Social work is popularly portrayed as a stressful, low paying job. In reality, it is highly rewarding in a number of ways. Here are four reasons to consider a career in social work. We’ll address a few misconceptions about the field as well, and reasons why you’d want to choose social work over other careers.
You Make a Difference
Social workers are changemakers for every client they work with. They investigate cases of neglect and abuse and change the world for those families that they heal. They may find someone in dire poverty afraid to seek help and get them that help, getting them on the road back to a stable life. They work with people struggling with mental illness or with various disabilities, ensuring they are properly cared for. This is one of the major attractions of becoming a social worker. You aren’t sitting on the sidelines hoping for a change to come. Instead, you’re changing the world one life at a time and making a real difference in every life you touch.
Your Career Flexibility
Job opportunities are very varied for social workers and on the rise. You could work full-time in one assisted living/nursing home, checking in on patients, ensuring that their needs a properly met or that they aren’t getting pressured by family members. You could work full-time for a private school or even public school, working with children and families with special needs or discipline problems. You could work for local governments in their children or adult social services departments.
Or you could work for non-profits that provide services for people in need. In these positions, you’d work closely with a handful of clients or families, providing in-depth reviews and finding the resources and services they need. Working for a non-profit in particular gives you the option of finding part-time work.
You Will Always Have a Job
Human nature is not infinitely malleable. Bad behavior patterns like addiction, for example, are still propagated through various channels, and social workers are needed to break the cycle and repair the damage. Even as society gradually improves, there is still work to do.
Recognition of the value of prevention is leading to more investment in social workers instead of correction and counseling for future generations.
You Have Multiple Avenues for Advancement
Social work degrees are one of the easiest college degrees to complete. And if you complete a masters in social work via an online MSW degree program, you’re guaranteed a pay raise by most jurisdictions. If you complete an online MSW, you’re also on the fast track to becoming a manager of other social workers or taking on a leadership role at a non-profit.
Conclusion
Social work as a career allows you to make a major difference in the lives of everyone around you, and you’re literally changing your community for the better. You can work in a variety of positions, all of which are rewarding personally and for society.