Mental health system shows signs of being overburdened and, consequently, short-staffed. Statistics show that 25% of Americans have dealt with mental illness this year, and mood disorders represent one of the most common causes of hospitalization among people aged 18-45 years. In this context, there is a shortage of mental health professionals and volunteers often step in to fill the gap, in areas where they can contribute. However, this is not always possible, because some professionals such as mental health counselors, social workers or psychiatric nursing aides cannot be substituted.

The good news is that there is enough space, in the healthcare system, for people who seek to find a mental health job. Here are only some of the jobs available, the minimum education requirements and the annual median salary:

Mental Health Counselor – Master’s degree – about $42,000

Addiction Counselor – Bachelor’s degree – about $40,000

Clinical Psychologist – Doctorate – about $70,500

Neuropsychologist – Doctorate – about    $70,500

Mental Health Social Worker – Bachelor’s degree – about               $42,000

Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses – Certificate or Career Diploma – about$67,500

To find a mental health job, you can search on your own. For instance, you can search for clinical social work jobs in Massachusetts and create opportunities for interviews. Another option is to hire a staffing agency.

What is the purpose of a staffing agency?

Professional recruiters aim to recommend you companies that fit the profile you are looking for. The most obvious advantage is that you gain access to a wide variety of jobs, some of them being promoted exclusively via recruitment agencies.

Candidates applying to a staffing agency can also benefit from career counseling – CV evaluation and optimization, tips to prepare for the recruitment process, solutions and suggestions if you want to change your field of activity etc.

The client of the recruitment agency is the employer, so in order to enter the database the candidates are not charged any fees, except sometimes for top management positions.

 Why work with a staffing agency?

• The recruitment agency has placed many other candidates in various companies and institutions in the mental health field, so it has a good knowledge of the working environment.
• The recruitment agency carefully selects its clients, so that job candidates and future employees are treated correctly
• You receive from the recruitment agency details that you do not find in company descriptions or in announcements posted on job portals
• The recruiting counselor helps you to properly introduce yourself at a job interview and increase your chances to get the job, by offering you tips and information on the real and concrete expectations of the employer
• The recruiting counselor helps you to position yourself correctly in the market and will recommend you keeping your current job, if the market cannot offer you something better
• The recruiting counselor will be with you during the entire recruitment process and will provide you feedback after each interview.
• The recruiting counselor will tell you if the mental health job you want to apply for is below your potential or, on the contrary, you overestimate yourself, helping you thus to avoid the disappointment of a failure.
• The recruitment agency has the interest to identify the best job where you can grow and perform in the long term, in order to fulfill the contractual conditions
• The recruitment agency keeps in touch with you and the employer, in a perfect balance in terms of confidentiality.