Social Work : Job Prospects & Career Options
Social Work is a really vast field and the job prospects of a social
worker is not specific to a particular field. Social workers deal with
persons, families, organizations and groups. They try to lessen and prevent
social problems caused by factors such as poverty, unemployment, alcoholism,
lack of health services, family maladjustments, physical, mental and emotional
handicaps, anti-social behaviour and poor housing.
Professionally, Social workers may be classified as three types namely
Macro, Mesco and Micro. Macro social workers deal with Social work nationally
and internationally, by making policies and sponsorships; while Mesco
workers handle social work with small organizations, agencies and groups.
Micro social workers work with individuals and families.
Enormous employment opportunities are available for social workers in
private as well as public sector companies. Though it was considered a
low paid profession earlier, these days many corporate offices are taking
up social responsibilities and they search for good qualified social workers
who are paid in par with the other workers. Career opportunities in this
field would depend on an individual’s area of specialisation. Social workers
who specialize in the area of human resource management can get jobs in
the Personnel, HRM, Welfare departments of factories and commercial organizations,
as executive officers, trainee officers, welfare officers and social security
officers. Trained professionals can get executive card jobs in government,
semi-government undertakings, private organizations as labor welfare officers,
welfare officers, social workers etc. There are also Non-Government Organisations
(NGO) and institutes providing services to different sections in the society.
NGO’s need trained social workers to work in various fields. Social workers
can also take up teaching assignments. After a few years of experience,
one can even become a consultant with various organizations and can also
start freelance work.
Social workers can pursue a career as a counselor in healthcare, adoption,
environmental protection, community policing etc. They can specialize
in child welfare and family services, mental health services, public
assistance, medical social work, community organization, social work,
planning and policy development or social welfare administration. Some
of the work areas of Social workers may include :
- Clinical Social Work: Clinical social workers take care of the mental
and physical health care of needy people. They do psychotherapy and
counseling for such people and work with health clinics and hospitals
and also with agencies or do private practices.
- School Social Work: School social workers who deals with children
and teenagers serve as the link between students, families and the school.
They understand the problems of children and try to solve them and give
counseling for them if necessary and also advise teachers on how to
cope with difficult students. Sometimes they form associations and groups
to deal with children’s problems at school.
- Psychiatric Social Work: The psychiatric social workers deal with
mentally disturbed people. It is also referred to as clinical social
work as these workers also mostly work with hospitals and clinics.
- Criminology and Correctional Social Work: Criminology and correctional
social workers deal with the study of crimes, its causes and prevention.
They work among the people in jails, juvenile homes etc.
- Medical Social Work: Medical and public health social worker in other
words known as Hospital social worker, works for hospitals, nursing
and personal care facilities, individual and family services agencies
or local governments. They provide support and counseling to the patients,
advise family members, help plan for patients needs after discharge
etc.
- Community Organization: Community organizers bring together people
with common self-interest. They negotiate and influence the government
authority or the organizations.
- Research: They do research on problems and find out solutions for
that and also help the government and other authority to help the needy
people.
- Industrial Social Work: The industrial social workers work among the
labourers and find and solve their issues and ensure the welfare of
the employees.
Opportunities Abroad :
Vast opportunities are available for social workers abroad. Globalisation
has widened the scope of employment for students opting for social work
as their career. They may choose to join international NGOs like Amnesty
International, Oxfam and Green Peace etc. In many countries like UK, Northern
Island, Scotland one should register with their governing body (GSCC in
UK) to take up the career of a social worker.
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