I currently work as a caseworker, however I sporadically look at other jobs and I still put my resume out there. Monster sucks! The only jobs that respond are those sales jobs, which want you to sell products that nobody is really buying in this economy.
Anyway, I was driving one day when I came across a Cenikor (Briscoe Treatment Facility) agency. I checked the site and saw a position for a counselor, unfortunately the position required a certification that I did not have. I have been considering getting a master's in psychology for a while or school counseling in addition to the master's degree that I have in Instructional Technology. With that being said, I'm sick of school! I just like to have a back up plan in case the current ones fail.
I'm still trying to learn some more instructional design skills so that I can really put my master's degree to use and do some freelancing creating training packages and modules.Perhaps I'll be able to create some for the current agency that I'm in. I'd like to learn web design and the like so I could get some clients and do this line of work for and perhaps train others how to do these things as well.
I tried court research for a bit, I tried to get some clients of my own via craigslist, etc and I've realized that craigslist is only good for spam and prostitution. So that did not work, then I got a job as a caseworker where I am currently.
I'm out for the night, I'll talk more on my next day. Night.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
FINALLY! A SELF ASSESSMENT (Day 3)
Good afternoon peeps,
Short blog.
I think I've got it. I've found an accurate way to describe this blog, and I did that via inspiration from a member of one of my google + groups. After evaluating my personality I've realized that I'm bluntly soft-spoken. I have a rather soft personality, however I can only take so much before I tell you the truth about yourself and will not back down. While I will try not to cuss you out, I can't continue to just let an individual treat me any kind of way that they wish.
The most recently memory of the realization is a former co-worker pointing out my soft personality and then there was an incident at a Toastmasters meeting. This guy said that it kind of makes people want to listen to what I have to say.
Unfortunately this is not w/o consequences. At work, this causes several client to try to pull a fast one on me. While I can't say names, this client stated that her husband was collecting unemployment, THEN later after reviewing this case, I saw that the unemployment stopped months ago. She then confessed that the husband recently started work! Seriously???? My laid back personality has also caused me to be an unfortunate target of pestering and berating, and I will confess y'all that I am at a point that I am on the verge of cussing someone at that place out and I'm not going to worry about status or the age difference. I stated this on an earlier blog, however this is me going public with a lot of what I've been wanting to say and I'm not holding back. I can't just say "fuck off" but I can say "that's a lie or that's not true". I don't get paid enough to just take any treatment from anyone be it a co-worker or a supervisor. My observation is that young adult workers are not taken seriously by administration at the agency that I'm at and if one does not appear to be always angry or their personality is not aggressive enough, then they are seen as easy to treat like dirt. I'm not asking to be exempt from any and all consequences, however I am asking to be treated with dignity and not be ripped to shreds every time I make a mistake.
Blunt yet soft spoken, confidently self-conscious the latter will be discussed in a later blog.
Sound off! If you like, follow the blog!
Short blog.
I think I've got it. I've found an accurate way to describe this blog, and I did that via inspiration from a member of one of my google + groups. After evaluating my personality I've realized that I'm bluntly soft-spoken. I have a rather soft personality, however I can only take so much before I tell you the truth about yourself and will not back down. While I will try not to cuss you out, I can't continue to just let an individual treat me any kind of way that they wish.
The most recently memory of the realization is a former co-worker pointing out my soft personality and then there was an incident at a Toastmasters meeting. This guy said that it kind of makes people want to listen to what I have to say.
