For the career social worker there are some certain steps they will have to go though. Not all career social workers will go through all of these steps, but all will go through some of these steps. This is intended to provide a good outline so one will know what they will experience through their advancement in social work.
BSW-Bachelors of Social Work
This is the first step. It is possible to find job as a social worker without a degree, but the jobs are usually undesirable and come with very low pay. The great thing about a BSW is that it will give a new social worker a great foundation about the field and the experiences that they will be going through. They will also begin to obtain the qualities of a social worker that employers look for.
MSW-Masters of Social Work
This is the next step for many social workers. Not all will choose to pursue their masters but many do. One reason is because those social workers that have their masters usually make substantially more than those that do not. A masters adds hundreds of hours of experience and a ton of value to a career social worker.
Obtaining a License
There are different categories for licensed social workers. If you work in the United States you must obtain a license of some type of certification to work in the field. Each state has different requirements so it is advisable to check on your state laws so you know what a license will entail.
Advancing and Credentials
As time will go on you will gain experience and knowledge that is priceless to the industry. You will also find that as you advance and grow so will your ability to tackle responsibilities and help more and more people. You will also find many people getting additional credentials as their career progresses. The National Association of Social Workers awards and renews different credentials for social workers nation wide. Many people ask “How much do social worker make?'” There is an idea that social workers make very little money, but once people get a few years experience and obtain some degrees and licensing the pay is very comparable to most industries.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 10:08 am. It is filed under Humanities, Uncategorized and tagged with how to become a social worker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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