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Tag: social worker

  • Community and Social Service Workers

    Community and Social Service Workers

    Community and social service workers administer and implement a variety of social assistance programs and community services, and assist clients to deal with personal and social problems.

    Outlook
    Over the past few years, the number of community and social service workers has risen very sharply. This growth is attributable to the large increase in the range and intensity of social service needs, and the handling of a growing proportion of these needs by community organizations. Since the community network is now well established, higher government spending in the health and social services sector should be more conducive to the hiring of members of other occupations and the number of income security claimants should continue, the number of community and social service workers is expected to grow sharply over the next few years, but at a more moderate pace than before.

    Sources of employment
    Openings will arise first from employment increase and from the need to replace community and social service workers who will be retiring or entering jobs in other occupations. In fact, with appropriate training, quite a large number of them will find positions in other occupations, for instance as social workers. Turnover is actually quite frequent within the occupation. For instance, many community and social service workers start their careers in community organizations, and move on after a few years to better paid positions in the public and parapublic sectors.

    Industries
    According to census data, in 2006 approximately 62% of community and social service workers worked in the health care and social assistance sector. About 15% worked in public administration, primarily as income security program administrators, mainly in the provincial civil service, but also in municipal government. Another 14% worked in associations, especially civil and social organizations (8%) and social advocacy organizations (4%).

    Education and Training
    To enter this occupation, it is generally necessary to have a diploma of college studies (DEC) in social work technology, special care counselling or correctional intervention, or a Bachelor’s degree in a field related to social services, such as social work, social service, psychoeducation, psychology, criminology or sexology. Experience of the social services sector as a volunteer or even as a former beneficiary, such as a former drug addict, alcoholic or pathological gambler, may in some cases be accepted in lieu of the academic requirements.

  • STEM Job Profile: Sociologist

    STEM Job Profile: Sociologist

    The field of sociology is a major one and it is one of the fastest growing of the STEM career paths. Sociology has been growing in size and importance since it began to be studied in the early 1900’s. A degree in sociology can take you down a large variety of career paths and it is up to you to decide which one most suits and benefits you personally.

    The first step towards becoming a sociologist is being accepted into a sociology major program at a university. These programs generally take about four years to complete, but universities are flexible and it’s possible to complete the program faster (or slower) depending on your learning style, financial situation and other factors that might affect your education situation.

    Once you graduate from your sociology bachelor’s program there are a number of options available to you. You can decide to take further schooling and apply for a masters of sociology, or even achieve a doctorate if you decide to put in the serious dedication to the science of sociology. Many people don’t wish to take that path for a variety of reasons, and it isn’t necessary to hold a doctorate to be a sociologist.

    Some of the career fields open to sociology bachelor’s graduates can include the following: human relations, development, marketing, industrial relations, or as a personal support worker (PSW). PSWs are an integral part of the community and perform a number of important functions.

    PSWs can include youth support workers, whose function is to work with troubled young people in the community and reach out to those in need of support, especially youths with troubled home lives and legal issues. Community PSWs can also work with drug addicts and alcoholics in the community, helping them to find shelter, direct them to rehabilitation centres, find employment or hand out supplies such as sterile needles, clean pipes and pamphlets on addiction. Many PSWs will work with those most disadvantaged in society. It’s a difficult yet very emotionally rewarding job.

    Community social workers work with those in extreme poverty as well as the homeless. They help to provide support and direct them to services that can help them such as shelters, food banks, and navigating the complex welfare and disability system. Often PSWs work with the disabled or mentally ill as well, giving support to people that have no one else. Social workers can aid these people in finding affordable housing, work, or treatment.

    Community social workers can have a major benefit on the area in which they work, and they can often improve or even save people’s lives. It is not an easy job, requiring odd hours and being able to handle diverse situations. Patience and good people skills are essential for this line of work. All in all, being a community social worker can be an extremely rewarding job. Each day you work to improve people’s lives.

  • Career Profile: Social Worker

    Career Profile: Social Worker

    Helping people can be a satisfying experience. You probably know the good feeling you get when you help your grandparents or friends with jobs that need to be done, such as raking leaves in the yard or helping them move to a new home. You might not enjoy everything about the job itself, but in the end, you can feel good about doing something to help people in need. If you enjoy helping people, even with difficult or unpleasant tasks, a career as a social worker might be right for you.

    Becoming a social worker is a bit like helping friends and family with the things they need to have done. Not everything that social workers do is pleasant or even safe. Sometimes they have to deal with dangerous situations and  it may seem as if nothing they do can help improve people’s lives. However, all of these struggles are part of their job.

    Basically, social workers help people in crisis. They might go into the hospital to help someone who needs assistance in everyday tasks because of an accident or major illness. In Canada, about 85% of social workers are in hospitals. Others take children from dangerous homes and find them safe places to live. Social workers help unemployed people, the homeless, people with physical or mental disabilities, young people who have committed crimes, and many others. To do this, they often work with counselors, psychologists, and other professionals.

    For each person or family that social workers help, they have to make a plan. They decide what information to give on government programs or arrange for meetings with a counsellor who can help people with their family, employment, or personal problems. It usually means spending time with the client (the person in need) to see what help is necessary. People are all different, and social workers have to try to find out the best treatment for each one. Over the next months or years, the social workers have to keep on checking in with the client to make sure that everything is working and report back to other people working in the field. Often, this means that they spend a lot of time writing reports on what they have done.

    Many people do social work without ever having official training. Someone who washes the dishes at a homeless shelter, for example, is doing social work. However, becoming a full-time, official social worker usually requires university training to learn the theories and principles of the field. A bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work or social services is often necessary for high-level jobs, although many lower-level workers often need no special education.

    A career in social work can be difficult, but it can have many rewards. If you like working with people and want to help them, it might be a good career path to consider.