What can I do with my JD/MSW degree?

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm really down on myself because I've had so many career failures--my whole career is a failure. I do well in school but not very well in the work environment. I failed at my legal jobs and I failed at my social work job.

I think you are making things out to be worse than they are. You were not able to find fulfilling work as a lawyer, but the legal market is bad. You had one job as a social worker where you liked the work, but not the work environment. It's not like you were fired from jobs. I do employment law, and regularly deal with people who are failures at their jobs. Believe me, you're fine.

[Anonymous]

I am a school counselor and I love, love my job. It isn't easy, and I don't always feel successful, but I don't let that stop me from getting up each day and trying a fresh approach. You would need to work in a school system that hires social workers (or a private school), but it isn't boring, and it is very real-world, as opposed to translating technical data or focusing on writing grants or briefs or whatever, and every day is different.

However, my opinion is that your lack of traditional "success" may be tied more to your low self-concept than your actual capacity to be successful. I mean this kindly, but if you are this self-deprecating in a work environment, it will erode the confidence others will have in you and also may make you tiresome to be around. I would do some good self-care before starting a job search in earnest. Maybe a career counselor plus some exercise plus a competent therapist plus some interesting volunteer work to build your confidence and sense of efficacy. Stop playing that negative tape in your head--just because you think it doesn't mean it is true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I guess I'm really down on myself because I've had so many career failures--my whole career is a failure. I do well in school but not very well in the work environment. I failed at my legal jobs and I failed at my social work job.

My social work job focused on geriatric case management and counseling. I loved this field and felt I was very good at it. I think it might be hard for me to find a job in geriatric case management with my limited experience though. I don't have enough experience to start my own business as a geriatric case manager but this is a goal of mine.

Any other suggestions for me? Some people suggested the policy analyst type positions but honestly this sounds very boring to me. It sounds like a lot of writing boring research reports--I dread that sort of task. I like writing but I like writing more practical things, such as assessments, progress notes, etc.

Since you have not worked for 5 years I would recommend looking at non-profits that specialize in elder law/policy/social issues and see if they would be willing to take you on in a volunteer capacity in order to gain some recent and relevant employment experience.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who is a Social Worker. I've worked in a variety of settings. Some I hated with the passion of 1000 suns and some I've adored. Not all SW positions are created equally (as with any position.) I'd volunteer a bit to see what interests you.

What part of the SW experience did you find stressful? The work environment? The clients? Dealing with problems/crisis all day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I guess I'm really down on myself because I've had so many career failures--my whole career is a failure. I do well in school but not very well in the work environment. I failed at my legal jobs and I failed at my social work job.

My social work job focused on geriatric case management and counseling. I loved this field and felt I was very good at it. I think it might be hard for me to find a job in geriatric case management with my limited experience though. I don't have enough experience to start my own business as a geriatric case manager but this is a goal of mine.

Any other suggestions for me? Some people suggested the policy analyst type positions but honestly this sounds very boring to me. It sounds like a lot of writing boring research reports--I dread that sort of task. I like writing but I like writing more practical things, such as assessments, progress notes, etc.

There are lots of community nonprofits, local government agencies, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes that have geriatric social workers. The aging population is growing, and your experience is still relevant. Volunteer at a senior center or other organization to get your foot in the door. If you don't have a valid social work license, prepare for and take the exam again--heck of a lot easier than the bar. You can take CPE classes related to seniors, and use them as an opportunity to network.

Don't beat yourself up for getting a JD you won't use. Your MSW is useful. Your career has not been a failure--you worked in a field you loved and were good at, and you can get back in it. You just need a little more confidence in yourself.

[Anonymous]

With a JD/MSW, you would be a huge find for any agency that works with domestic violence or child abuse victims. You'd be a treasure as a family law attorney. You'd be a find for a prosecutor's office or a public defender's office. You'd be a great probation/parole officer. You'd be a good mediator. You'd be a good counselor for anyone who is working a drug court or a diversion court. You'd be good in juvenile court, on either side.

You need a license for some of that, but you can pass the bar, if you want to. If you take BarBri, they will spoon feed you what you need to know to take the bar exam.

Have you ever been assessed for ADHD? It frequently looks way more inattentive, than hyperactive, in women. That might be part of your problem with being unable to focus on stuff that doesn't interest you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. When I pursued the JD/MSW degree, my main interests were in social work, but I thought I'd get the JD as well to have more options. Part of the issue is that I found most legal stuff I studied/dealt with to be incredibly boring and hard to understand. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I have a hard time understanding really boring, complicated material, which made up most of my legal studies.

Social work appealed to me more, and I liked feeling like I was really making a difference in my job. I can see going back to social work, though it took me almost a year to find my social work job, so it's not an easy job market for someone without the LCSW.

I always had difficulty choosing a career. There was nothing I felt I was especially good at/leaned toward in college, and ever since graduating with my JD/MSW I have had a lot of career indecision.

Like I said in my original post, my career has been one failure after another. I am hoping to turn over a new leaf and pursue something I'm both interested in and good at.

If I was able to go back to college and start over, I would probably have chosen something in the health professions: become a physical therapist, speech pathologist, optometrist, occupational therapist or nurse. I always gravitated more toward the health professions but I was always terrible at math and science, so I discouraged myself from pursuing them, though in college I was on the pre-med track for awhile.

It's probably too late now to go back for a third degree, and I'd feel ridiculous in doing so while my first two degrees sit there gathering dust.

Have you thought about being a social worker in the public school? Your skills are needed there, and it's a very rewarding job.

I like this idea OP.
Consider a private special needs school. My son attends one. Very very rewarding.

