Last Updated on February 14, 2024 by Nasir Hanif
If we put it, social work is a way for people to help and make a difference in the lives of the less unfortunate people of this world. There is an abundance of that in this world, of people in dire need of some proper assistance to get them through life. They can be found on the side of the streets, homeless, owning nothing but just the clothes on their backs. They can be found in hospitals or general care facilities, almost on the brink of death because they do not have the money to treat their illness. They can be found in schools or educational institutes suffering quietly from their destructive mental health or under severe academic stress. They can be found anywhere- from the busiest of places to the quietest of corners. And this is what the field of social work tries to provide- help, in any and every form they can.
It is a practice-based profession that promotes change in every walk of life, whether in clinical or health care settings, mental health counseling, family issues, behavioral counseling, foster care, women and minorities rights, community work, and many more. It is a practice that involves a better understanding of human behavior, development, social, economic, and cultural interactions. Social workers aim to help people and communities meet their basic and complex needs and improve their overall well-being.
Educational institutes from all over the world have opened many programs for people looking to get a degree in social work and make a career. After acquiring a high school diploma, students are required to get a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, and if they want to gain more advanced education, they can get an online MSW degree, which is a master’s in Social Work. Then, after completing the required fieldwork hours and passing an exam, they can become a licensed social worker.
Scope of work and career growth
Social work has expanded to a much wider spectrum, with more and more people wanting to achieve their degree and start working on a more professional level to bring change to their surroundings. Social workers can work with a great variety of people from different communities and deal with multiple issues. There are levels in which they can work. Micro-level social work allows them to deal with situations in a smaller, one-on-one setting, such as family issues, child behavioral or mental health issues, etc. Then there is mezzo level work, in which they address a large group of people like in hospitals, prisons, or neighborhoods. Lastly, there is the macro level, in which they work on a much larger scale and focus on larger societal issues like homelessness, housing, and more.
Social workers can polish their skills for the type of community work they want to specialize in. Students can choose uncountable aspects of social work according to their preferences. People all around the globe are constantly going through several problems at any given time, several barriers that prevent them from pursuing a healthy and normal lifestyle, and this is where social workers jump in. There is an impressive amount of career possibilities in this field which lets students focus on one or more branch that interests them. According to the U.S. Bureau of labor statistics, there will be a 15% increase in the overall employment of social workers from 2016 to 2026, much faster than any other occupation. Some of the major career possibilities in this field of work are discussed here.
Suppose any student is interested in the medical aspect of social work. In that case, they can choose to be a Medical Social Worker or a Mental Health Counselor to address the issues revolving around people’s health and well-being. This does not just include physical health but emotional and mental health. They work in hospital settings and health care facilities. They deal with many things ranging from financial and billing situations to providing counseling regarding their treatment and management steps. If someone wants to help people battle their substance abuse and addiction problems, they can consider becoming a Substance Abuse Counselor. They can also choose to be a Family Counselor who assists families in overcoming their issues between spouses and between parents and children, or they can opt to become a School Social Worker who deals with the behavioral shortcomings of students and guide them through their academic stress. A Foster Care Social Worker can be considered the most popular among other fields of social work. It deals with children who enter foster care and makes sure they are fully provided for and living under the best of care.
Students who prefer to be more on the business side of social work also have a lot of positions open for them. They can choose to become Executive Directors of any social organization. This role requires them to have good leadership experience. They manage many responsibilities, including organizing programs, overseeing workers, conducting research work, recognizing people in need, and communicating with them. Students can opt to become Program Evaluators who strive to promote changes for better results in the organization, identify problems and find solutions, reviewing status and reports. There is also a position of Public Policy Analyst, who works to analyze policies and make amends according to the demand and share information with the government and public. Students can also choose to become a Social Service Coordinator; whose responsibilities include widening the reach of their organization to more communities and doing a thorough assessment of people under their care.
Conclusion
There is always a place open for people who wish to bring positive changes to society. Social work has always attracted people to itself because of its wide variety of fields and numerous possibilities but also because it provides people an opportunity to be helpful to other people, to be compassionate, to bring about change, even if it is small, and to try and make this world a better place to live in. Many organizations keep trying to open more and more positions for people looking to work with them and widen their reach so they can assist a lot more people in need.
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