Social Worker Career Goals

Social workers have the option to work on many different levels in a variety of fields.Social workers have the option to work on many different levels in a variety of fields.

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Your career goals are the important milestones that you'd like to accomplish during the course of your employment.Social workers provide an array of services to individuals, couples, families and groups, including counseling, advocacy, intervention and treatment. A career in social work can be rewarding and meaningful - as well as frustrating, emotionally overwhelming and stressful at times. Identifying your career goals as a social worker can help you stay on the right track when the going gets tough.

Social Change

One of the most important career goals of any social worker is to implement long-lasting social change. Chances are, the reason that you decide to become a social worker is because you have a deep concern for individuals and society as a whole, and you want to devote your work toward improving the lives of others. According to social workers Lyndal Greenslade and Amanda Vos in an article for "The New Social Worker Online, " figuring out your unique purpose in social work through examining your personal beliefs and values can help you decide what area you'd like to help bring about social change. This may mean that you work for a charitable organization to help bring direct services, such as food or clothing, to people living in underdeveloped nations, or that you work for a social research institute to develop and implement social policies in your field of interest.

Education

Being a social worker means that you have to stay current with research, participate in continuing education classes, engage in group supervision sessions with colleagues and continuously work toward updating your knowledge base. A career as a social worker involves lifelong learning and a commitment to staying up-to-date with the newest theories and developments in the field. One of your career goals as a social worker may be to improve your knowledge in certain areas of social work, or to become an expert in a specific field, like psychotherapy. For example, you may dedicate some of your time toward furthering your knowledge of psychoanalytic theories or engaging in research to improve the field of social welfare.

Related Reading: State Youth Social Worker Jobs

Promotion

As in most jobs, you're the low man on the totem pole when you first begin a career in social work. However, as you gain experience and knowledge, opportunities for advancement will arise. Many management and supervisory positions are available to qualified social workers in different settings. So you may decide that you want to become a supervisor in a community assistance organization or a director of a mental health agency. Working toward gaining the necessary experience and education can help you advance toward this career goal.

It's Interesting

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    The term derived a number of expressions, such as superwoman syndrome, superwoman squeeze (a...

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