Working in Social Work

[gordyagusta]

What's involved in starting a career in Social Work? Courses, qualifications req'd etc?

[pinktwink]

it depends in what country you wish to work in .In the UK you need a third level qualificqtion in university at degree level and then to be eligible for a CQSW which is the basic qualification in social work. You will be required to pass an interview and undertake field placements,
If you wish to work outside the UK you need a masters in social work which can be done as a four yer course or a two yyear course following on from a degree in social science.Alternatively if you have a degree in another subject you can do a higher level social policy diploma and then apply for a two year masters course. The masters course qualifies you for an NQSW which is the national qualification in Social work which allows you practice in most countries. You will also be required to do an interview , field placements and garda checks.

Good luck with it all it is a great career choice

[wakeover]

Worst ever career choice. Your case file will be enormous. You will never be acknowledged as doing a good job. You will be lambasted by all and sundry for not achieving everything a client needs or asks for and whilst you're on one of your many calls taking you into your own time and getting absolutely no respect for this effort, you will suddenly realise that all your social work colleagues have been there, done that and are now in crawl mode which starts the unbelievable case-load scenario once again.
Money not too good for the responsibilty either. Convert to probabtion officer training...no one expects you to do well there.

[pinktwink]

wake over pay is crap in uk as qualification differs pay is quite good in ireland,
Whilst the conditions are not always great in that clients will never fully appreciate our roles the support from team , managers and collegues is what carries yyou through and also a recognition from management. Seems that is absent for you wakeover but certainly in my office we have support from colleagues. However our social service differs in ireland and is not as pen driven as UK with workers having more autonomy,
It is a rewarding yet demanding role

[gordyagusta]

Thanks for the insight to social work, guys.
Its the feeling that i hope i could make a difference in this line of work that inspires me in the first instance, but your sentiments do paint an honest picture. Still its something i will take on board and consider it amongst other things before i make any definate decision.

I've managed to find some of the courses req'd, thanks pinktwink. Problem is they are all full time and as i'm working at the moment it kind of rules out college.
I was considering social work as a a new career path because i'm fed up with industry i work in just now... (construction/distribution/sales)

Still i'm ruling nothing out just yet....

I'm in Glasgow, UK. btw

Gordy.