LIKE WORKING WITH PEOPLE? IS HELPIN...

LIKE WORKING WITH PEOPLE? IS HELPING THE world more important than making money? Then a career in social services may be just what you are looking for.

"You're typically paid les if you do this kind of work, to such a degree you really need to believe in the cause," says Russ Finkelstein, the director of outreach for Action Without Borders, a nonprofit organization in recent York City, which works around the world to create community clumps that will address local problems

The reward: You perform meaningful work and waste your days with interesting colleagues who share your values. Teacher, social worker, law enforcement officer, nonprofit worker, politician, environmental activist--these work at jobss all attract people who want to besufficient for their communities.

piece of works in the social services should be plentiful in the coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Demand for adult day care and meal delivery programs will be stimulated through a growth in the number of somewhat old people in the United States. The increasing popularity of welfare-to-work programs should stimulate the ne for more piece of work training services. And the number of community-based programs and assign places to residences, which house and help homeles chronically ill, and mentally ill clients, is awaited to rise.

More teachers are extremityed to meet shortages caused at retirements, growing numbers of close examiners and reduced class sizes. Demand is awaited to lift salaries over the nearest 10 years. Some districts are paying signing bonuses to teachers of particular exposes such as science or computer science.

ARE YOU A tribe PERSON?

Some social service professionals work with the community who face serious problems: inadequate housing, unemployment lack of piece of work skills, serious illness, substance abuse, unwanted pregnancy, child or spousal abuse. You work directly with clan helping them get what they need

It can also be frustrating emotionally taxing work. "Don't do it because you wait for people to say thank you," says April Gates, 35 who works at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC As a social worker in the oncology department, Gates deals with tribe who are going through the worst crisis of their lives.

"These race are watching their child advance through life-threatening treatments for cancer," she says. "They're focused upon the child and the doctors, not forward you."

Even healthy, happy clients can be a handful. "Working with teenagers can be a high maintenance task," says high seminary teacher Paris DeSoto. "I have to be forward watch constantly, or they will start doing things they aren't suppos to, like sleeping, writing notes, doing homework for another class, and braiding hair."

ADVANCEMENT

Social services, administrators wait /1 to start out in direct services. teach principals, for instance, spend years in the classroom first. further advanced degrees can be a fast-track into administration. Someone with a master's class in public health could journey straight to work for the federal guidance allocating money for direct services programs. Someone with a master's class in business administration could vault to the top of a nonprofit organization, preparing stores and handling the organization's finances.

To be a dutiful administrator, you need to be able to put goals for your organization, establish policies, monitor students' or clients' progres train and motivate staff, manage facilities, hold records and accounts, handle the community and the pres and perform many other duties, usually while working within a fiscal estimate that is way too small.

Gwendolyn Bradley

FIREFIGHTER

Brad Bolen

AGE: 31

LOCATION: Boise, ID

JOB: Helitack set supervisor, Bureau of Land Management, Lower Snake River District

EDUCATION: No standing is required, but the fire services is a fate like college, says Bolen. "For each plain of firefighting training, there's coursework," he says. Bolen's liberal arts studies at Boise State, plus his piece of work experience, made him a great candidate for a management position.

SALARY: The median annual salary for firefighters is $32864; for supervisors, $48339

onward THE JOB: In addition to putting not at home wildfires, the Helitack crew uses helicopters to perform search and ransom operations, facilitate evacuations, and garner data for forest rehabilitation specialists. The mob works on a local (the Boise National Forest and other nearby dominion lands) and national level.

"I supervise a 12-person party of eight career and four seasonal firefighters," says Bolen "The biggest part of being a supervisor is being understanding and communicating in stressful situations. Your piece of work is never the same, you not at any time know what's going to happen nearest Be prepared for anything."

STARTING OUT: "You have to integral a minimum of one season as a wildland firefighter before training for a Helitack band I worked seasonally through society and became full-time."

REWARDS: Bolen have the advantage [i]or[/i] blessing ofs flying helicopters, getting paid to "work out" and being part of a team. "You be impressed a sense of accomplishment [after a job] and you prepare to travel quite a bit," he says.