Social work is a rewarding career that is demanding even more professionals than before. Most people join the career with passion and career goals that revolve around making a difference in society. But still, many people have just the base idea of what social workers do. As for the name, these professionals are indeed serving society by solving their social, mental, and behavioral problems. However, with the rising global challenges like poverty, unemployment, inequality, hunger, and conflict, social workers are exposed to diverse realities of the world. For that, these professionals avail themselves of a variety of opportunities for career paths.
Moreover, social workers also collaborate with governmental and regulatory authorities to help the most vulnerable and deprived societies. Although there is a higher demand for professionals, employers mostly seek individuals with the right educational background and experience. The main reason behind the importance of education is that it lays the foundation of skills to grow in a versatile career. The rising challenges of the given pandemic situation also encourage the aspirants to consider a social work degree. However, the shutdown of schools and colleges is demotivating the interested individuals to continue the education and earn a social work degree. Now students can easily pursue masters in social work online to earn education within the comfort of home. With this education, you can qualify to work for various roles and career paths for social work. Let’s discuss 4 top career paths that you can pursue with social work degree.
- Mental Health Counselor
One of the top careers where social work degree holders can work is a mental health counselor. Ever since the dawn of the pandemic, there has been increasing in mental health issues around the globe. The global lockdowns, down falling economy and unemployment, took a toll on people’s mental health. Moreover, this effect leads to challenging life or death situations, and coping with this situation is necessary.
Social workers come forward to aid the people with manageable material and coping measures during the pandemic. These professionals are counseling the patients to relieve their stress and manage the anxiety. They can either work independently or with the organizations to assist the patients in society. Now when the vaccination drives are rolling out, there is a dire need for such professionals. People bury myths and misconceptions down their hearts and avoids vaccination. However, as a mental health counselor, your responsibility is to drives campaigns to encourage people to vaccinate.
- Healthcare Social Worker
Apart from mental health, you can also join the healthcare sector to fill the significant voids in social work. When it comes to social workers, healthcare is the top priority of the career. That means the social workers are continuously striving to boost health promotion for everyone in the society. Working in the healthcare sector is indeed challenging. But with the rewarding outcomes and career growth, it is the perfect choice to go for. The pandemic has put the healthcare sector to test with shortages of healthcare professionals and chronic health situations. For that, many healthcare organizations seek social workers with educational backgrounds and experience in the fieldwork. If you wonder how you can gain the experience, you can easily volunteer to gain hands-on experience.
Working in a complex healthcare organization will yield better career growth and the opportunity to work alongside professionals. You can serve in hospitals, clinics, testing sites, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. This way, you can become the biggest contributor to the sector. On the other side, research mentions that the job outlook for healthcare social workers is set on the course of growth with up to 14% in the coming year.
- Forensic Social Worker
Another rising career that you can consider with the social work degree is forensics social work. However, it is a more detailed-oriented career that demands special considerations to step into the field. Professionals pursuing forensics social work will be working alongside criminal justice in the court and social services. Moreover, they will apply their investigation skills for legal and litigation matters to assist the justice services. Apart from the professional degree, you will also need to hold a license. These requirements vary from state to state, but the license is necessary for the professional practice as a forensic social worker.
- Child Welfare Social Worker
Social workers also fill the rewarding roles for child welfare to ensure their growth in a safe environment. Children are exposed to conflicts every year, which leads to severe outcomes for their future. Social workers are stepping in to create a new career that focuses on intervening in the rising issues of child abuse and torture. You will be working as a child advocate with parents to help in building a safe lifestyle for children. Moreover, earning a professional social degree will also qualify you to work with child welfare societies that design plans to reduce bullies or any other problem.
Final Words
The social work degree adds various career paths that you can choose to fit best the interests and skills. Every career is rewarding in its way with high demand and workplace. On the other side, the job outlook for the social workers is also looking promising with higher demands and high earning potential. With that, it is easy to say that social work aspirants have plenty of opportunities to pursue their dream careers and achieve long-term goals.
