What can I do with a degree in Social Work?

[user11290]

Hi,

I'm really interested in returning to education and one of the areas I'm interested in is social work. I already have a degree but it's not in Social Work

However, I've heard a lot about the workload/poor work life balance and other difficulties associated with the job.

However, I still really want to pursue further education and study Social Work.

So my question is, would you say it's worth it? What other careers could I pursue with a Social Work degree? How demanding is the course?

Any other advice or tips?

Thanks.

If you already have a degree I think there will be a problem getting funding for a second. If you don’t want to be a social worker I would suggest that you look at a different degree.

Local government here takes on trainee social workers and pays for their course while working

See if yours does it 😊

I think you can get masters funding for social work degrees. Don't quote me on that but I'm fairly sure!

@Rocknrollstar I want to do a social work degree because I think there are other careers that require/value a social work degree without you having to be a frontline social worker. But I'm not sure which of these careers I'm best suited to.

I currently work for the local council and do the admin side for social services but I just feel like I'd feel more useful doing something with a bit more interaction!

Are you looking at Frontline rather than a complete degree? That is funded and you earn while qualifying.

There are roles such as policy or training, although usually you would need to practice for a number of years first.

The only career you can really do with a social work degree is social worker. There are many areas of social work but to become fully qualified you have to do an assessed and supported year post qualifying so you'd have to work as a social worker for at least a year. Then you'd be just a pretty inexperienced social worker so I'm not sure what you'd be able to parlay that into to be honest. There are development type roles people do after moving on from frontline social work but they have a decent amount of experience as a social worker first.

A few social workers go on to safeguarding roles in education (if you take a children and families pathway.). Others have some success at moving on to a law career as knowledge of certain acts are needed and you become experienced at court work, giving evidence etc. This would require further training though.

If you work in mental health as a social worker, you can apply for NHS funded training to become a therapist after two years (varying modalities - I have friends who work as CBT, DBT and psychodynamic therapists). Friends and colleagues have also moved sideways into clinical governance, training and development, policy work etc

Thank you everyone.

@Turmerictolly I think the education idea sounds appealing to me. I've done safeguarding work in schools previously and that initially sparked my interest. However, I moved cities and at the time the council job seemed like it would be fine. However, I think down the line I'd be more suited to returning to more front line work as opposed to behind the scenes. I really did enjoy working as a safeguarding officer within a school setting as it made me feel as though I'm making a real difference.

The only issue is that if I wanted to return to a school setting my experience now would be more so behind the scenes and not actually with children. I have got 1.5 years experience of a school setting however I doubt that means anything anymore.

You can do Frontline (Masters) or Step Up (Post-graduate diploma) which are both funded and when you pass you can register as a social worker. They can be quite competitive to get onto. You do not need to do a ASYE (one year post-qualifying). Once you are registered you can do a role which does not have to be statutory such as Early Help or pastoral support in school, you need to be able to demonstrate you are using your social work skills and have completed satisfactory CPD each year to allow you to re-register as a social worker each year,

Not many employers will employ a step up graduate without the ASYE though.

In my experience (I’ve been qualified for 20 years and have gone up the career ladder) it is only if you are wanting to work in a statutory role for local authority that you will be expected to have completed ASYE. It doesn’t sound like the op wants to do a statutory role. I’m in London BTW, have worked in several London boroughs including non-statutory roles but I don’t think it’s any different in other parts of the country.

I am neurodivergent and got no support in social work!!! I left ... You have to be resilient, strong. Social work is not for the sensitive type... It's a hard job.... It's not your typical 9-5 job ,!!! Good money but you work for it !! Good luck

I think the difficulty you’ll have is experience, most non local authority settings that employ social workers will want them to have experience.
to go into the learning and development side of social work, you’ll need to have experience.

You may get some charity social work / safeguarding positions. Good luck