human services jobs?

[jdub]

the earnings thread got me to thinking about the situation i'm in...my girlfriend of 5 years is planning to move to st louis in july (effectively ending the relationship, as i don't want to abandon the career i've made here)...she just graduated from HPU in sociology and is convinced that she will NEVER find a job in her field here while pondering grad school...i'm well aware that the current unemployment rate in Hawai'i is lowest in the US, and that employers here are starved for good, educated workers...but do any threadsters out there know of any resources (beyond the obvious) for finding jobs in the human services field in Honolulu? any assistance will be rewarded with my undying gratitute and eternal appreciation...

[craigwatanabe]

Re: human services jobs?

With a sociology degree you almost have to go back to graduate school for a Masters. A four-year degree just doesn't cut it anymore in human services. My goodness even to be a teacher nowdays a Masters degree is becoming quite the norm. Basically any four-year science degree nowdays is what a high school diploma was years ago. It's not enough to compete in an evermore competitive market.

My wife just completed her Masters degree in early childhood education and here on the Big Island she's pretty much among the top contenders for jobs in that field (including Human Services).

Tell her good luck in her endevours and hopefully she'll come back to her senses as well as to you. One thing about Hawaii is that we have a very liberal welfare program and because of that we also have the need for qualified social services. Human Services rank among some of the more needed jobs here especially in the outer islands such as the Big Island where Title I is more of the norm than in Honolulu so there is a greater need for these kinds of professionals.

Because of East Hawaii's (Hilo) location, professionals tend not to want to work here so the market isn't so competative and thus an undergraduate degree may be enough to land a supervisory or even a managerial position in Human Services.

My wife only had a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood education yet it was enough to land her the job of Site Manager for East Hawaii's Headstart program. Now with a Masters degree many of her co-workers in the Hawaii Island Headstart program feel they will lose her for greater aspirations. She couldn't do that in Honolulu with a four-year degree but moving to the Big Island took her out of the "small fish/big pond" mentality into a "big fish/small pond" situation that worked well for her.

Now with the credentials of a Headstart manager under her belt, she can now focus on greater aspirations in a much bigger pond.

So can your girlfriend if she's willing to "earn" her promotions by starting in undesirable places and attaining those credentials as she climbs that corporate ladder of success. Hawaii has many opportunities for Human Services kind of degrees you just have to look for them. My wife found it in Honokaa.

[jdub]

Re: human services jobs?

Mahalo, Craig, for your insight. Unfortunately, the undergrad degree has indeed lost much of the cache it had 10 years go. I'm just hoping to show her that she needn't be so defeatist, by giving her some suggestions and options about where to find work in her field.