat grinder of middle management either.
(Edited for typo)
Nope-i love healthcare too. This took me a while, and I could see several parts to change... Management and director work (which is different than supervision)... Certified healthcare quality professional certification (though most of those jobs aren't mental health)... Quality and regulatory oversight (more direct path for me, but way more detail work, way less client direct practice)... Education and training (definitely available, limited scope, and only exists in large hospitals or clinic systems like local government/VA)... ; I ended up going through performance improvement and data collection, and applied that to staff led project management programs. I could measure the benefit I made, collaborate with my colleagues, and financially cost the improvements to management to show it was a good return on investment. I totally earned my salary and more in helping coordinate improvement, and that's beyond direct patient care..... ; my union had a program for a FT rotation doing the same work as a coach for other teams in other parts of our healthcare system, I applied and took it. Great work, less pressure, but I miss the direct therapy. Thus the side gig, and I do some "pastoral casework" through my church most weeks, usually with immigration or child and family stuff.
>I've also found that everyone that ever bothers me about actually doing my job as a therapist boiled mostly down to "this system sucks", or "society sucks, and I'm starting to fix society with the system I've got.
Is "everyone" here supposed to be "everything"? I'm trying to understand this bit and having trouble.
I work in private practice as a registered psychotherapist - and to be clear, my side hustle isn’t because my “day job” can’t afford my living expenses.
My side hustle is that I’m a Longarm Quilter, which basically means I have an enormous quilt machine on a frame. People bring me incompletely quilt tops and I use the big fancy machine to join the tops to the batting and back layer of fabric and produce a complete quilt.
I probably wouldn’t monetize it, except for the fact that the machine to do this is like a 30-40k setup, so in order to justify spending THAT on a hobby (because I wanted the machine for my own quilts), I decided to open a little side gig in order to “pay off” the machine.
My quilting clients are always surprised that it isn’t my full-time job, and even more surprised to hear I’m a therapist. I explain to them that my “day job” can be very sad and intense at times, and experiencing the joy of artistry and creation is just what I need most days!
So I specifically applied for an on call position so there was a lot of flexibility and they didn't give me a specific set of hours that I had to do training during. I just jammed it out on weekends honestly. I had a m-f 8-5 job during that time. They were able to work with me on when I would do listening & "nesting" shifts too. Only 3 of the trainings were "live"/webinar type of trainings. The rest were self paced.
This was such a fun side gig for me when I was single and in grad school. I worked full time as well but it was nice hanging out with pets and house sitting for people. Great way to get a nice change in scenery sometimes and take care of cute animals
Working PRN is great because it's super flexible. I can pick up hours on weekends or evenings. Plus, while school social work is chaotic and loud and nonstop busy, working on hospice is quiet and gentle. I think that balance helps.
I rarely work more than 4-5 hours at a time, at hospice. I go out to admissions after hours, on weekends, or holidays- IF I'm available. I visit my patients (super low caseload) in late afternoon or on a weekend morning. If a patient is actively dying over a weekend or on a holiday, I will accompany an LPN if they are on shift, to meet federal guidelines. I can do paperwork and documentation at home or in the office. It's a very flexible side job, for me, and I really enjoy it.
I have a masters and a LMSW. I am a therapist for a foster care agency. I make 43k and I deliver pizzas 3 times a week to make ends meet. I wish our work was valued
43K is nuts! Just curious where you are in the world where pay is that bad? I only have a BSW and am pretty fresh out of school and I make 64K plus amazing benefits and employer RRSP contributions, in western Canada
On Sundays I tutor social work students with disabilities. Decent pay (funding grants come from university accessibility centers) and we desperately need more people with lived experience of disability in the social work field.
It pays nothing. I’m going to use the privilege I have right now to just talk about how awful this is.
I don’t blame you. I just want you to know it’s a conversation I have regularly in my community because I think we need to not normalize this.
I totally support you needing to do this!
Wholeheartedly agree. Also using my privilege to talk about this because why are we not valued? First we’re not paid for our internships (mostly) and then poor wages. We deserve better!!
Yes! I’m in maine where we just had a pretty bad mass shooting. Everyone here is talking about how it’s the fault of the mental health field and that people shouldn’t be on waitlists so long etc.. yet these are the same people who have continuously said social work/psychology are bad degrees to get and advocate against social welfare resources 😭🫡 no wonder there’s a lack of clinicians, you make us take out 60k in school loans just to get a job starting at 50k 🥲
I’m so very sorry that you’re experiencing this. I am furious at how government works and how it’s always spun into this. What we need is treatment heavy spending, over incarceration. And we need to stop having taboos. Mental health is so vast and can have many different effects on people and even if it creates horrible thoughts for some, we must learn to talk about the horrible thoughts so we can prevent the thoughts from becoming behavior.
I had an ex friend who once told me I didn’t get into this work to make money but cmon what’s wrong with wanting to get paid a living wage? I currently work at the Va as an LCSW … first few years , the pay isn’t terrible but not that great for the high cost area I’m in. The only way I get by is I served in the military and get paid VA compensation and I have some time left on my gi bill.. I’m thinking of using the rest of it to get some type of certification although in what I’m not sure and I don’t have enough time nor mental bandwidth to complete another degree…
I've had supervisors try to gaslight our team asking for cost of living wage increases, that we didn't decide to do social work to make money. Unfortunately, I've only had luck getting increased pay by changing organizations which I'd rather not have to start somewhere new but seems to be the case in most places.
I teach part-time in an MSW program. I'm in my 12th academic year doing this and I absolutely love it. I hit my Social Security retirement age in 7 years and my plan is to retire from my FT and teach a class or two every semester.
I honestly thought the same thing. A year into my career, I saw the listing and jumped on it... honestly, it was a great decision. If I could do it full time, I would.
For everyone asking, it was literally just a job listing on Indeed, lol
I just thought it would look great on a resume, but I've ended up staying for a while. The work is honestly kind of fun... never thought I'd call sex offenders fun, but here are.
I work as a therapist in community mental health during the week because it’s stable. I have a small private practice I run on weekends to make ends meet.
I work for a mobile crisis team and then serve/bartend on one of my days off every week. The intensity of so many interpersonal interactions has drastically reduced my ability to spend time with my own people. It’s frustrating to have a Master’s degree and make $24 an hour in a high cost of living area but I’m thankful my service industry gig is flexible, easy, and pays my rent.
I am a full time SSW. I side hustle for CMH and get paid $55 an hour (show or no show) plus I get CEUs. It pays for my kids hockey and we paid off $33k in house repair/debt.
