By Rupert Olma
If you have a social conscience and enjoy helping people, then a career as a social worker could well be the one for you. A social worker is a qualified professional, who is paid to listen to, advise, and help those that are in their care.
To be able to help the people that they care for, a social worker has to form relationships with the family and friends of the person that they are dealing with. They also need to work closely with the health service, the police, the probation service, and the schools.
To qualify as a social worker, you will need to be registered with the General Social Care Council, and have a university degree in social work. There are two main types of social work: childrens services and adult services.
Some typical adult social care jobs involve working with offenders to help them find work and reintegrate with society, working with older people to help them sort out problems with their benefits, housing, or health, helping to rehabilitate people with drink or drug problems, and helping people with learning disabilities or mental health problems.
If you choose to work in childrens services, you may find yourself trying to keep families together, working in childrens homes, supporting young people who are leaving care homes or who are in trouble with the law, managing foster care and adoption processes, or helping children who are having a hard time at school.
Social work degrees come in all shapes and sizes. You could study a full time bachelors degree over three years, or longer if you choose to take this course on a part time basis. If you already have a degree, you can qualify by means of a postgraduate course, which would only take a year or two.
Social work degrees are available to applicants of all ages, although most demand that you have some prior social care experience. Social care jobs are advertised on websites such as Guardian Jobs as well as in newspapers and job centres.
There is a strong practical element to a social work degree, and students typically spend around 200 days over the course of their degree working with social work organisations. This provides students with the practical experience required by social care jobs, and helps them to decide which type of work they would most like to do.
Rupert Olma is a keen writer about graduate jobs and he is specialised in public sector jobs. This article was inspired by the Guardian Jobs website.
If you have a social conscience and enjoy helping people, then a career as a social worker could well be the one for you. A social worker is a qualified professional, who is paid to listen to, advise, and help those that are in their care.
To be able to help the people that they care for, a social worker has to form relationships with the family and friends of the person that they are dealing with. They also need to work closely with the health service, the police, the probation service, and the schools.
To qualify as a social worker, you will need to be registered with the General Social Care Council, and have a university degree in social work. There are two main types of social work: childrens services and adult services.
Some typical adult social care jobs involve working with offenders to help them find work and reintegrate with society, working with older people to help them sort out problems with their benefits, housing, or health, helping to rehabilitate people with drink or drug problems, and helping people with learning disabilities or mental health problems.
If you choose to work in childrens services, you may find yourself trying to keep families together, working in childrens homes, supporting young people who are leaving care homes or who are in trouble with the law, managing foster care and adoption processes, or helping children who are having a hard time at school.
Social work degrees come in all shapes and sizes. You could study a full time bachelors degree over three years, or longer if you choose to take this course on a part time basis. If you already have a degree, you can qualify by means of a postgraduate course, which would only take a year or two.
Social work degrees are available to applicants of all ages, although most demand that you have some prior social care experience. Social care jobs are advertised on websites such as Guardian Jobs as well as in newspapers and job centres.
There is a strong practical element to a social work degree, and students typically spend around 200 days over the course of their degree working with social work organisations. This provides students with the practical experience required by social care jobs, and helps them to decide which type of work they would most like to do.
Rupert Olma is a keen writer about graduate jobs and he is specialised in public sector jobs. This article was inspired by the Guardian Jobs website.