A Career as a Social Worker
There are several different specific types of social workers but they all have one thing in common, which is that the job is about helping people who are in need. The need may be material or psychological, or it may be emotional or physical. Whatever it is, your job as a social worker will be to find a way to help your client fulfill that need.
There is no question but that this work can be highly challenging and also very frustrating. Sometimes your client’s needs will be so extreme there is almost no chance you can get everything that is needed. As a social worker, you will be in one of those critical public service professions, like police officer, fire fighter, and teacher that hold society together.
As a social worker you may work in one or more of several environments. The major areas include social services agencies, healthcare, and education. Other areas in which you may find employment as a social worker include community organizations, advocacy groups and international relief organizations. You may also find work in think tanks or other types of research organizations. Part of your day will be spent at a desk and part may be out “in the field” visiting clients in their homes or in some type of institution, either medical, educational, alternative living, or part of the corrections system.
Your clients will include individuals, families, or groups. You may work directly with clients or, as you advance in your career, serve as an administrator, or be engaged in research, or policy planning and development. Most often your work will be organized around a 40-hour workweek but some flexibility will be required in terms of your real working hours.
In essence, a social worker needs patience, understanding and creativity, as well as strong communication skills. Those social workers engaged directly with clients must be emotionally and intellectually stable and mature as a counterweight to the uncertain circumstances in the lives of their clients. But that is not to say that you should be distant, as your clients will also depend on your being sensitive to the pain they are enduring. You need to be empathetic, feeling your clients’ pain, and also highly resilient, so that your own emotions do not interfere with your judgment and ability to act decisively, and also that you can separate your highly emotional work from your personal life. A sense of humor helps a lot.
In addition, although social workers need to follow the guidelines of their agency or organization, the fact they are dealing with individuals whose problems are unique even if falling into general categories, means that they need to be flexible and creative in problem solving. Another very important quality is the ability to multitask, as you will certainly be handling many demanding cases at the same time.
Social workers have a direct impact on improving their clients’ lives. Being a social worker can provide a great deal of satisfaction, especially when one sees clients get past their problems and rejoin the community as a healthy, contributing citizen.
This new Careers Ebook contains a wealth of unbiased information about an occupational field, based on the latest national surveys. Careers Ebooks cover attractive and unattractive sides, opportunities, education necessary, personal qualifications required, earnings, descriptions of different job specialties, first person accounts by those in the field, and how to get started; including practical advice on what to do now. There are live links to schools and colleges, associations, periodicals and other sources of reliable information.
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