Social workers are intelligent, skilled, and resourceful employees capable of developing creative solutions to support and protect vulnerable clients, families, and communities. Social work is characterized by endeavors that help others, but if you work in this industry, it is important to maintain personal goals that can add value to your life and career.
Everyone is different, but there are several common career goals that social workers generally try to achieve. Acquiring state licenses, continuing education, learning new skills, educating others, and advocating for social policies can all help social workers to develop their professional and personal lives.
These goals can be achieved in tandem with broader day-to-day job responsibilities. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) highlights the importance of these responsibilities. It states, “Social workers deal with the external factors that impact a person’s situation and outlook. And we create opportunities for assessment and intervention to help clients and communities cope effectively with their reality and change that reality when necessary.”
Achieving career goals enables social workers to better deliver on those responsibilities and improve the care and assistance they provide as they progress through their careers. If you are interested in becoming a social worker, have recently earned a bachelor’s degree in social work, or are simply looking for new ways to develop your career in this industry, here are ten goals you could pursue.
Prioritize professional development
Social work is anything but a nine-to-five, desk-based job. The potential work environments are incredibly varied and interesting, and their specific duties differ greatly depending on the role. That’s why social workers often prioritize professional development and continuing their educational journey after graduation to acquire the knowledge and skills they need for this fast-changing industry. The NASW recognizes this and recommends that social workers undertake 48 hours of further education every two years.
Professional development in this context can include attending conferences and panel presentations, participating in formal seminars and workshops, and writing journals and other forms of content for official publication. Many of these tasks and programs can be completed online to support social workers juggling full-time employment with their home and family life.
“Qualifying” activities also vary. While the NASW only provides an informal recommendation, you will find that many states require you to continue education for a specific number of hours to acquire and renew licensure. In New York, for example, social workers must complete 36 hours of instruction over three years. In New York, social workers must attend professional events, teach courses, complete approved self-study courses, or author content such as books and articles.
Acquire state licensure
The level of social work you can undertake is often linked to licensure in the US. If you have only just completed a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), you will likely need to acquire a license to work in each state. These licenses ensure that social workers have met the required educational and professional standards to deliver safe practice. As already noted, the requirements will vary in each shape.
The best way to prepare for state licensure is to complete a Master of Social Work (MSW), a master’s degree. An MSW will help you acquire a state license and pursue a specific specialty in social work. This is gaining greater importance in the industry as the demand for high-quality skills grows. For example, an MSW enables you to specialize in clinical social work or administration and policy practice. It will also boost your earning potential, with the Bureau of Labor Statics (BLS) reporting that social workers with an MSW earn significantly more weekly.
You will find that many of the most rewarding social work career goals only become viable after you have earned an MSW degree. This is because it is the foundation from which you can build your career most effectively, allowing you to retrain and attain the skills for high-growth specialties and pursue rewarding and lucrative work in the long term. The BLS expects the number of social work positions to surge by 12% up to 2030, providing MSW graduates with incredible job opportunities and an advantage in the job market.
Advance your career
One of the major benefits of completing an MSW program is the positive impact it will have on your career. An MSW will open several doors regarding roles, responsibilities, and work environments. You could, for example, earn a clinical MSW to work one-on-one with clients in a healthcare facility. If you want a change of scenery, a master’s degree could help demonstrate your expertise in macro-level social work for a political advocacy group or nonprofit organization. A few other potential positions include:
- Forensic interviewer
- School coordinator
- Marriage and family therapist
- Behavioral health advocate
- Adoption recruitment supervisor
The good news is that you don’t need decades of experience to enter an MSW program. Data shows that around two-thirds of social workers apply for an MSW after only accruing up to two years of field experience. It is generally viewed as an excellent way to “level up” your career prospects early on and boost your employability and pay rates. Newly employed MSWs also report high levels of job satisfaction.
Social workers can have a great deal of influence in communities and broader sectors depending on their standing and job role. This places them in a unique position where they can advocate for real and lasting change that can improve people’s lives.
Although the NASW does not specifically state that social workers should be policy advocates, its code of ethics does allude strongly to it. It says that, where possible, they should try to “engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully.”
Influencing social policy is considered a worthwhile goal for many social workers because it provides meaning to their work and can be incredibly fulfilling. This action, in the form of advocacy, takes many forms. It can include working to influence key policymakers, solving issues and helping affected parties, and providing tools and encouragement to others so they can also affect change. To become a social advocate, you can find groups related to specific social issues, start petitions and organize events and rallies.
The research and analytical skills that social workers refine during MSW programs will be useful here, as will the communication skills honed during the field experience. However, you must call upon a depth of knowledge beyond social working skills and expertise to be a successful policy advocate. You will need to understand existing policies, how they were developed, and the political and legislative processes underpinning them.
Improve soft skills
However, social work isn’t just about advocacy and influencing events at the macro level. Many people are attracted to this career because it allows them to work closely with clients and impact individual lives, empowering people to make small changes that can vastly improve their mental and physical well-being. This requires social workers to be empathetic, active listeners who can ask the right questions, identify a person’s needs and communicate a solution effectively.
