Pros
- Coworkers where amazing and developed very strong relationships with them -Willing to hire fresh out of college grads with no experience -Learned a ton about the different social service resources in the local area -Can be a great launching pad to build experience and go elsewhere if you want to pursue a career in social/human services or education.
Cons
-Your experience will largely depend on what site you work for, I was at the Recovery Education Institute in Orange, CA and it was very frustrating at best and down right depressing at worst. -It's important to know that this is a quota based position. That was not made clear to me upon interviewing and may have deterred me had I know. You must meet a monthly number of clientele which you will be responsible for recruiting or bringing in to the office for assistance. If you do not meet this quota you will receive disciplinary action in multiple forms, but usually by having to meet with management and tell them why you haven't met your numbers and how you will make them up in the following month, in addition to that month's numbers. Because of the natural structure of the program numbers tend to dwindle at certain times of the year but you will be expected to fill your quota regardless. The quota is the most important thing to them. I was denied vacation time for not meeting quotas in consecutive months. -Micromanagement is the law of the land. This can be helpful when you are new and need a lot of guidance, however it quickly becomes unhelpful once you know how to perform your role. - The pay is very low considering all of the roles and responsibilities you will fill and that they are requiring a bachelors degree. As with many jobs, the longer you stay and more seasoned you become the more you get on your plate. However your pay will not increase and there is no position to promote to. -Management will not stand behind you when it comes to student confrontation or disrespect. If a student becomes vocally upset or abuses you verbally, it will be entirely up to you and your coworkers to defuse the situation, and if you don't succeed in this you will have to have a meeting with your supervisor to discuss what you could have done better. You will not be provided any training in de-escalation or crisis prevention as you are not considered "clinical" staff. -High turn over rate, we had 4 people (not including myself) quit in the two years I worked there, and 2 of them didn't even make a full year. To give you an idea, there are only 9 staff members to begin with, so this can greatly hinder productivity and add new responsibilities to your plate while they search for a new person to fill the role. -I could write a book about everything that went on at this place during my time there but overall, if you are fresh out of college, with no experience, and are really struggling to get employment it'll get you by for a year or two until you can move on to something more in line with where you want to be. But if you are someone who is looking to work in mental health or psychology as a career, I'd highly recommend looking elsewhere for something more clinical as the format of this program is geared more toward education than mental health.