When wanting to change the direction of your career or even the industry in which you work, it can sometimes be somewhat bamboozling when faced with the seemingly infinite number of options available to you.

A career in social work is not only exceedingly challenging as it is rewarding but also affords you the opportunity to branch out into a multitude of specialisms according to individual interests and passions.

With that being said, continue reading to discover the top five most solid reasons to consider a career in social work.

What Does a Career as a Social Worker Involve?

Social work is one of the most important sections of professional, vocational work that are directly involved with not just individuals within a community setting but also families and often marginalized groups, as well as addressing and assisting the community as a whole.

There is a multitude of different roles and responsibilities that a social worker is in charge of and every single working day offers brand new settings, people, and tasks ahead. However, there are more than a few general duties of a social worker that include, but are categorically in no way limited to:

• Assisting individuals with adapting to changes in their life, such as being let go from work, splitting up from a partner, or even more serious occurrences such as helping them cope with bereavement
• Evaluating the progress of individuals
• Assessing the history of an individual, in terms of both their personal and professional backgrounds as well as understanding their needs, strengths, and weaknesses
• Assessing and suggesting improvements to the current protocols and systems in place
• Responding to child abuse situations and other crises such as natural disasters and other impactful events that can affect local communities
• Enabling individuals to better cope with various challenges and changes to their lives
• Identifying those individuals and groups that need assistance
• Determining the short and long-term targets of the individual
• Developing plans and activities that will improve the quality of life of the individual

Would You Make a Good Social Worker?

As with any other all-encompassing, rewarding, and challenging vocational career, there are certain skills and personality traits that are not so much necessary but certainly exceedingly helpful in the successful pursuit of a career in social work.

A natural curiosity is one of the biggest things that will stand you in extremely good stead, especially if you are somebody who naturally asks questions in an attempt to better understand and, where necessary, process and suggest changes to a certain situation.

A large part of a social worker’s daily roles and responsibilities center around working with and supporting groups of people and sometimes entire families who have found themselves, through no fault of their own, in particularly complicated, serious, and often difficult situations. This is why possessing exceedingly good communication and interpersonal skills is another asset that a social worker usually demonstrates, as well as a tendency and a preference to naturally assume a leadership role.

Other qualities that certainly make for not just a competent but a highly successful social worker include high levels of empathy, setting boundaries, active listening skills, and a high level of social perceptiveness.

The Top 5 Reasons to Become a Social Worker

Social Work Is a Growing Field of Both Study & Practice

Back in 2016, there was a prolific study undertaken to examine how the field of social work will grow and expand, and the estimation that the area will grow by an astounding sixteen percent already appears to be coming into fruition.

Although most social workers out of the approximately 680,000 employed in the United States in 2016 work with children and families, there is a wide plethora of other types of social work that is continuing to follow the trend and become larger areas in their own right.

Social Work Offers a Wide Plethora of Opportunities

One of the biggest advantages of studying to become a qualified and professional social worker is the sheer level of available opportunities afforded to you even as early as the day after you graduate.

After completing an undergraduate degree, the most sensible, not to mention incredibly beneficial, thing to do would be to apply to study one of the msw advanced standing programs, which will equip you with a vast array of specialist knowledge that simply cannot be found anywhere else.

Social Work Has Numerous Specialisms

As in other areas of healthcare and work that involve communities as well as individuals, there are a host of different specialisms that you can opt to concentrate on once you have worked as a professional for a minimum of a year or two.

Such specialisms include:

• Substance abuse
• Mental health
• Military veterans & current members
• Children
• Families
• Communities

Social Work Enables You to Make a Real Difference to People’s Lives

Naturally, people who gravitate towards selfless and altogether incredibly compassionate careers such as social work receive a great deal of personal self-worth, growth, and enlightenment in return.

There is a multitude of benefits to not only your professional life but your personal mind, body, and soul in helping others, including the scientifically proven fact that it reduces tension and stress, gives a high level of emotional satisfaction, and even provides benefits to the healthiness of your heart.

Social Work Offers a Different Kind of Working Day: Every Day

A career as a social worker means you will be faced with different challenges, individuals, and situations each and every single day, meaning that if you enjoy a varied and constantly stimulating daily life, then social work is the perfect area for you.

The impact of social workers on a national, even global scale is frankly undeniable, and if you decide to become a qualified social worker, the scope of the impact on both your personal and professional life will be unrivaled.