Communication is a major part of social work. Talking and collaborating with clients, colleagues, care providers, and other organizations is something that social workers will do every single day, so improving communication is a worthwhile goal. You can achieve this by being more vocal with clients when you first meet them and creating more detailed reports and summaries afterward. Linking other soft skills to simple and achievable goals will enable you to develop professionally in work settings over time.
Practice self-care
Social work can be mentally challenging due to the emotions and stress of supporting vulnerable people and communities. That’s why taking a step back and practicing self-care regularly is important, so you don’t get burned out and stuck in a rut at work and home. Goals here include participating in two hours of intense exercise each week, joining meditation classes, improving diet and fluid intake, and focusing on getting eight hours of high-quality sleep each night. This can also link back to your career options; is there another role that would be more rewarding and enable you to attain a better work and life balance?
Serve the community
Social workers can help empower and emancipate communities by supporting individuals and groups, raising funds, and planning events. Better serving the community is a goal many social workers have and is often what attracts them to this career. If you want to help people in need, you can focus on advocating for people who face oppression and other socioeconomic challenges.
There are many ways you can help communities. This doesn’t sometimes require high-profile gestures and large-scale projects, however. It could involve connecting individuals with the necessary resources to improve their lives. Outlining the different methods you can deploy to effect change and provide assistance can help you achieve objectives over a specific period, such as 12 months or five years. You can then link these objectives to achievable goals and metrics to demonstrate your progress.
Help families
Families also play a crucial role in society. Many social workers regularly work within the family unit to build and maintain healthy relationships, offering the emotional and practical support people of all ages need to be happy and get ahead. If this line of work sounds appealing, you can use your MSW to train for job roles that allow you to work with children and families. For example, you could become a senior support worker for young people or a clinical social worker.
Social workers can also assist parents struggling financially and facing other challenges. You can help parents in your role by breaking down some of the barriers they face. This will enable parents to kickstart their careers and find housing assistance. You can also connect young people and families with therapists if they require specialized support in the long term.
Use your MSW to become a clinical social worker. You will become experienced in evaluating and diagnosing clients’ emotional states and developing personalized solutions to help them. You will work closely with families daily, offering them support, recording their progress, and helping them achieve their goals. Clinical social workers undertake many of these tasks during a working day.
Join organizations
Making contacts and forging relationships with peers in the industry can be very beneficial for your career in social work. You can do this yourself by visiting conferences and events as part of your professional development and joining professional organizations dedicated to upholding high standards in social work.
These organizations also host regular events and training sessions, which can be used to build social networks and improve your skills. You can research and join a few organizations, including the American Clinical Social Work Association, the Clinical Social Work Association, and the National Association of Social Workers.
Raise awareness
Social work doesn’t need to be confined to the communities and families you cross paths with during your day job. You can use your expertise and platform to start educating others about the importance of social work and advocacy. Although social issues are regularly highlighted in the mainstream media, the general public may not recognize or fully comprehend their impact. You might be passionate about this if these issues are affecting your clients.
An achievable goal for yourself is raising awareness of social issues by advocating for legislative reforms and informing people about available social programs. You can do this by speaking at public conferences, volunteering for local events, and working closely with charities. By raising awareness, you could reach people who truly need help, which can be rewarding and satisfying.
How to start identifying your career goals
Now that you know the goals social workers strive to achieve, you can start identifying specific goals that can add value to your life and career. Researching skill or knowledge gaps is a great place to start. You can read articles about current trending skills and shortages in the industry and look at the descriptions for available job roles to identify areas of professional development to focus on.
It is important to step back here and consider your interests to align your further education and job hunts with the social work you are passionate about. This might entail helping a specific community, supporting children as they find new homes and families, or focusing on being a social advocate. From here, you can explore the potential certifications and qualifications needed to achieve your goals, such as an MSW.
During this time, you might be able to try a process called job shadowing, where you observe a manager or employee in a position you are interested in to see what they do each day and get a better idea of whether it would be a worthwhile career move for you. Again, joining professional organizations can help you at this stage. It will pique your intellectual curiosity and put you in contact with people and events who can assist you in your quest to advance your career.
One of the best things about social work is that you are unlikely to be pigeonholed into one specific line of work. Social workers have jobs in a range of different industries and environments. You can work in schools, medical facilities, healthcare units, prisons, and government buildings. You might work with military service members and veterans to support them as they readjust to civilian life or provide support to children and families.
As a social worker, you will have a tangible impact on the world. You will advocate for the well-being of various groups and communities and can bring about change by advancing social programs and campaigning for important causes. It makes sense that most of the goals you will strive to achieve can help make your career more rewarding and fulfilling, but many of the purposes listed here can also improve your personal life.
Social workers are empathetic, caring, and critical thinkers with a strong work ethic and drive to succeed. This combination makes them likely to be interested in ongoing professional development. Wherever you are in your life, you can start setting your goals to take your career in social work to the next level.