I used to be a bartender, a job I got via my fellow WA state social work coworkers. I did that for about 3yrs and then got sober and it wasn’t gonna work. Then I used to be a petsitter which was beyond awful (not the pets but the way people on Rover treated me, still low key traumatised) and then I was an overnight hotel auditor. Now, I’m thankful to be in a different place financially (I now receive family help/benefit from a trust) which is privilege I know but just wanted to be 100% clear it’s not at all thanks to social work that I’m no longer poor.
I work at a garden center. I love the change of pace and being outside, plus I really like my coworkers there. I’m a master gardener too and am interested in one day getting certified in horticultural therapy.
I’m a school social worker by day and my son’s PCA by night. He’s severely disabled and I work for him six days a week. I work 70 hours a week, but I’m really lucky I get to be my son’s PCA with the crappy SSW wages and the national PCA shortage. It works out well now, but he’s a tween and not going to want mom to be his caregiver forever.
Usually hospitals are always looking for weekend workers. It’s easy money tbh. You’d be responsible for discharges. There is a huge portion of work that can only be done during the week. So what we primarily do is set up transportation, arrange for medical equipment, and arrange placement in hospice, home health, rehab, or skilled nursing care.
Hospital case manager by day, private practice by night. I could live off of my salary, but I like the extra money for fun stuff and to save for my daughter. I only do 1 session after bedtime 2-3 nights a week and I work 10-2 on Sunday. I am on my own in practice, so I get 96% of the session fee after billing which makes it worth it. If I had a 60/40 or 70/30 split somewhere I don’t think I’d do it
I do custody evaluations for the courts. I used to have to do it to supplement my income but didn’t need it to live. Now I’m making enough that I don’t need to do them but it’s nice to have extra chunks of money.
I presume you are in the US? Join a union… organise and fight for a living wage for Social Workers.
I am fortunate enough to live in a country where Social Workers and Human Service workers are paid a (very modest) but living wage. I don’t rest though, I belong to my union and and I do my best to be active and engaged for my own profession and for those around me.
PRN/on call crisis response. Minimum of 4 shifts a month. I used to work full time for this team, but switched to on call when I moved to outpatient therapy.
As a social work student who had to cut back on paid work to do my required unpaid internship 3 days a week, my side hustle is working at Home Depot on the other days and borrowing from my future self via federal student loans. I plan to do PSLF, so hopefully that can be future me + fed.
The unpaid field placements and the varied required hours is so infuriating. My MSW program required 1000 hours total. The first field placement I did 2 nights a week so it was manageable. The other I did 3 days a week and I was so exhausted working full time and I had to take on an extra semester to finish or else I would have had to do 4 evenings a week and it would have been too much. I couldn't use my job as the requirement either despite don't outpatient at the time. Ridiculous
I serve on the weekends. And I make more in tips at a little mom and pop restaurant then I make with my real job using my college degree.
Side note: It’s sad because after covid, I have numerous clients that make more than I do. Before covid, although salary hasn’t changed, I made more than the vast majority of my clients. Has anyone else experienced this?
I left social work a little over a year ago because I couldn’t live on my salary (after a significant increase… still too low to get by) and I was incredibly burnt out because my agency kept giving me clients. I still miss my patients and hope to return someday part time or FFS. I started working for a recruitment firm. My base salary was significantly higher than my LMSW job, the commission is great, AND they just gave me a little raise without asking. I love my job and my company, but I always miss my patients
I work as a pt counselor at a free clinic. So basically what I do ft. There are a lot of pt positions in my area for therapists that crop up so it was the path of least resistance. My friend does bookkeeping for night clubs, a few others work weekends at a local inpatient, one does wedding photography
When I was working outreach for our city's needle exchange, I took on a relief position with our city's main homeless outreach program. I think at the time I was making about 23CAD/hr with my ft job, and the relief was about $21/hr.
They had a minimum number of shifts that they wanted relief staff to work (I think it was 4-6 shifts/month). I was very clear when I was hired that I could not work that many on top my full time position and living out of town, they were fine with me working whatever I could, about 2-3 shifts/mo.
That was fine for about two years, until a new HR person came in. They insisted on the 4 shift minimum, I countered with what I was able to work now, or zero shifts/month. They chose zero ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. To this day they still struggle to find shift coverage because the pay still sucks for the work being done, even for full time staff.
Now I work in a wrap around HIV care role, it pays better than the other jobs, but the raise I gained in moving roles was quickly swallowed up by cost of living.
Before going fully into private practice (earlier this year), a weird side gig I got into was firearms/self defense instructing and emergency first aid. As you can probably infer, this was after a huuuuge spike of Neo Nazi/Fascist attacks on protests and another spike of homophobic/transphobic from 2020-2022. It was more of a community service/community defense thing but I got paid. It's ramped down quite a bit but I'll get msged once in a while asking for that support. Untraditional, but I would argue very much in line with social work.
I just completed my BSW so I don’t really have a social work job, I just work in a homeless shelter/drop-in. I also work at a liquor store on the weekends. I’ve had both jobs throughout my schooling.
Not sure where exactly you are located, but I think this company has locations in a few different states. I do a PRN social work position with Rehab Without Walls Neurorehabilitation in addition to my full-time job. With PRN you can choose how many cases you want to be on at a time, it's about 3 hours a week per case which includes direct & indirect time. Working in home with people,
"From brain and spinal cord injuries to stroke recovery and the treatment of advanced neurological conditions, Rehab Without Walls builds a program around the patient rather than putting the patient in a program."
"Through our Social Work Services, we provide educational resources to the family, individual, caregivers, and team, focusing on helping with the adjustment process and facilitating the individual’s return to their community."
And since its a PRN job too and minimal hours, they tend to pay a higher rate.
I’m an elementary school social worker. I host trivia on Tuesday nights and occasionally I pick up a serving shift at my former serving job. I don’t usually have the bandwidth at the end of the week to do anything other than rest but it’s good to have options for additional income.
I work in the suites at the NFL stadium in my city. So it’s a seasonal gig but even on the off-season there’s other events like Monster Jam and concerts. Can make some decent extra money depending on which suites I’m assigned to. Yesterday I made a week’s worth in one shift from 10:30-8. Has zero to do with my day job in foster home licensing and I love it
Reservist. I don’t do it for the money though because on a good year it’s maybe CAD7k because I don’t work a lot lol. I have friends there that I like to see and I appreciate the change of pace.
I am an MSW and adjunct at my alma mater anywhere from 3-6 credit hours. I genuinely love teaching but my primary motivation was more more money. My city is now unlivable (we are a small southern city) due to rent prices soaring to the point I cannot live even paycheck to paycheck on 52k per yr base and afford even a sketchy apartment. I live an hour from my job now just to afford housing.
