How to become a Social Worker

Social workers aim to improve the lives of vulnerable people; who may be experiencing adversity because of unfortunate circumstances including violence, poverty and discrimination. Social workers have varied jobs that involve organising support and working with people to implement changes.

A social worker helps vulnerable people positively change their life. Their jobs are varied, but the pillars of the career are caring for individual cases and creating a more just society for all. 

A social worker will closely align their practices with human rights, and a large part of their job will be ensuring that the rights of each person are being met. Social workers must be compassionate, open-minded and resilient, as the job will pose many emotional challenges.

A social workers’ main duties include: 

• Meeting new people and assessing their needs and wishes. Often social workers will have to balance the two.
• Making sure that people in their care are having their human rights met.
• Checking up on vulnerable people, ensuring that they are well and analysing any problems that may not be communicated. 
• Helping people make positive changes to their life, both by suggesting alterations and by physically implementing certain changes when appropriate.
• Referring them to other experts to help, such as therapists or housing support. 
• Completing paperwork about each case and presenting information to other colleagues. 

Social worker education requirements are quite specific. Candidates must undertake an undergraduate or masters degree in social work, or do a specialised graduate training programme. Enhanced background checks will be carried out for each applicant.

Social workers will often specialise by working with a particular group of people, such as children or adults with mental health issues. This is often decided upon during training and can be changed throughout their career, however, relevant volunteering is always helpful when getting a specialist job. 

Undertaking work experience as a social worker is tricky because of the confidentiality of the job, so it is recommended to do some people-focused volunteering while studying. This could be at a homeless shelter, with a mental health charity or at a retirement home. It is also a great idea to do extra courses to supplement official education. 

Essential skills for social workers include exceptional listening and communication abilities, good IT knowledge and time management  skills.

Social workers can be employed by local authorities, health organisations, private companies and charities. It is also possible to work on a self-employed basis, but generally this needs years of experience. Professional social workers should attend conferences and carry on training in new fields to advance in their career.