Social Worker: Responsibilities, Requirements and Skills

Social workers provide care and assistance to those who have made poor choices in life or came across situations and they need guidance. they have clients that have dealt with neglect, abuse, domestic violence, mental health and parental issues. There clients can be any range from children to adults. Social workers are there to collect information about a case and have to be able to take that information and figure out the next steps to be taken place.

Social workers don’t usually get into this profession for the money it is usually based on a passion. The average salary is around $50k, with the high end being $81k and the low end $31k. The location of your job and the amount of experience can also play a role in your salary.

A full time job for a social worker includes working during the week, sometimes during the weekends and even on holidays. A social worker will most likely meet face-to-face with clients but sometimes work can be done over the phone as well for  client. The projected job outlook for the years 2018-2028 is projected to increase by 11%, which is significantly higher than for most jobs.

Responsibilities to become a social worker includes:​ 

• Provide mental health counseling to patients (clinical social worker), 
• Conduct assessments for a patient then setting goals for them to attain, 
• Research and find public assistance for a patient, 
• Provide crisis intervention, 
• Refer a patient to treatment centers or other places or people to help them, 
• Take care of case files. 

The main goal for a social worker is to help people with all kinds of problems and find solutions or help them overcome something that has happened in the past that has been traumatizing.

Requirements to become a social worker include:​ 

• A bachelor degree makes it easier to get jobs as a caseworker, residential counselor, or group home worker. 
• A masters degree is usually required for jobs such as clinical work in schools or healt setting. 

To be a social worker it required a large amount of training which is reasonably assumed considering the amount of responsibility you are taking on for another human being. You have to be able to make diagnosis mental, behavioral, and emotional issues for a client.

Skills to become a social worker include:​ 

• Social oriented, it’s important to have a passion for helping others. 
• Active listening, you need to be able to give your full attention and engage with your clients to build a level of trust. 
• Communication, being able to communicate with a client whether its on a personal level or being able to give them guidance for further steps for help is important. 
• Time management, there comes a lot of work and responsibilities with cases and paperwork so to be a social worker you need to be able to manage your time and stay organized so you don’t fall behind on your work.

Overall, the most important thing abour working as a social worker - the main requirement to become a social worker is since you have a main responsibility to help others and be a support system you need to be stable in your own life so it doesn't interfere with your work and hold you back. Sometimes there are clients that you have to be able to stay calm with if they are dealing with behavioral issues, or if a client is upset being able to empathize with them is vital. To be a social worker you have to keep your personal life and beliefs separate when you are dealing with a patient to be successful.