Social Worker
Help people deal with challenges and access services that improve their quality of life.
Job opportunities
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Jobs in Jobstreet right now
Job growth
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In the last year
Salary
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Typical monthly salary
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Job opportunities
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Jobs in Jobstreet right now
Salary
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Typical monthly salary
Job growth
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In the last year
Job satisfaction
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What's it like to be a Social Worker?
Social Workers work with individuals or groups who face economic challenges, disability, discrimination, injuries, addiction, and other problems that prevent them from fully functioning in society. Social Workers may work in a wide range of settings such as schools, hospitals, prisons, disaster-relief operations, substance abuse clinics and healthcare services. Through counselling, they identify their clients’ issues, and carry out solutions. This could be referring clients to cost-effective rehabilitation and counselling programs, and coordinating other measures suited to their clients’ needs.
Tasks and duties
- Talking and listening to clients, helping them identify their issues.
- Drafting clear wellness goals with clients.
- Assisting clients in gaining access to programs and services that match their finances, and other capabilities.
- Formulating care plans for clients, and communicating these to their families and care providers.
- Cooperating with other care providers to better facilitate clients’ well-being.
- Motivating clients, regularly meeting with them, and documenting their progress.
Social Workers need strong communication and interpersonal skills to build their clients’ trust, and identify their needs. They also need time management and organisation skills to help clients manage their conditions, and prioritise their urgent needs. Social Workers work with their clients’ families and care providers, and write reports on their patients’ situation and progress.
How to become a Social Worker
Social Workers are able to do their tasks because of their deep knowledge on human behaviour and development, and the different factors that affect these.
- Finish a diploma course or degree in social work or relevant courses like humanities and social science. This will equip you with valuable insights on cultural diversity, social welfare policies, research methods, and other necessary topics.
- Complete an internship or find an entry-level role as a Social Worker. You may first work under a senior Social Worker, who can mentor you in applying the concepts you learned in school. This can help you hone important skills in research and communication.
- Continue learning even while working, so you can add to and update your knowledge. You can complete online classes or join groups that offer workshops and seminars for their members. One of these is the Malaysian Association of Professional Social Workers (MASW).
- Consider finishing a masters degree if you want to pursue research and education roles.
Skills and experience employers are looking for
Having the right skills and experience can make you an in-demand applicant. Social Worker employers on Jobstreet are looking for job seekers with expertise in the following areas.
Source: Jobstreet job ads and Jobstreet Profile data
Did you find this helpful?
Latest Social Worker reviews
Jun 2023
Reviewer's Qualification
Bachelor of Social Science
Experience
5 – 9 years
Organisation size
Medium (20-199 employees)
The good things
If you enjoy being flexible and creative, social worker is good for you. Nevertheless, you need to have passion in helping the people in need, indulge in their problems to see things from their way in...
The challenges
You have to manage your empathy or you will lose yourself in the emotional pool. Doing this job means a lot of emotional management to handle the families or situation that you need to handle. Over ti...
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Source: Jobstreet role reviews
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