I stared at his offer, wondering if this was a joke. I had worked 2 years in a family service centre (FSC), and another 8 months as a rehab counsellor at a psychiatric facility.
And he was offering me $3700? This was $10 more than what I exited as a social worker in the FSC.
Was he joking?
When I pushed back, he kept insisting that this was the best offer. He told me that my rehab counselor role was not direct social work and not counted as experience.
And the FSC?
That wasn’t, too?
It was a joke.
This was a school social work position, and they weren’t even following the basic guidelines from the National Council of Social Services.
They were trying to pull a fast one, and I knew it. Already in October 2020, I was earning $3690 at my previous agency.
My salary started at $3600.
Over the years, this has increased to $4070.
In my first job post-graduation, I signed up with a small one-centre FSC that gave me $3600.
Then I asked for a pay rise.
If you’re reading this, you might be wondering how best to move into a role that pays you a liveable wage, given the amount of work you do as a social worker probably doesn’t equate to the amount of pay you’re getting.
Here’s how to do it better.
Aim for the entry listed on NCSS’ website
If you’re starting out, aim for the entry level given in NCSS salary guidelines.
It’s going to be far easier to start high, than to try to ask for a raise.
In 2021, I met someone from AMKFSC (now Allkin) who started out with $3400. Even after she went onto the Sun Ray scheme (the talent development programme from NCSS) the pay was only bumped up by a $100.
It goes to show how important it is to get a high pay, right from the start.
You’re going to find it harder to ask for a 10% increase year on year. Most agencies will give an inflation pegged yearly increment of 2 to 3%, but a 10% increase?
That’s best asked from the start.
Grants are pegged to the guidelines, especially at FSCs
If you’re looking to earn the most money as a pure social worker, go to the FSC.
They will probably be paying the best, given that the government grants pay according to these guidelines, and they are followed quite diligently by the FSCs.
What’s also good is to go to the largest FSCs. These are the ones that have a number of different centres in different locations. I suggest this because they are likely to have more reserves and resources to pay better. Whilst they have a larger hierarchy and bureaucracy, because they have been around for longer, they tend to have more in the bank.
The ones I recommend are Care Corner and Allkin, both of whom have more than 1 centre, and have been around for at least 40 years.
I’ve worked with them on media type projects before, and I do see that they do try to pay their workers well in order to retain them.
If you want to get paid the best, go to the government
If you want the best pay, go to the government.
Because the government has made a lot of pronouncements about how they want to improve pay in the sector, they are leading by example by paying the best. The only problem is, they work you to the bone in the Government bodies.
You’re likely to do 2 things.
- Child Protection Officer
- Adult Protection Officer
And those that join don’t even need a social work qualification. I’ve worked with colleagues there who have a psychology degree.
That’s not to say they aren’t good, but it’s to say that you may not even need a specific social work qualification just to be there.
Fight for your pay
I remember the last successful pay package I negotiated at my previous job.
The HR manager had wanted to put me at $3600, which was less than what I previously got at the FSC.
I told her that I was looking at $4000.
She told me that there had to be internal pay parity given that others were more senior to me.
Honestly, when HR tells you that, I urge you to ignore it.
Firstly, you’re not going to be shouting about your pay left, right and centre.
Secondly, whilst the agencies may rank pay based on seniority (meaning how many years spent in the sector), I urge you to show them why you’re worth the money, based on the value you provide.
For example, I showed them that I had written books. Been nominated for the Social Worker of the Year Awards.
Take side hustles
Even with my pay, I had to start side hustling to earn a bit more money to keep the lights on. I started out doing articles, before eventually transiting into annual report design.
Learn to walk away