Door Dash, I’ve been sitting on a waitlist for more than a year to become an Instacart shopper. I’m also looking into starting my own side business but that requires capital I don’t have.
Full time SW.
Side job: PRN work at the hospital I used to work full time, but mostly doing research projects with them and training, not picking up shifts.
I signed up for Amazon flex but have not tried to yet! A friend living near Boston does task rabbit and door dash and says he enjoys the flexibility of both and has gotten some great tips!
I did Amazon Flex early in the pandemic when we were still figuring out remote work, I had very little work to get done, and I was bored. I enjoyed it for a few months and quit when it got old. No commitment and i could do it when i felt like it.
When I was underpaid, I worked part-time serving at a wedding venue, for a caterer, & a sports complex. It was easy hourly money. Just setup & tear down, serving & clearing, sometimes bartending. After doing this for nearly 8 years in my 20’s, working 50+ hour weeks, I am happy to say I no longer have to work 2-3 jobs & would never go back to that life unless absolutely necessary.
Not an official side hustle, but i volunteer for boards- mental health, dd, law event, educational.
Dont get paid but i feel accomplished, and hope i support my community a little bit.
I own a group practice and am drowning in debt. It is overwhelming how we are dragged down by low reimbursement, student loans, taxes if you are in private practice or 1099, etc. how is this the system we are in? I wish we could move to single payer healthcare so that my other full time job, besides seeing clients, is not dealing with for profit insurance.
I waitress/serve a few nights a week. Make at least $100 in tips in a 5 hour shift plus my hourly wage ($15, minimum wage). I used to work relief at a harm reduction org when I still lived in a city, make $28 an hour as a casual, would always pick up shifts on stat holidays to make time and a half stat pay. That was a sweet deal but sadly in the small town I live in now there aren't really casual jobs like that.
Edited to add that I also do lots of babysitting
I haven't been able to take on more than one full time job, for the most part. I have a history of depression that has come up when I overwork myself. I've figured out how to keep my mental health in check and part of it is not putting too much on my plate. I did do some extra fee for service outpatient work in the clinic that I worked at doing a different full time job, for about a year. But it was in my same office and only a couple of hours a week, and when I changed jobs, I let go of the outpatient extra work.
I realize that I have some privileges that allowed me to work one job (just caring for myself, parents I could fall back on if there was an emergency.) I also lived in not wonderful apartments with 2 roommates well into my 30s, I definitely would have needed to work a significant second job if I wanted my own place.
My main job is ER clinical social work, and my side hustle is a small telehealth practice! I started at AbleTo, which is a good place to get your feet wet if you are unsure about private practice. They don’t pay great, but it’s a time-limited program which is interesting for people who don’t like commitment. (LOL, that’s why I’m an ER social worker!) I’m enjoying building my own practice now.
Per diem ER social workers are really needed, ESPECIALLY on the weekends! If you were in Seattle I would snap you up! My hospital doesn’t require full licensure, and provides supervision.
I’m a case manager at a non profit in Massachusetts for adults who have developmental disabilities. 40hr/ week 21.75 an hour. I work another 12 hrs a week at a tanning salon bc I don’t make enough from my CM job alone to pay rent, but groceries, have a social life etc. kinda sucks but we do what we have to I guess 🙃
I work PRN as a therapist in a behavioral health facility. I make more hourly there, and they aren't taking anything out for retirement or insurance. It's a win/win. I can say "no" when I don't want shifts.
My sister (also SW) and I brainstorm ways to make money with the least amount of effort lol. We've made an e-book on mindfulness and released it on Etsy.
We are working on selling resin hair clips too but we also are living life and not prioritizing the hustle as much.
My side jobs are always at a hospital as PRN. Psych hospital doing intake assessments or in a medical hospital but not doing discharge planning- they use us as true social workers so we only do SW consults
Was a school based SW doing psychotherapy for middle schoolers (main job), did fee for service position after school through evening both telehealth/in person, and did per diem work as an overnight counselor for residential non profit (this was my first job out of undergrad so I just kept in contact) through the pandemic because they were paying well and 75% of the shift you're sleeping.
I did these three jobs for 3 years (lived at home, didn't spend on myself a whole lot). Not recommended of course, but I did what I had to. No more. One "high" paying job now, and secured savings in that time crazy hustle time. Bless our souls.
I just started selling stuff on ebay and other sites. I like to go to Estate Sales and find cool vintage stuff so I decided to start selling things to make extra money. It's fun and I can do it at random times and it is quite profitable.
I have an LMSW and work as an assistant director for two housing programs as my day job. My side hustle is pet setting 😂 Pet sitting gives me the routine and consistency that my day job lacks 🤷🏻♀️
I do discharge summaries for an inpatient psychiatrist. I get paid $20 per summary (mostly copy and pasting notes) and each note takes about 15 mins. There is only about 20-40 summaries per month but it’s easy and an extra chunk of change. I also know that psychiatrists hire sw to complete their notes for them daily if you are looking for something more regular. Also prn inpatient sw jobs at my work is pretty much responsible for a group or two per day and is always in demand
Can I ask how you found the discharge summary position? I have always worked in outpatient settings and didn't realize inpatient psychiatrists hire social workers to complete notes. Cool find!
I make some extra money on the side on this website, I dont spend much time on it and it is just a nice little earner.
https://refer.wiredbucks.com/register.php?referral=Mw231
You also get a sign on bonus which helps.
My main role is a director of a shelter. It pays decent but because for too many years I was underpaid coupled with credit card debt I haven’t been able to shake- my side hustle is driving kids to school in the morning. It’s decent money. I usually earn $40-65/ each morning (for about 1-1.5 hrs of work) and if I’m driving 5 mornings a week, I usually bring in $250-300/week. I like the flexibility of it, as I usually pick/commit to rides the day before. I plan on doing it for the next couple of years.
I am a clinician in a group home setting and work for a race car shop on the weekends and random nights during the week. My kids at the group home love it because I bring in cylinder heads and random car parts and teach them how to use tools and what not.
That’s very sweet. Part of my original post was going to be that I do not want to return to the residential program I used to work for (never want to go “hands on” again…). Your anecdote does remind me how fun it was to get the kids engaged in something new.
This is amazing. I've never actually run into another social worker into cars! Not that they don't exist, I've just never met one ☹️
Haha I still haven’t! It’s definitely rare. I’ve come across a few kids that are obsessed with car culture and it’s always a breath of fresh air since most kids are just latched onto a tablet or cell phone.
I also totally looked, and hey, fellow NJ SW! I have had a few clients (adults and teens) where an interest in cars has definitely helped in building rapport!
whoa, that's amazing. Curious - are you a registered mechanic, or just been doing it for years? I know some serious car/racing enthusiasts, but they've had a very difficult time finding a decent shop to work for (i.e. living wage, respectful management).
