Pros
Like any social work position, working at KVC can be extremely rewarding. I loved feeling like I was really making a difference in the lives of my clients. KVC also offers semi-competitive pay for similar social work positions, which often pay very little. I met many other social workers who were passionate about their work and truly cared about their clients. In just 6 months, I was able to form meaningful relationships with my clients and my coworkers and I appreciated the support that I received personally from others in the field.
Cons
I was constantly overwhelmed with work and given very little training and resources. I requested more training numerous times and was not able to get what I needed. KVC will hire fresh grads with no knowledge of social work and then expect them to learn on the job. As someone who cares about doing quality work, I felt that I was often set up for failure. It frustrated me that many times, I could have and likely would have avoided a mistake had I been given the knowledge I needed up front rather than being confronted after the fact. Learning on the job is a standard practice for entry level positions and it is a great skill to have. However, in my opinion, it is not acceptable to be learning the most important aspects of day-to-day work on the fly when the well-being of children and families is on the line. I cared deeply about my clients and about providing them with the highest quality of care that I could reasonably provide. KVC's lack of training before giving me a caseload led me to be unable to provide care to my clients that met my personal standard.