Social Work Grant Management: What Is it Like?

As mentioned in the Brainstorming Ideas post, I will be periodically featuring interviews with social workers employed in different areas to help both student and current social workers get an idea of some of the various career paths one may take within the social work field.

For my first social worker interview, I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Amanda Linehan, an MSW social worker employed within the federal grant field. Some of you may already know Amanda through her inspirational blog Look Far | The Art Of Self Awareness or her twitter handle @amandalinehan.

In her "Look Far" blog, Amanda shares and explores ideas and thoughts that she has around Self Awareness - what it is, how you attain it, how you maintain it. She writes about a variety of topics on "Look Far" - creativity, emotions, intuition, finding yourself, and other topics that fit her interests, but all tie back to Self Awareness in some way. 

Amanda Linehan

So without further ado, Amanda, what made you decide to pursue an MSW in general (and then with your specific concentration on "management and community organization")?

I was a psychology major in college and as I got close to graduating I started to explore my career options. Social work caught my eye as something I might be interested in. At the time, as a college junior/senior, I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do and had only part time/summer work experience so it was hard to really get a picture of what a potential career might actually look like. 

I chose social work because I wanted to work with people within their social environments and I wanted to change things - make life better for people. These were pretty vague notions, but at the time, with little experience, that's all I had. :) Ultimately, I felt some excitement and energy about going into social work, so I went with my gut and headed in that direction.

When I first entered my MSW program, I wanted to work directly with people in a clinical position (see "vague notions" above), but as I started my first field placement (in a non-profit) I became very interested in the way that organizations worked and all that goes on "behind the scenes" of creating change and delivering services. 

My MSW program offered a concentration in "Management and Community Organization" which really encompassed all "macro" areas of social work. As I looked through the lists of courses and possible field placements I started to feel energized and excited by this and decided to make this my concentration rather than clinical practice.

What type of federal agency do you work for? Is this position the first one you've had since you received your MSW five years ago?

I currently work for a federal agency that has a public health focus and I work in Grants Management. My blog/online activities are not related to my job so I choose to keep my employer  "un-named" to prevent the appearance that my agency is endorsing my work. My blog/tweets, etc. is all me. :) 

I had two jobs prior to working for the federal government. In my first job out of school I worked as a "System Trainer" where I trained social workers in child welfare departments on how to use a new electronic case record keeping system that was being implemented all over the state. This was a very interesting job that required a lot of group management, public speaking and the ability to teach something technical to people with a variety of computer skills. 

My next job was at a tutoring company where I had many different responsibilities - tutoring, parent conferences, selling, operations management, supervision of part-time tutors. I got to do everything! Being a classroom instructor in my previous job had made me more interested in education and when I saw this job pop up I was very interested. Ultimately, two good experiences. 

Also, I do want to mention that even though I have never worked in a social work job per se, I have worked with MSWs at all of my jobs. MSWs are everywhere. :)

What is a typical day like for you?

My day is split between working with people and working with information. I spend about half my time reviewing, analyzing and researching the grants that will be paid by my agency. There are always situations that come up that I've never seen before, so problem solving is a huge part of what I do. Things never get boring. 

I spend the other half of my time actively engaged with grantees, answering questions and receiving requests, and with other offices in my agency that work with us on the grant process. So there is a nice mix between people work and information work that I enjoy.

What do you like best about your current position?

There is always something you've never seen before, so it never becomes too routine. I also like the balance between working with people and working with information as I mentioned above.

And what component(s) is most challenging? 

Holding all the pieces of the job together. In between managing a large portfolio of grants and serving as a liaison between many groups it can be easy to drop a few balls every now and then. The trick is to keep most of the balls in the air and quickly pick them up as you realize you've dropped one. :)

For social workers interested in entering your grant approval side of social work world, what are the the things that they can do to increase their chances of employment post graduate school?

Social workers already have training in two very important aspect of grants - communication and interpersonal relationships. Also, business/accounting/financial management training or experience are also good. And you do need to have a decent grasp of math (in order to formulate budgets, etc) :). But, I work with people who have a variety of backgrounds so there is definitely not one thing any grant office is looking for.

 

Now, looking at things from the reverse side, do you have any advice for social workers who are applying for grants on behalf of their respective agencies?

Follow directions when applying. This is something that can really cause problems on our end (and therefore the grantees end) if there is information missing or incorrect. Try to get as much clarification as you can if there is something that is not clear in the application instructions. It seems to be a small thing, but a complete, correct application goes a long way.
 Lastly, do you have any career advice for upcoming MSW graduates?

Follow things that make you excited. I have already had a few twists and turns since graduating not very long ago (2005) from my MSW program, but with each twist I learn something new and get a little bit closer to that thing that makes me really passionate.
  

Thanks so much, Amanda, for giving us a peek into the grant management world within social work. It's been very interesting!

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and comments. Your feedback is most appreciated :)

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Photo Credit: qthomasbower
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