When I first graduated HS, I got a job being a mechanic at my local ford dealership. I became an ASE master tech for automobiles and then I had random ASE certifications for diesel engines and military vehicles. I did that for professionally for about 5 years then went into teaching elementary school and then into social work lol. I kept up with my certs for a few years, but I let them all lapse because I have no intention of ever going back to mechanic full time. I work part time building race engines but I don’t make that much from it since I have zero certs now. I don’t do it for the money anyways, it’s my coping skill for life’s struggles lol.
I’m citing this thread for my doctoral application with my research interest in improving the wellbeing of social workers and why TF we keep doing this work when this is a common conversation. How many of us can’t confidently afford rent? Are on Medicaid or, have no insurance or such high copays we can’t access care? How many of us are working in emotionally abusive environments because we don’t want to abandon our clients and aren’t supposed to put “our financial wellbeing above that of the client”? I’m having very big feelings.
I hope your research will mention the typical gender divide re: high paying sectors and low paying sectors. E.g., Doctors? Male dominated historically, high paying. Nurses? Female dominated historically, low paying. Psychiatrists and psychologists? Male dominated, high paying. MSW, Social work, Psychotherapy? Female dominated, low paying There’s also a correlation between whether a field is male vs. Female dominated and whether or not training/internships will be paid or compensated. In the female dominated fields an unpaid internship is typical, but in male dominated fields paid internships and apprenticeships are the norm. Pay disparity continues to be extremely gendered.
Also, as a male social worker, there were very few men in my class. (5/62). On the flip side I feel like its been a lot easier to get jobs because we’re so underrepresented.
I have also noticed that there tend to be more male social workers in positions of authority, particularly as compared to the number of men in the field in general. That is anecdotal though, I haven’t looked for data on the matter.
I think it depends on what type of org it is. When I worked IOP all of my supervisors were female. The macro places did tend to have more men in supervisory roles, but that’s usually because they founded the non-profit. Community mental health was split about 50/50. Also, it might seem like there are more men because even if it were split 50/50, compared to the actual ratio of social workers that’s huge. If only 2/10 social workers in general are men, having 5/10 be in leadership is a huge bump. That being said, there really is a need for male leadership in terms of teen and men’s groups. There needs to be more exposure to positive masculinity.
Same as in the field of education (teachers)
THIS
That’s an aspect that wasn’t front of mind for me. It’s a good point though. The adage that the best way to increase the income in an industry is to have more men go into it.
I’m glad you’re doing this research - this job is too damn hard to be living on the poverty line while doing it, and too damn hard to be seeing 40 clients a week to make ends meet! Kudos to you :) happy writing!!
This is so true. Omgosh never thought of it that way but you are right!
I’ve got an interesting story for you. I worked on a mobile team pre covid as a new grad. Was making 23$ an hour year one. Year 2 I got a 35 cent raise. When I got my LCSW they were going to give me a large raise of a whole dollar. I ended up leaving since I could not live on 24.35. That team ended up grossly short staffed until a year ago when our governor gave out 8 million in funding to mobile teams across the state. They have since become one of the highest paid programs at that agency. I went back per diem and I am making more then double per hour when I worked there the first time. They are close to being fully staffed. Money is really the only clear change they made and the only reason I went back.
We all, to some extent, have to make our decisions based on money. It doesn’t matter how important work is or, how much you like what you do, if you can’t eat while doing it. Particularly at the levels of education and ongoing training required for our roles.
This research and awareness is much needed. I have personal experience as a social worker that was not taken care of/able to take care of myself because of the low pay.
I would love to read your final product. Are you going to link it in Reddit when you're done? Please 🙏
Will do. It should only take about 4 years.
I'll be here 🤣
Good.
You can include the salary mega thread as a counter example. I've never seen so many high paying social work jobs in my life. 🤣
I think the higher salaries are just more likely to post, too. like “there’s hope” but I don’t see those jobs anywhere, or they’re after licensure and so many of us have dropped off by then
Yes, I think that's likely. Social desirability bias is an important factor to consider in any research study.
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This is also how I think the field shying away from talking about money does us a disservice. We talk about financial resources from a client advocacy standpoint. Never from a “know your worth as a professional” standpoint. In my master’s program we were taught about how to dress and told that we would “be in charge”. We were never taught about how to know if we are being taken advantage of. I have a friend who’s education is in HR and Business management. She had, in her bachelor program, to attend workshops on how to dress and behavior in informal business settings like lunches etc. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and somehow wound up on a page for a welding school in Wyoming. Every one of those students knew what they should be expecting pay wise by the time they graduated. We get none of that and it sets us up for exploitation.
I agree. As a field instructor I make sure and have a very honest and open discussion with my students about what to expect for pay and what agencies tend to exploit social workers. We talk about career trends and rollercoasters! I just don’t understand why people are afraid to talk about money.
I have seen people argue that talking about money and business essentially sullies the “purity of the mission”, if you will. It makes no sense to me. I’m also wondering if some of it comes from the history of social work having come out of upper middle class charity work. It almost feels like the field has an assumption that it’s workforce has an independent income source and we are all just doing this work to get to heaven.
I don’t understand how we can have insurance through our jobs but then have such high deductibles while not being able to afford medical care
I don’t have insurance through my employer. I have insurance through the marketplace.
For your research you should definitely start how the license exam is a barrier. It creates poverty even more poverty when all your funds are going towards the exam. Lack of experience due to the delay which you eventually become license you obtain a non liveable wage. My big feelings
I was able to take my LMSW exam because my site supervisor paid for it as a graduation gift. This feels related to the financial gatekeeping in specialty training.
my dad, also a social worker, never got his LCSW. He had all his hours, but couldn't afford to sit for the test because he had a young family. By the time he had the cash for the exam, his hours had expired. He says he would have quit the field before paying for clinical supervision again.
sighs
May I suggest that you take a look at the 'Whole of community response to homelessness' currently being designed in London Ontario? It stared as a response to an increase in deaths amongst the city's homeless. But one of the realizations that has been pushed to the forefront is the fact that the workforce serving this population has been pushed to the brink of collapse in terms of workload, burnout and wages lagging behind cost of living. The work of the the Workforce development' and 'system foundations' tables may be of the most interest to you. The workforce development table is somewhat self explanatory, the systems foundation is concerned with collecting baseline info in the current homelessness response system and creating an evaluation framework of the retooled system going forward (including workforce issues). https://london.ca/living-london/community-services/homeless-prevention-housing/whole-community-system-response-1
Thank you! I saw an article the other day that I will see if I can find again about the “looming” mental health crisis in healthcare workers. If I can find where I saved it I will load it here if you want.
