Current Social Work Job Market

Identify yourself

As strong as the BSW degree is, simply having one doesn’t guarantee employment. Many employers don’t fully understand the difference between a BSW and other bachelor’s level practitioners, which is why you need to be familiar with the difference and use that knowledge when putting together a r‚sum‚ and interviewing. This also means that BSW level practitioners can help themselves by identifying with the social work profession and identifying themselves as social work professionals. Too often, that doesn’t happen at the bachelor’s level, and graduates don’t think of themselves as having any unique skills or abilities or as social work PROFESSIONALS.

Organizations like NASW do much for BSW level practitioners by publicizing the degree and advocating with employers, but the best advocacy is provided by practicing BSWs who have a strong professional identity. Having a great BSW on staff will convince an employer that hiring a social worker is the way to go.

Where are the jobs? Everywhere!

There are vast numbers of jobs available for bachelor’s level practition-ers, but the types of jobs, the way they are advertised, and the competition for them is very different at the BSW level than at the MSW level. At the MSW level, many jobs have “social work” in the job title or description, and the employers clearly state that an MSW is required. It is obvious that they only want an MSW and will not consider those with master’s degrees in other fields. This often is not the case at the bachelor’s level. At the bachelor’s level, many jobs do not carry the title “social work” and qualifications often simply call for any four-year human service degree. (This gets us back to why it is so important to understand why the BSW degree is unique and strong, as it helps you sell yourself above all the others with four-year human service degrees.)

Jobs for bachelor’s level practition-ers typically have titles such as habilitation specialist, mental health assistant, group home worker, residential counselor, teaching parent, program coordinator, activity director, workshop director, and so on. Therefore, when looking in the classified sections of newspapers, employment openings for BSWs can be found under almost any heading. If you are a BSW, don’t make the mistake of looking only under headings that are titled “professional,” “health care,” or “social services.” Be sure to look under “part-time,” “miscellaneous,” “administrative/clerical,” and the like. Social work jobs can be found just about everywhere in classified ad sections, except perhaps “sales” and “hospitality.”