About Training to Become a Social Worker

Social workers provide a wide range of support services from investigating child welfare cases to helping patients at hospitals to veteran's affairs and city offices. Social workers are hold at least a Bachelors degree and must pass state licensing requirements in order to provide social and psychosocial support to their community. Licensing requirements vary from state to state, but generally fall into four specific categories: licensed baccalaureate social worker (LBSW), licensed master social worker (LMSW), licensed master social worker advanced practitioner (LMSW-AP) and a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). Practical experience, education and training are all related to the type of license a social worker seeks and receives.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• College Degree State Licensure

1. Volunteer your time in local community and social work prospects. Volunteerism provides you with training in an important area of social work: helping others. Volunteer organizations may include Red Cross, Helpline Call Centers, candy striper at a hospital, Big Brothers and Sisters of America and more.

2. Obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. Social workers may obtain degrees in psychology or social work, but for Master's accreditation, you need to receive a Master's Degree in Social Work. Entry level social working positions require a Bachelor's Degree and a state license as a LBSW.

3. Learn a second language. Bilingual social workers are quickly recruited particularly in states with a heavy bilingual population. Consider Spanish, Arabic and Korean as strong language candidates to begin with.

4. Seek internships with licensed social workers. Similar to volunteerism, an internship is often an unpaid or very low paid position with a licensed and regulated social worker. You can shadow them, learn from them and benefit from the mentor relationship. It's also a good way to gain practical experience.

5. Obtain your license.. Upon completion of your degree program and internship, apply to take the test with the state board of examiners in the state you plan to practice in.

6. Take continuing education courses. Social workers should maintain an ever evolving education to stay abreast of changes in methodology, expectations and needs of the general populace.

Resources

• National Associaton of Social Workers

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