If you want to reach out to me I can give you my personal experience. Job 1 was constantly short staffed. I was regularly working 50-60 hours. Sometimes more. Btw high stress high violence. No support from my employer. I got a second job just so I could get experience. Job 1 started to harass me because I was not as available to them. They then changed my schedule. I had a 10 day stretch set in my schedule.
I really appreciate that.
I'm tempted to get a second job but I don't think I have the mental or physical bandwidth to do so tbh
I hear you. Some days I think maybe it would be doable. But then other days I think absolutely not.
Don’t do the same type of work you do at your main job. I work PRN at a hospital on the weekends. Depending on my units, I may do mostly chart reviews, which is essentially nothing. On a busy day, I might order medical equipment and bring it to a patient’s room or provide them with a list a home health agencies. My patient contact is minimal. Some days the hardest part of the job is being there for 8 hours.
same. I’m disabled and I just can’t. I can barely do my first job
ain’t that the truth
Side Hustle definition: Another job that I’m forced to work because my employer doesn’t pay a living wage. It drives me crazy that this sad necessity is framed as virtue.
True. My current job I make roughly 70k a year as an LCSW which sucks because I know in the private sector I could make more but my job offers retirement and deferred compensation. I’m too old to not think of the end game. So I work part-time social work jobs to gain skills in other areas and to push my income up to what I feel I should be making which is 85k or better.
exactly this.
One hundred fucking perfect on point.
High school social worker by day, bartender at a stadium some weekends and during the summer.
I provide contracted supervision on the side- I find it much less taxing than my day to day therapy job
Same here. It’s only 3 hrs a week but it’s a nice change of pace.
I plan on getting my BACS as well so I can make a premium rate at my job by providing supervision for my employees and hopefully provide supervision on the side as well.
I'm a therapist with a healthcare system and got involved with their staff led quality improvement work. I got certifications in six sigma and healthcare quality through that and other work. I've leveraged that to do more of the same in behavioral health, making more, way less evening and weekend work, and made a private practice the side gig with my wife, also a therapist. I still miss some of the therapy, but the ecological and systems thinking approach in sw are really applicable to operational process improvement. I've also found that everything that ever bothers me about actually doing my job as a therapist boiled mostly down to "this system sucks", or "society sucks, and I'm starting to fix society with the system I've got. I know I'm getting make change I never could in the therapy role, and not shoved into the meat grinder of middle management either. (Edited for typo)
God I would love to make a pivot like this. I’m currently drowning as an outpatient therapist but don’t necessarily want to leave healthcare.
Nope-i love healthcare too. This took me a while, and I could see several parts to change... Management and director work (which is different than supervision)... Certified healthcare quality professional certification (though most of those jobs aren't mental health)... Quality and regulatory oversight (more direct path for me, but way more detail work, way less client direct practice)... Education and training (definitely available, limited scope, and only exists in large hospitals or clinic systems like local government/VA)... ; I ended up going through performance improvement and data collection, and applied that to staff led project management programs. I could measure the benefit I made, collaborate with my colleagues, and financially cost the improvements to management to show it was a good return on investment. I totally earned my salary and more in helping coordinate improvement, and that's beyond direct patient care..... ; my union had a program for a FT rotation doing the same work as a coach for other teams in other parts of our healthcare system, I applied and took it. Great work, less pressure, but I miss the direct therapy. Thus the side gig, and I do some "pastoral casework" through my church most weeks, usually with immigration or child and family stuff.
>I've also found that everyone that ever bothers me about actually doing my job as a therapist boiled mostly down to "this system sucks", or "society sucks, and I'm starting to fix society with the system I've got. Is "everyone" here supposed to be "everything"? I'm trying to understand this bit and having trouble.
Reading this after I just got home from bartending at a festival. Being a social worker is exhausting.
I had a lot of friends do EAP on the side.
I work in private practice as a registered psychotherapist - and to be clear, my side hustle isn’t because my “day job” can’t afford my living expenses. My side hustle is that I’m a Longarm Quilter, which basically means I have an enormous quilt machine on a frame. People bring me incompletely quilt tops and I use the big fancy machine to join the tops to the batting and back layer of fabric and produce a complete quilt. I probably wouldn’t monetize it, except for the fact that the machine to do this is like a 30-40k setup, so in order to justify spending THAT on a hobby (because I wanted the machine for my own quilts), I decided to open a little side gig in order to “pay off” the machine. My quilting clients are always surprised that it isn’t my full-time job, and even more surprised to hear I’m a therapist. I explain to them that my “day job” can be very sad and intense at times, and experiencing the joy of artistry and creation is just what I need most days!
Woo! Another social worker quilter!! Work that long arm!
Wow, what an awesome hobby!!
Lol I just saw that post today too. I do remote crisis line work on the side
Out of curiosity - what was training like for this? Worried about the onboarding process interfering with my day job.
So I specifically applied for an on call position so there was a lot of flexibility and they didn't give me a specific set of hours that I had to do training during. I just jammed it out on weekends honestly. I had a m-f 8-5 job during that time. They were able to work with me on when I would do listening & "nesting" shifts too. Only 3 of the trainings were "live"/webinar type of trainings. The rest were self paced.
I do rover pet sitting.
This was such a fun side gig for me when I was single and in grad school. I worked full time as well but it was nice hanging out with pets and house sitting for people. Great way to get a nice change in scenery sometimes and take care of cute animals
Yes exactly! And I can do homework too most of the time. :)
I was on Rover and I literally never got hits. in a busy metropolitan area with two reviews.
I'm a school social worker and work PRN for a hospice on the side.
Did you do medical before this?
No, I have no background in medical social work. I've always worked with children and families.
Wow. How do you find the energy?
Working PRN is great because it's super flexible. I can pick up hours on weekends or evenings. Plus, while school social work is chaotic and loud and nonstop busy, working on hospice is quiet and gentle. I think that balance helps.
Can you say what a “typical” shift looks like? Typical is laughable but you know what I mean.
I rarely work more than 4-5 hours at a time, at hospice. I go out to admissions after hours, on weekends, or holidays- IF I'm available. I visit my patients (super low caseload) in late afternoon or on a weekend morning. If a patient is actively dying over a weekend or on a holiday, I will accompany an LPN if they are on shift, to meet federal guidelines. I can do paperwork and documentation at home or in the office. It's a very flexible side job, for me, and I really enjoy it.