Unfortunately this is not w/o consequences. At work, this causes several client to try to pull a fast one on me. While I can't say names, this client stated that her husband was collecting unemployment, THEN later after reviewing this case, I saw that the unemployment stopped months ago. She then confessed that the husband recently started work! Seriously???? My laid back personality has also caused me to be an unfortunate target of pestering and berating, and I will confess y'all that I am at a point that I am on the verge of cussing someone at that place out and I'm not going to worry about status or the age difference. I stated this on an earlier blog, however this is me going public with a lot of what I've been wanting to say and I'm not holding back. I can't just say "fuck off" but I can say "that's a lie or that's not true". I don't get paid enough to just take any treatment from anyone be it a co-worker or a supervisor. My observation is that young adult workers are not taken seriously by administration at the agency that I'm at and if one does not appear to be always angry or their personality is not aggressive enough, then they are seen as easy to treat like dirt. I'm not asking to be exempt from any and all consequences, however I am asking to be treated with dignity and not be ripped to shreds every time I make a mistake.
Blunt yet soft spoken, confidently self-conscious the latter will be discussed in a later blog.
Sound off! If you like, follow the blog!
Friday, September 13, 2013
Day 2-job burnout rant.
Ugh.....so 4 or 5 days have passed since my last post, however I'm trying to blog as often as I can within this 90 day challenge that I have set upon myself. I'm currently sitting in starbucks drinking one of those Valencia orange refreshers, they're so good! Anyways....I guess I can count this one as day two, I'm going to talk about job burnout. This is a confession, I'm currently dealing with the burnout right now and some days I really want to run out. I'm a caseworker working in the social service field. I deal with SNAP (supplemental nutritional assistance program) benefits....referred by most as "food stamps" Now I like my job some days other days I can't stand it. Some days I feel like I just babysit adults, while other days I meet clients who I can't help but feel bad for when I hear their stories.
Anyway, the problem is that some days I don't feel like I'm really appreciated at the agency. It seems lately that I get reported for things that others do not, and sometimes I feel like the situations are DISTORTED to make it seem far worse than what they really are. Currently I'm at a point that I'm about to cuss someone out and I'm not going to feel bad about it.
Some days, I don't know who is worse clients or the adults who act like children. I'm not going to address anyone by name, I don't feel the need to because to me if you know who you are and that this blog applies to you then you need to check YOURSELF, not me for simply reporting the truth. It's one thing to be cussed out by a client or to deal with a ton of call center calls, on top of the disaster of a system that the agency has recently adopted. It's another thing to be told that "If you can't keep up then you need to find another job" or to be spoken to as if you are in the fourth grade when something is not done flawlessly. I do appreciate having a job in the recession and I understand the line of work I'm in is high stress and is fast paced, however sometimes I feel that administration forgets that we only have two hands and cannot be in multiple places at once. It would be nice if I could, but that's not the case. With the document imaging system that the agency has recently adopted, all of the mail that clients send to caseworkers is now being sent to a processing center, and okay but to have ALL THE MAIL FROM THE ENTIRE STATE go to one processing center has proven to be a disaster.Let me tell you why in the next paragraph.
In the past, clients could mail stuff to the local P.O. BOX or drop their paperwork off in a drop box kept in the lobby with the security and confidence that it most likely would get to their worker in time, however now everything is being sent to a processing center and as a result of having so much mail to process. There are clients who are not getting their benefits because their documents are not being received on time and one can only deal with so many calls with conducting interviews and processing change reports. IT'S A MESS! On top of internet that takes FOREVER. It's hard enough to have the basic programs open that we use, let along two new software products added.
On the other hand, there are those clients who just do not want to do their part and when their benefits are cut off they want to come up to the office and cause a scene. I had one client say she wanted to e-mail the congressman. I'm like okay...you do that. There was another situation, not one of my clients, she reported the incident to KPLC. What the hell could KPLC do? I have no clue! However if a client can't update their address, how the hell are we supposed to know how to get in contact with them. "Nobody ever informed me my renewal period was here" Well we sent you a letter, but it was returned with no forwarding address. UPDATE YOUR DAMN ADDRESS!
I think that sometimes administration forgets that we have two hands and that we can only do our part if the client does theirs as well. It takes both sides to be successful.
Anyone else experiencing or experienced burnout? Sound off!