[Anonymous]

Work in a school as a school social worker! I know alot of JDs in my field who are not attorneys. They either never used the degree or hated it when they used it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social work sucks, I'd go to law. Why don't you try being a legal advocate for kids?

OP here. That's a good suggestion. The problem is, I don't think I would be a very good lawyer. I honestly didn't understand much of the material in law school, though I got almost all A's just through memorizing a bunch of stuff and being able to regurgitate on exams. But the law honestly never made sense to me. I'm more of a creative thinker. I'm not a very rational thinker, to be honest.

Plus I've been out of law school now so long that I do not remember anything. I don't remember anything from legal research classes, either.

You can't get hired as a lawyer if you avoid taking the bar exam. Lawyers typically hardly use any of the content we learned during law school so having gotten As or no longer remembering any of it-neither impacts your day to day activities in a legal job. I found law school boring, had to retake the bar, and I'm now doing a legal job that doesn't take much advocating, negotiating, no trial work, no need to do biz dev, no need to bill in 6 min increments. It's not a paralegal job and you do have to analyze and write but frankly anyone, even without a JD, could do this after training. Such jobs exist. It's not great but an ok fringe legal job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
With a JD/MSW, you would be a huge find for any agency that works with domestic violence or child abuse victims. You'd be a treasure as a family law attorney. You'd be a find for a prosecutor's office or a public defender's office. You'd be a great probation/parole officer. You'd be a good mediator. You'd be a good counselor for anyone who is working a drug court or a diversion court. You'd be good in juvenile court, on either side.

You need a license for some of that, but you can pass the bar, if you want to. If you take BarBri, they will spoon feed you what you need to know to take the bar exam.

Have you ever been assessed for ADHD? It frequently looks way more inattentive, than hyperactive, in women. That might be part of your problem with being unable to focus on stuff that doesn't interest you.

Totally agree with everything the pp said (I have a dh, ds and dd with ADHD and now I realize that I probably have a mild case myself). During law school I worked for a small law firm that did tax (what I liked) and family law (father/son firm). Sometimes I had to help the dad with his family law cases and it was tough seeing all of the emotion. He would just sit there going through the file while people were sobbing. Having someone with social work training would be amazing for clients. Don't sell yourself short -- you have amazing credentials. Take the bar, take some CLE and start thinking about what interests you.

[Anonymous]

You could also do psychiatric case management for insurance companies. Some of those are work from home jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Maybe I'm just dumb, but I have a hard time understanding really boring, complicated material, which made up most of my legal studies.


I'm a lawyer who sort of likes things that are boring and complicated, but I don't think it is reasonable to characterize all law as consisting of such matters. There are lots of practice areas (family law etc.) that are more interesting and understandable, if less lucrative.


OP here. Thanks for your insight about this. Am I just dumb? I graduated with honors from high school and went to an Ivy League college and graduated with honors from there. But honestly I have an incredibly difficult time understanding things that are boring and complicated. What do you like about boring or complicated things? I can't concentrate and zone out when I am reading such things. For instance, health insurance. I cannot seem to understand my health insurance policy or how the benefits work, and whenever I call the health insurance company to ask a question I don't understand what they are telling me. So my husband handles this. Investments are another area that I don't understand, and I also find it boring and complicated. I'm a fully functioning person otherwise, but boring or complicated things are very hard for me to understand. Do I have some sort of learning disability?

FWIW, I took organic chemistry in college and got an A, so I am capable of understanding some boring and complicated material.

Please stop asking if you are dumb because I'm tempted to say YES, you are dumb, but not for the reasons you think.

The thing that makes you dumb is not that you don't understand certain things, it's that you make excuses for what you don't understand by calling those things complicated and boring. Seriously, you sound like an entitled whiner who had every opportunity to pursue whatever you wanted to, parroted what was expected of you, and then rejected the skills and experiences you had the luxury of gaining because you found it all so boring and complicated. You sound lazy. Very, very lazy.

That's what you sound like. That might not be who you are. You may be depressed and overwhelmed and without guidance. You may be realizing that career success, or any success, doesn't depend on checking off an A in a class.

So, what now?

You will only be successful at something you really care about and something you are willing to put your mind to. You mention being attracted to geriatric case management. Do this. Put all your effort into doing this. You have the credentials, but more importantly, you have the interest and drive for this work.

Do this and stop whining about complicated and boring stuff. It's only boring and complicated because you don't value it. If you don't value it, you don't deserve to work in it.

I'm sorry, sort of, for the tough talk. I do really hope you find work you want to do.

[Anonymous]

Op, I was very surprised that you have neither license in your fields. You should ABSOLUTELY either take the bar or work toward licensure (licsw).

Absolutely. It sounds like you are not desperate for the money. Take the time you need to cross the finish line here.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you need therapy to figure out why you have these self-esteem issues and regrets.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Licsw and it's would be impossible to work in a public school without licensure. Every jurisdiction requires a incense mostly at a Licsw level. I worked as a social worker in various fields from school counseling, child welfare, medical, home health, care management, dialysis, mental health. If you are not interested in getting a licensure I would suggest you look at federal jobs. My spouse also has a msw and went the administration or macro route. He worked for the federal government for 15 yrs as a director. The federal govt will reward you having a degree and are less stringent regarding licensure. Look at Csosa, Pretrial service agency, dept of justice, and dc courts. The federal government compensates really well. My spouse was a gs15 with a low 6 figure job. There are study prep classes and books to help you prepare to take the lgsw. Study it and take the test. Receive supervision for two years and than take the lcsw. With the lcsw your will have many more opportunities like consulting and private practice especially if interested in direct practice. It all can seem overwhelming just make a plan and work towards your goal. You are more marketable than you think you just have to get the credentials . You done the hard part which was committing yourself and finishing grad and law school. I wish you well.