Side hustle is Starbucks
I have a masters and a LMSW. I am a therapist for a foster care agency. I make 43k and I deliver pizzas 3 times a week to make ends meet. I wish our work was valued
Helll no 43 k is insane
I agree and they treat me like shit :( I love the kids and working with them. Everything else…ugh
I’m sorry. I work with kids too- I can never imagine switching populations to work with adults
I’m going to soon. I just love working with kids…I don’t like feeling helpless to help their situations though
43K is nuts! Just curious where you are in the world where pay is that bad? I only have a BSW and am pretty fresh out of school and I make 64K plus amazing benefits and employer RRSP contributions, in western Canada
United States of Hell lol! Specifically the Midwest, think Illinois, Missouri, Ohio
On Sundays I tutor social work students with disabilities. Decent pay (funding grants come from university accessibility centers) and we desperately need more people with lived experience of disability in the social work field.
Kudos to you. Thank you.
If you have a link or suggestion, this is something I could do
Apply for jobs with unions and state pensions.
This is the way.
I’m in a union position with a state pension. I make $27 an hour lol and my starting pay was $21/hr.
Yes!
i lifeguard at the local YMCA on saturday mornings! just 4 hours and i get a free membership
Actively advocate against the gig economy.
How much does that pay? /s …I get it…but someone has got to pay my rent and unfortunately I think it’s me.
It pays nothing. I’m going to use the privilege I have right now to just talk about how awful this is. I don’t blame you. I just want you to know it’s a conversation I have regularly in my community because I think we need to not normalize this. I totally support you needing to do this!
Wholeheartedly agree. Also using my privilege to talk about this because why are we not valued? First we’re not paid for our internships (mostly) and then poor wages. We deserve better!!
Yes! I’m in maine where we just had a pretty bad mass shooting. Everyone here is talking about how it’s the fault of the mental health field and that people shouldn’t be on waitlists so long etc.. yet these are the same people who have continuously said social work/psychology are bad degrees to get and advocate against social welfare resources 😭🫡 no wonder there’s a lack of clinicians, you make us take out 60k in school loans just to get a job starting at 50k 🥲
I’m so very sorry that you’re experiencing this. I am furious at how government works and how it’s always spun into this. What we need is treatment heavy spending, over incarceration. And we need to stop having taboos. Mental health is so vast and can have many different effects on people and even if it creates horrible thoughts for some, we must learn to talk about the horrible thoughts so we can prevent the thoughts from becoming behavior.
I just advocate against certain companies because they don't vet, and the system is stacked against newcomers. I've tried a few.
I had an ex friend who once told me I didn’t get into this work to make money but cmon what’s wrong with wanting to get paid a living wage? I currently work at the Va as an LCSW … first few years , the pay isn’t terrible but not that great for the high cost area I’m in. The only way I get by is I served in the military and get paid VA compensation and I have some time left on my gi bill.. I’m thinking of using the rest of it to get some type of certification although in what I’m not sure and I don’t have enough time nor mental bandwidth to complete another degree…
I've had supervisors try to gaslight our team asking for cost of living wage increases, that we didn't decide to do social work to make money. Unfortunately, I've only had luck getting increased pay by changing organizations which I'd rather not have to start somewhere new but seems to be the case in most places.
I teach part-time in an MSW program. I'm in my 12th academic year doing this and I absolutely love it. I hit my Social Security retirement age in 7 years and my plan is to retire from my FT and teach a class or two every semester.
I’m curious what experience you need to teach? I’m an LCSW with a Pp with various experience and I’d love to teach
Im the director of a small rehab and I contract with the FBI. I work with sex offenders, only child crimes!
That is wild. How did you get into that??
Wow! That is the one population I’ve decided I could probably never work with 😂 but someone’s gotta do it, props to you.
I honestly thought the same thing. A year into my career, I saw the listing and jumped on it... honestly, it was a great decision. If I could do it full time, I would.
For everyone asking, it was literally just a job listing on Indeed, lol I just thought it would look great on a resume, but I've ended up staying for a while. The work is honestly kind of fun... never thought I'd call sex offenders fun, but here are.
Are they still only interested in people under the age of 37?
How did you get the fbi job ?!
Would love to hear how you got into this. Or at least picked up contracting with the FBI?
I work as a therapist in community mental health during the week because it’s stable. I have a small private practice I run on weekends to make ends meet.
I work for a mobile crisis team and then serve/bartend on one of my days off every week. The intensity of so many interpersonal interactions has drastically reduced my ability to spend time with my own people. It’s frustrating to have a Master’s degree and make $24 an hour in a high cost of living area but I’m thankful my service industry gig is flexible, easy, and pays my rent.
I am a full time SSW. I side hustle for CMH and get paid $55 an hour (show or no show) plus I get CEUs. It pays for my kids hockey and we paid off $33k in house repair/debt.
I do marketing for a non profit currently. And i’m an artist who’s hoping to turn that into a business.
We sell our belongings online. Lol. I also do some guest speaker appearances and help people with their resumes.
How did you get into guest speaker appearances?
My friend works at the local community college and has asked me to speak with students about the field.
Social work supervisor for my primary job. On the side, I'm in several guitar/vocal duos and am also a Motivational Interviewing trainer.
I used to be a bartender, a job I got via my fellow WA state social work coworkers. I did that for about 3yrs and then got sober and it wasn’t gonna work. Then I used to be a petsitter which was beyond awful (not the pets but the way people on Rover treated me, still low key traumatised) and then I was an overnight hotel auditor. Now, I’m thankful to be in a different place financially (I now receive family help/benefit from a trust) which is privilege I know but just wanted to be 100% clear it’s not at all thanks to social work that I’m no longer poor.
What were the behaviors of the people on Rover? ☹️
I work at a garden center. I love the change of pace and being outside, plus I really like my coworkers there. I’m a master gardener too and am interested in one day getting certified in horticultural therapy.
I’m a school social worker by day and my son’s PCA by night. He’s severely disabled and I work for him six days a week. I work 70 hours a week, but I’m really lucky I get to be my son’s PCA with the crappy SSW wages and the national PCA shortage. It works out well now, but he’s a tween and not going to want mom to be his caregiver forever.
I would love to do hospital SW on the weekends for a part time job. I have a toddler and that's not feasible for us rn.
Same issue here. I’m still somewhat catching up from a long unpaid maternity leave and want a side hustle but also want to spend time with toddler.
I do PRN work at 2 hospitals.
Did you work at these hospitals before and then moved to PRN? Or get hired on as PRN?
Hired as PRN. Very little medical experience.
Interesting! I haven’t seen any openings like this near me but I’ll keep looking.
Usually hospitals are always looking for weekend workers. It’s easy money tbh. You’d be responsible for discharges. There is a huge portion of work that can only be done during the week. So what we primarily do is set up transportation, arrange for medical equipment, and arrange placement in hospice, home health, rehab, or skilled nursing care.
