How to Become a Social Worker Trainee
Being a social worker often requires a bachelor's or master's degree in social work and years of internships. Social worker trainees should not only attend college, but find relevant social work experience to obtain a social work job. Though social work is demanding and time-consuming, it can be a rewarding profession for those people who desire to help others and improve society.
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Instructions
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1
Choose an issue or career purpose. Prospective social workers tend to start from personal history with a social issue, such as drug rehabilitation or poverty. Possibilities for social work can overwhelm those entering the field. To narrow the choices think of a societal problem that hits closest to home. Call this your "professional problem" and gear your training to solve it.
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2
Select a training facility. In almost all cases, this will be a school of social work at a university. Look for schools that specialize in solutions to the issue you chose in Step 1, as some social work programs specialize in only one or two issues, such as drug abuse or poverty. Talk to staff members, starting with the admissions counselor, as well as a professor or two. Tell them your plans to enroll and ask for information about how to train at their school for your social work issue of choice. Consider that both full-time and part-time programs are usually available in a school of social work.
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3
Take the proper entrance exam. High school graduates should take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or American College Testing Assessment (ACT). Find out which test a given school prefers by referring to its admissions literature or by setting up an interview with an admissions counselor at the school of social work. Bachelor's degree holders should take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). All of these exams test vocabulary and high school-level mathematics skills, including the GRE. The SAT adds essay writing, the ACT adds history and science. Prepare in these areas by studying books designed for the test you will take. The test forms will ask which schools should receive your scores. When filling out the test form, specify the school or schools you selected in Step 2.
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Participate in events hosted by the social work school. These events can be found on the school's website or by asking faculty members. They can help you get acquainted with future classmates and faculty before entering the school. If the events are open to students only, ask the social work office for permission to participate.
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Take an internship. Many jobs typically held by social workers, such as case workers, or human resources managers with social work backgrounds, require years of experience on top of a degree. Often employers will not consider a school-appointed job, called a practicum, as valid job experience. Find an entry-level job related to the professional problem you have chosen. Include this employment information in the social work school application. If paid employment is not available, volunteer at a non-profit related to your professional problem.
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Apply for admission at the school of your choice. Follow every instruction in the application form and be sure to include any college credits you may already have.
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Tips & Warnings
Social work salaries average around $30,000-hardly as high as those of typical middle class professions, such as medicine or law. For this reason, school loans can hinder a university graduate just coming into the social work profession. On top of school specializations, consider a school's costs and the amount of financial aid available to you when choosing a school.
Most graduate-level social work schools do not require applicants to have a bachelor's degree in social work. Any bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university is sufficient.
