Career in social work has its own level of learning pattern, code of ethics, practice standards, credentials, state licensing and accredited education program. Therefore, these programs let a professional social worker to combine all this with his personal knowledge with desire to help others. A social worker can work in wide areas and field of working like as public agencies, private businesses, hospitals, clinics, schools, nursing homes, private practices, police departments, courts and many other such places of greater importance and value.
Social workers can work in different capacity like being as individuals, families and communities on designations like managers, supervisors and administrators. And they even can work at each and every level of government being therapist and researchers. As for earning potential of BSW (Bachelor of Social Works) they can expect salary ranging and starting from $30,000 as on the basis of experience, work and many other geographic factors. A social worker with an MSW degree can have annual income amounting around $40,000. For a private practitioners and senior administrators you can earn as much as $100,000 per year. A general idea about the salary of social work in the United States is as following Child welfare social worker: $32,500, Community practitioner: $32,500, Court social worker: $32,500, HMO social worker: $37,500, School social worker: $37,500, Member, private practice: $47,500, Solo private practitioner: $52,500
Where as according to another research entry level salary is $32,500, middle level salary is $47,500 and top level salary is $52,500 in social work. However, salary determination is quite different from the stat from organizations to organizations. For private profit organizations the average payout salary go as as much as upto the level of USD $56,700 per annum. The salary of social workers in non profit organization goes to USD 41.300 per annum.
However, merely having masters in education you can not receive this amount of salary, what you need to do is to compete with your educational and licensing requirements. The degree one having in social work from college and university should have accreditation from Council on Social Work Education. Degree programs include classroom study as well as practical field experience. A DSW or PhD happens to very useful in doing research and teaching at the university level.
Moreover in the United States, it is expected by states that a social worker should be licensed, certified or registered according to the prescribed norms. Licensing is one issue, where as for becoming a social worker a person should also have aptitude for the profession. They must have strong desire to help others and improve people live, to heal fragile relationships, family problems, diseases and substance abuse. More a social worker can help by providing solutions to the problem of inadequate employment, housing and disability, etc. For becoming a social worker a person should be emotionally mature, objective, sensitive, and responsible and willing to work freely.
Social work is one of the most satisfying careers in the modern day. The job outlook is good and the remuneration is also quite satisfactory. It is also a fairly competitive field. If you want to improve your chances of becoming a high profile social worker then the best option would be to get a masters degree in social work. It can be hard going for classes when you are working, but this should not discourage you for there are several online colleges that offer similar degrees.
Online masters of social work degree will help you work and study at the same time. You will not have to worry about being late for classes since you will be studying at your own convenience. Better yet, you can do your studies from anywhere that pleases, even from the comfort of your home.
Earning your masters degree through an online college is not only flexible but is also cheap. The whole course will take you 2 years to complete if you apply for the regular full time study mode. The part time program usually takes one to two years longer. In most online colleges, the entry requirement for this program is usually a G.P.A of 3.0 and above for undergraduate degree holders. Some of the colleges also require the applicants to have GRE scores that are over 450.
During the first semester in the masters of social work degree program, most online colleges offer foundational courses and then move on to the more crucial courses after that. Some of the core courses include human behavior, policy analysis, research methods, social justice, general psychology, anthropology, cultural awareness, social sciences and history. Normally, you will be required to specialize in a particular area of study and complete around 900 hours of field work in any credible agency before you are allowed to graduate.
It is advisable to be on the lookout for online conmen when you are looking for online colleges that offer masters programs in social work. Make sure that the college you are applying to is fully accredited. Once you identify a credible college, go ahead and apply for masters of social work degree and you will see how your life will change for the better. Some of the accredited online colleges that offer masters degrees in social sciences include University of Denver, Florida State University and Valdosta State University.