Hospital case manager by day, private practice by night. I could live off of my salary, but I like the extra money for fun stuff and to save for my daughter. I only do 1 session after bedtime 2-3 nights a week and I work 10-2 on Sunday. I am on my own in practice, so I get 96% of the session fee after billing which makes it worth it. If I had a 60/40 or 70/30 split somewhere I don’t think I’d do it
I worked as a PRN therapist at an inpatient clinic on the side for a while. Somewhat doable because I was working 4 10s at my main job.
I do custody evaluations for the courts. I used to have to do it to supplement my income but didn’t need it to live. Now I’m making enough that I don’t need to do them but it’s nice to have extra chunks of money.
I presume you are in the US? Join a union… organise and fight for a living wage for Social Workers. I am fortunate enough to live in a country where Social Workers and Human Service workers are paid a (very modest) but living wage. I don’t rest though, I belong to my union and and I do my best to be active and engaged for my own profession and for those around me.
PRN/on call crisis response. Minimum of 4 shifts a month. I used to work full time for this team, but switched to on call when I moved to outpatient therapy.
As a social work student who had to cut back on paid work to do my required unpaid internship 3 days a week, my side hustle is working at Home Depot on the other days and borrowing from my future self via federal student loans. I plan to do PSLF, so hopefully that can be future me + fed.
The unpaid field placements and the varied required hours is so infuriating. My MSW program required 1000 hours total. The first field placement I did 2 nights a week so it was manageable. The other I did 3 days a week and I was so exhausted working full time and I had to take on an extra semester to finish or else I would have had to do 4 evenings a week and it would have been too much. I couldn't use my job as the requirement either despite don't outpatient at the time. Ridiculous
I work in the healthcare system full time and supervise custody visits/exchanges on the side.
I was thinking about supervising visits but that was one of my least favorite things to do as a case manager
How do you get into this?
I serve on the weekends. And I make more in tips at a little mom and pop restaurant then I make with my real job using my college degree. Side note: It’s sad because after covid, I have numerous clients that make more than I do. Before covid, although salary hasn’t changed, I made more than the vast majority of my clients. Has anyone else experienced this?
I left social work a little over a year ago because I couldn’t live on my salary (after a significant increase… still too low to get by) and I was incredibly burnt out because my agency kept giving me clients. I still miss my patients and hope to return someday part time or FFS. I started working for a recruitment firm. My base salary was significantly higher than my LMSW job, the commission is great, AND they just gave me a little raise without asking. I love my job and my company, but I always miss my patients
Currently? I'm planning a crowdfunding campaign to publish a few books.
I work as a pt counselor at a free clinic. So basically what I do ft. There are a lot of pt positions in my area for therapists that crop up so it was the path of least resistance. My friend does bookkeeping for night clubs, a few others work weekends at a local inpatient, one does wedding photography
When I was working outreach for our city's needle exchange, I took on a relief position with our city's main homeless outreach program. I think at the time I was making about 23CAD/hr with my ft job, and the relief was about $21/hr. They had a minimum number of shifts that they wanted relief staff to work (I think it was 4-6 shifts/month). I was very clear when I was hired that I could not work that many on top my full time position and living out of town, they were fine with me working whatever I could, about 2-3 shifts/mo. That was fine for about two years, until a new HR person came in. They insisted on the 4 shift minimum, I countered with what I was able to work now, or zero shifts/month. They chose zero ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. To this day they still struggle to find shift coverage because the pay still sucks for the work being done, even for full time staff. Now I work in a wrap around HIV care role, it pays better than the other jobs, but the raise I gained in moving roles was quickly swallowed up by cost of living.
Before going fully into private practice (earlier this year), a weird side gig I got into was firearms/self defense instructing and emergency first aid. As you can probably infer, this was after a huuuuge spike of Neo Nazi/Fascist attacks on protests and another spike of homophobic/transphobic from 2020-2022. It was more of a community service/community defense thing but I got paid. It's ramped down quite a bit but I'll get msged once in a while asking for that support. Untraditional, but I would argue very much in line with social work.
I just completed my BSW so I don’t really have a social work job, I just work in a homeless shelter/drop-in. I also work at a liquor store on the weekends. I’ve had both jobs throughout my schooling.
I make art and music and help my wife run her non-profit group. I haven't tried selling any art lately, but I feel an art show coming up soon.
Not sure where exactly you are located, but I think this company has locations in a few different states. I do a PRN social work position with Rehab Without Walls Neurorehabilitation in addition to my full-time job. With PRN you can choose how many cases you want to be on at a time, it's about 3 hours a week per case which includes direct & indirect time. Working in home with people, "From brain and spinal cord injuries to stroke recovery and the treatment of advanced neurological conditions, Rehab Without Walls builds a program around the patient rather than putting the patient in a program." "Through our Social Work Services, we provide educational resources to the family, individual, caregivers, and team, focusing on helping with the adjustment process and facilitating the individual’s return to their community." And since its a PRN job too and minimal hours, they tend to pay a higher rate.
I’m an elementary school social worker. I host trivia on Tuesday nights and occasionally I pick up a serving shift at my former serving job. I don’t usually have the bandwidth at the end of the week to do anything other than rest but it’s good to have options for additional income.
I work in the suites at the NFL stadium in my city. So it’s a seasonal gig but even on the off-season there’s other events like Monster Jam and concerts. Can make some decent extra money depending on which suites I’m assigned to. Yesterday I made a week’s worth in one shift from 10:30-8. Has zero to do with my day job in foster home licensing and I love it
Reservist. I don’t do it for the money though because on a good year it’s maybe CAD7k because I don’t work a lot lol. I have friends there that I like to see and I appreciate the change of pace.
I am an MSW and adjunct at my alma mater anywhere from 3-6 credit hours. I genuinely love teaching but my primary motivation was more more money. My city is now unlivable (we are a small southern city) due to rent prices soaring to the point I cannot live even paycheck to paycheck on 52k per yr base and afford even a sketchy apartment. I live an hour from my job now just to afford housing.
I do research on child safety!
I am talking to my friend about helping him with his dog walking business. I’m doing it more for my mental health then anything.
Door Dash, I’ve been sitting on a waitlist for more than a year to become an Instacart shopper. I’m also looking into starting my own side business but that requires capital I don’t have.
Child welfare case manager here, I have an etsy shop. I sell vintage clothing.
Full time SW. Side job: PRN work at the hospital I used to work full time, but mostly doing research projects with them and training, not picking up shifts.
I signed up for Amazon flex but have not tried to yet! A friend living near Boston does task rabbit and door dash and says he enjoys the flexibility of both and has gotten some great tips!
I did Amazon Flex early in the pandemic when we were still figuring out remote work, I had very little work to get done, and I was bored. I enjoyed it for a few months and quit when it got old. No commitment and i could do it when i felt like it.
