Studying social work will be the best choice if you love connecting with people, listening to their stories, and solving their problems. Social workers use their practices and skills to help vulnerable people overcome their life’s difficulties and bring social change. They work at the macro and micro levels, with individuals and groups of people or communities, etc. Social work is a broad field. It incorporates medicine, psychology, mental health, law, social justice, education, and human services.
Social work is a demanding but rewarding job. You get to improve people’s lives by working in this field. As a social worker, you can work at clinics, community centers, schools, law offices, hospitals, mental health clinics, or any organization that works with suffering people.
As an aspiring student, we give you six reasons to study social work.
Specialization Options:
Social work has three different categories, thus three different degree specializations. To become a social worker in a specific field, you will require specific skills and knowledge. These specializations include:
- Direct Practice Social Work: you work directly with people or groups in fields like education, healthcare, etc. You need a bachelor’s in social work for this.
- Clinical Social Work: you diagnose and treat abuse, addiction, and mental illnesses. You require a license and a master’s in social work.
- Macro Social Work: you collaborate with governments and institutions to make, change and implement policies and programs.
If you are working in the first category and want to transition to the second or third, you will need an MSW degree. You can enroll in online masters in social work programs. This way, you can move up the academic hierarchy, and your education won’t interrupt your work because it’s online.
Changing the World:
This is one of the professions where you put in the work and witness the results first-hand. You can help transform lives. And changing one person’s life means positively influencing the lives of everyone surrounding or related to that person. You create a ripple effect of positivity. With social work, you help people get a better education, find jobs, overcome poverty, overcome addiction, take care of their mental health, look after their families, etc.
Whatever you focus on, the result is a better, brighter future for vulnerable members of our community. You can make this world a better place, one person at a time, and set an example for others. This is a purpose-driven field.
Career Possibilities:
Over the next decade, the social work field will grow at 16%. This is a significant figure, filling this field with several employment opportunities. The social worker gets to decide where to serve and the type of population they want to work with. You have many options for switching careers if you work in this field.
For example, if you start as a medical social worker, you can switch to being a counselor and later go into administrative positions. You can choose to provide counseling or therapy at home, in clinics, or hospitals. This way, you will have a chance to reinvent yourself while staying committed to your profession and responsibilities.
Develop and Practice Your Skills:
Studying social work will help you develop new skills and enhance the existing ones. This process starts during your academic career and continues with your professional life. As a student, you will get to practice the skills you learned in a simulation room. It is like a living room or a hospital room, with all things like real-life situations. You then get to practice your skills and discover how they are applicable and valuable in real life. Finally, you work with others and learn about leadership and management.
You will gain many transferable skills working as a social worker. For example, when you listen to people’s problems, you develop listening skills; when you converse with them and solve their problems, you sharpen your communication and problem-solving skills. As a result, you become a helpful person. Moreover, you become more compassionate and empathetic. Employers highly appreciate all these soft skills.
Good Starting Salaries:
Social workers earn an average of $55,283 annually as a starting salary. And this amount is even higher for those with a master’s degree in social work. The salary of a social worker with MSW lies between $34,000 to $100.000 a year. However, these numbers might vary depending on specializations, location, requirements, etc.
But overall, an MSW leads to an increased salary and a brighter career. Even though this field is emotionally and physically daunting sometimes, there is still a lot of flexibility for you to choose how, where, when, and with whom to work. You will find many opportunities for growth in the field.
Opportunities to Volunteer:
Just like you try on clothes before buying them, you can get an insight into this field by volunteering. If you feel lost and cannot decide if this will be a good choice, you can find out by putting yourself out there in the practical field. Work with individuals and communities. Not only will you learn about them, but this will also teach you many things about yourself.
Help people by volunteering, and you will better understand whether this is the right choice for you. If you find yourself incapable of ignoring injustices and feel fulfilled when helping a victim, this line of study is undoubtedly for you. Moreover, if you have ever been through a traumatizing event, this is the best way to help others out of the situation you were once in. You might feel more connected to people if you share the same experience; helping them will also heal you.
Conclusion:
If you are a people person, you want to make a change in this world and leave a positive mark; studying social work is your best option. After becoming a social worker, you get to help people in all areas and settings. Moreover, social work is a challenging yet fulfilling career with significant growth prospects and salary potential.
