Congrats, grad! You finally made it!

 

You are probably thinking, HOLY COW, I actually made it to the finish line.

 

You may be thinking to yourself, I didn’t think it was even possible, and now I have to navigate the job market by myself—questioning your every move, reflecting on all your previous experience, and feeling like it is not “good” enough to help you land your ideal social work role.

 

Here is the honest truth. Those feelings of being “inadequate” when you are, in fact, quite competent are known as impostor syndrome. As we know, it is definitely not a diagnosis in the DSM-5. However, it can impact your own abilities when it comes to achieving your highest potential. One of the most important things that a new social work graduate can first do is to be able to validate all of the experiences that you have gained thus far, including your internship experience. Here are some facts—internship and volunteer experience are all valuable and can successfully be marketable to organizations.

 

Self-sabotage is a huge barrier. As we are all aware, the brain is very powerful, and we can subconsciously self-sabotage when we least expect it. Self-sabotage can be displayed in many forms, often shown in delaying the job search process, not seeking out social work licensure because of fear of failing, and even fear of success.

 

Being a Latinx first-generation, I know firsthand how much pressure one can feel when it comes to achieving certain milestones and needing to be a role model for others. I often dealt with self-doubt in multiple stages of my life, constantly questioning my every move and my own abilities. I felt that I was never “good enough” to attend a good school or even pass my social work licensure exam.

 

 

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Available in Paperback and Hardcover: ON CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK: MEDITATIONS AND TRUTHS FROM THE FIELD is Dr. Danna Bodenheimer's NEWEST book.

 

Jonathan Singer of the Social Work Podcast wrote the foreword to this book, and he said, "Danna pays attention to life’s details with a psychotherapist’s insight and writes about them with the passion of a slam poet. She speaks to the soul of social work and inspires us to think about more than just social work."