Job Responsibilities
I oversee the daily running and functioning of an international
adoption program. Daily responsibilites vary greatly from day
to day but overall it is working with families that are in the
process of adopting as well as working with the foreign country
to make sure that information is being passed accurataly,
families are being informed and educated, and both the agency
and the family are aware of what is happening with adoptions.
Also maintain relationships with our foreign partners through
daily communication. Meet with families in their homes to
prepare, discuss, educate, and decide if adoption is the right
chioce for their family. Teach workshops on the adoption
process from time to time. Work is emotianlly trying at times
and hours are usually more than 40 a week as when families are
in the coutnry to pick up their child can be called at any hour
to be of assistance to them back in the states if they need help.
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Job Requirements
completed undergraduate degree in Social Work - which invovled
three years of classes and during the last year a lot of hands
on internship opportunities; which is necessary for work in the
field of social work. Personally, worked for 2 1/2 years before
pursuing Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree. Felt it was
important in the field of social work to have some work
experience before continuing my education. This provided a
good basis of knowledge for grad school classes as well as a
much better sense of which direction and areas of social work I
wanted to work in.
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Uppers
Being able to educate families and communities about adoption. Working with
families - although stressful and emotional at times, overall is a positive
aspect.
Seeing children become part of a healthy family where they have the opportunity
to grow up in a loving family environment.
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Downers
Dealing with the stress of families that do not understand the
difficulties of working in another country. Adoption is a very
emotional process and families often lash out at the only person
that they are connected with in the process which happens to be
the agency person. Another difficult aspect is handeling the
constant changes that occur in governments in another country,
which then in turn delay adoptions..which frustrates families.
Lastly, dealing with the negative stories about adoption that
come about in the media and presenting a more balanced view to
families can be challenging.
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Lifestyle
It has to be something that you have a passion for, and not just a job. The
hours can be very long, the expectations of handeling a lot of emotions are very
high, and there can be a fair amount of travel throughout the year. Weekends are
generally off, which is a nice benefit and employees are generally very close to
each other as the work we do is so important to all of us. Dress is business
casual. You need to have very good organizational skills - it is a very paperwork
intensive job and requires an immense amount of organization and ability to
handle small details.
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Compensation
Base salary can start around $30,000 or so..and through
experience probably max at about $45,000. Personally health
insurance and a retirement plan are included. There are no
financial bonuses. But holiday time and vacation time are quite
generous.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Make sure you understand both the difficult emotional side of
the process as well as the paperwork intensive side of it. New
workers tend to only see the big picture of a child being placed
with a family and forget all the daily grind and stress of
making that happen. Get a degree in social work - it is
important to be able to work in the adoption field.
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