Anyway, the problem is that some days I don't feel like I'm really appreciated at the agency. It seems lately that I get reported for things that others do not, and sometimes I feel like the situations are DISTORTED to make it seem far worse than what they really are. Currently I'm at a point that I'm about to cuss someone out and I'm not going to feel bad about it.
Some days, I don't know who is worse clients or the adults who act like children. I'm not going to address anyone by name, I don't feel the need to because to me if you know who you are and that this blog applies to you then you need to check YOURSELF, not me for simply reporting the truth. It's one thing to be cussed out by a client or to deal with a ton of call center calls, on top of the disaster of a system that the agency has recently adopted. It's another thing to be told that "If you can't keep up then you need to find another job" or to be spoken to as if you are in the fourth grade when something is not done flawlessly. I do appreciate having a job in the recession and I understand the line of work I'm in is high stress and is fast paced, however sometimes I feel that administration forgets that we only have two hands and cannot be in multiple places at once. It would be nice if I could, but that's not the case. With the document imaging system that the agency has recently adopted, all of the mail that clients send to caseworkers is now being sent to a processing center, and okay but to have ALL THE MAIL FROM THE ENTIRE STATE go to one processing center has proven to be a disaster.Let me tell you why in the next paragraph.
In the past, clients could mail stuff to the local P.O. BOX or drop their paperwork off in a drop box kept in the lobby with the security and confidence that it most likely would get to their worker in time, however now everything is being sent to a processing center and as a result of having so much mail to process. There are clients who are not getting their benefits because their documents are not being received on time and one can only deal with so many calls with conducting interviews and processing change reports. IT'S A MESS! On top of internet that takes FOREVER. It's hard enough to have the basic programs open that we use, let along two new software products added.
On the other hand, there are those clients who just do not want to do their part and when their benefits are cut off they want to come up to the office and cause a scene. I had one client say she wanted to e-mail the congressman. I'm like okay...you do that. There was another situation, not one of my clients, she reported the incident to KPLC. What the hell could KPLC do? I have no clue! However if a client can't update their address, how the hell are we supposed to know how to get in contact with them. "Nobody ever informed me my renewal period was here" Well we sent you a letter, but it was returned with no forwarding address. UPDATE YOUR DAMN ADDRESS!
I think that sometimes administration forgets that we have two hands and that we can only do our part if the client does theirs as well. It takes both sides to be successful.
Anyone else experiencing or experienced burnout? Sound off!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
90 Day Blog Challenge. Day 1-Why I am doing this.
Okay, so I have decided to take a 90 day blogging challenge. Why am I doing this you may wonder? Well, I'm thinking that blogging might be a bit therapeutic for me and it could help me when it comes to speaking more comfortably when I'm around someone I don't really know. Oh and of course, I looked over this page and realized that I had not posted anything in quite some time so I figured hey why not challenge myself to devote some time to this, and perhaps build my fan base? I could gain followers that I know personally as well as some that I do not.
Some of these blogs may be long, some may be short, others may be in between, however I'm going public with my mind (for the most part anyway). I've linked my main blogs with face book and twitter and currently trying to get it on linked-in. I plan on ranting (of course), giving an honest perspective on other things, and maybe just MAYBE, giving a shoutout here and there. I may share some photos, making some posts like a scrap book.
What I hope to get out of this challenge is more confidence when it comes to blogging and also I'm hoping to build my fan base. Looking forward to this, and I'll see you tomorrow. If this really takes off, this could be like a paid hobby.
Some of these blogs may be long, some may be short, others may be in between, however I'm going public with my mind (for the most part anyway). I've linked my main blogs with face book and twitter and currently trying to get it on linked-in. I plan on ranting (of course), giving an honest perspective on other things, and maybe just MAYBE, giving a shoutout here and there. I may share some photos, making some posts like a scrap book.
What I hope to get out of this challenge is more confidence when it comes to blogging and also I'm hoping to build my fan base. Looking forward to this, and I'll see you tomorrow. If this really takes off, this could be like a paid hobby.
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