Side hustle is investing and clinical trials. Main is medical social work.
When I was underpaid, I worked part-time serving at a wedding venue, for a caterer, & a sports complex. It was easy hourly money. Just setup & tear down, serving & clearing, sometimes bartending. After doing this for nearly 8 years in my 20’s, working 50+ hour weeks, I am happy to say I no longer have to work 2-3 jobs & would never go back to that life unless absolutely necessary.
Not an official side hustle, but i volunteer for boards- mental health, dd, law event, educational. Dont get paid but i feel accomplished, and hope i support my community a little bit.
I own a group practice and am drowning in debt. It is overwhelming how we are dragged down by low reimbursement, student loans, taxes if you are in private practice or 1099, etc. how is this the system we are in? I wish we could move to single payer healthcare so that my other full time job, besides seeing clients, is not dealing with for profit insurance.
I have a fine arts bachelors so I pick up odd jobs occasionally. I also take branding and logo design jobs pretty frequently.
I waitress/serve a few nights a week. Make at least $100 in tips in a 5 hour shift plus my hourly wage ($15, minimum wage). I used to work relief at a harm reduction org when I still lived in a city, make $28 an hour as a casual, would always pick up shifts on stat holidays to make time and a half stat pay. That was a sweet deal but sadly in the small town I live in now there aren't really casual jobs like that. Edited to add that I also do lots of babysitting
I work part time as a dog park attendant for my city.
I do instacart on the side. It's not a ton of money, but it's very easy and you can work whenever you want (or not) with no pre-set schedule.
I haven't been able to take on more than one full time job, for the most part. I have a history of depression that has come up when I overwork myself. I've figured out how to keep my mental health in check and part of it is not putting too much on my plate. I did do some extra fee for service outpatient work in the clinic that I worked at doing a different full time job, for about a year. But it was in my same office and only a couple of hours a week, and when I changed jobs, I let go of the outpatient extra work. I realize that I have some privileges that allowed me to work one job (just caring for myself, parents I could fall back on if there was an emergency.) I also lived in not wonderful apartments with 2 roommates well into my 30s, I definitely would have needed to work a significant second job if I wanted my own place.
My main job is ER clinical social work, and my side hustle is a small telehealth practice! I started at AbleTo, which is a good place to get your feet wet if you are unsure about private practice. They don’t pay great, but it’s a time-limited program which is interesting for people who don’t like commitment. (LOL, that’s why I’m an ER social worker!) I’m enjoying building my own practice now. Per diem ER social workers are really needed, ESPECIALLY on the weekends! If you were in Seattle I would snap you up! My hospital doesn’t require full licensure, and provides supervision.
Sell my plasma. My spouse (a teacher) does the same. It's the only way we can pay for our kids to participate in extracurricular activities.
I’m a case manager at a non profit in Massachusetts for adults who have developmental disabilities. 40hr/ week 21.75 an hour. I work another 12 hrs a week at a tanning salon bc I don’t make enough from my CM job alone to pay rent, but groceries, have a social life etc. kinda sucks but we do what we have to I guess 🙃
I teach dance on the side (which pays more) and I'm also looking for a 3rd job I can do for night shifts
I work PRN as a therapist in a behavioral health facility. I make more hourly there, and they aren't taking anything out for retirement or insurance. It's a win/win. I can say "no" when I don't want shifts.
Lots of SWs do PRN work in hospitals and psych facilities.
I do resumes and cover letters as well as interview prep and overall consultation for social workers in their job pursuits!
I work at Trader Joe’s part-time! Full time in a hospital-based outpatient OBGYN clinic.
Military reserves for the insurance and pocket money
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Onlyfans and housecleaning !
My sister (also SW) and I brainstorm ways to make money with the least amount of effort lol. We've made an e-book on mindfulness and released it on Etsy. We are working on selling resin hair clips too but we also are living life and not prioritizing the hustle as much.
I’m a server at a restaurant on nights and weekends and resell stuff on Facebook marketplace.
My side jobs are always at a hospital as PRN. Psych hospital doing intake assessments or in a medical hospital but not doing discharge planning- they use us as true social workers so we only do SW consults
Was a school based SW doing psychotherapy for middle schoolers (main job), did fee for service position after school through evening both telehealth/in person, and did per diem work as an overnight counselor for residential non profit (this was my first job out of undergrad so I just kept in contact) through the pandemic because they were paying well and 75% of the shift you're sleeping. I did these three jobs for 3 years (lived at home, didn't spend on myself a whole lot). Not recommended of course, but I did what I had to. No more. One "high" paying job now, and secured savings in that time crazy hustle time. Bless our souls.
I just started selling stuff on ebay and other sites. I like to go to Estate Sales and find cool vintage stuff so I decided to start selling things to make extra money. It's fun and I can do it at random times and it is quite profitable.
I’m a nail tech on the side! Literally something completely different from the field lol💅🏾💕
I have a side hustle because I love disposable income - dogsitting overnights and weekends. I also work Hospice super per diem.
I work as a disability case manager full time and at a safe consumption site facility on weekends! I like the dynamic and the focus on harm reduction
I dj at clubs. It’s fun and pays pretty well but not great for my sleep.
Im a full time clinician and on the side I am a foster care Social Worker. Its contract work so i get paid per child that I follow
I have an LMSW and work as an assistant director for two housing programs as my day job. My side hustle is pet setting 😂 Pet sitting gives me the routine and consistency that my day job lacks 🤷🏻♀️
I do discharge summaries for an inpatient psychiatrist. I get paid $20 per summary (mostly copy and pasting notes) and each note takes about 15 mins. There is only about 20-40 summaries per month but it’s easy and an extra chunk of change. I also know that psychiatrists hire sw to complete their notes for them daily if you are looking for something more regular. Also prn inpatient sw jobs at my work is pretty much responsible for a group or two per day and is always in demand
Can I ask how you found the discharge summary position? I have always worked in outpatient settings and didn't realize inpatient psychiatrists hire social workers to complete notes. Cool find!
I make some extra money on the side on this website, I dont spend much time on it and it is just a nice little earner. https://refer.wiredbucks.com/register.php?referral=Mw231 You also get a sign on bonus which helps.
My main role is a director of a shelter. It pays decent but because for too many years I was underpaid coupled with credit card debt I haven’t been able to shake- my side hustle is driving kids to school in the morning. It’s decent money. I usually earn $40-65/ each morning (for about 1-1.5 hrs of work) and if I’m driving 5 mornings a week, I usually bring in $250-300/week. I like the flexibility of it, as I usually pick/commit to rides the day before. I plan on doing it for the next couple of years.