Online Social Work Degrees – Get Paid to Help People


Online Social Work Degrees – Get Paid to Help People

Studying social work gives you the opportunity to make a genuine and positive impact on the lives of people and communities. It’s also a fascinating course that will provide you with a range of amazing and in-demand skills. You’ll find plenty of great employment opportunities lining up, and you’ll earn a healthy salary.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of an online social work degree, what it involves, and whether it is right for you.

What You Will Learn

Many people are attracted to social work degrees because they like the idea of helping people and communities and having a positive impact. Social work is about helping the lives of people by listening to their needs and supporting them where necessary.

On a typical social work course, you can expect to learn the following subjects:

Social Service Delivery Systems: You’ll spend around 40 hours of volunteer social work, while also learning about the role of the federal state, and organizations in providing social care.

Foundations of Social Work Practice: This will teach you the theoretical foundations and skills that underpin social work.

Micro Human Behavior in the Social Environment: This explores human behavior in the social environment, helping students to better understand and anticipate the actions of others.

Social Work Practice: Here you will learn a number of skills and practices such as cross-cultural interviewing, communication patterns, case-recording and more. These skills will be of paramount importance once you are working as a social worker.

Research Methods: This is the application of the scientific method to the collection and appraisal of qualitative and quantities data. In other words, it allows you to collect data in an efficient manner in order to paint an accurate picture of social welfare.

  • Statistics
  • Macro human behavior in the social environment
  • Diversity and oppression in a social work context
  • And more.

Other topics include:

A typical undergraduate bachelor’s degree program will take around 4 years to complete. However, accelerated courses, and part-time learning options are available for those that are interested.

There are some compelling reasons to consider social work as a career:

  • Starting salaries are strong. Average social work salaries range from $40K to $65K1, depending on location and specialist field.
  • Every day is different and challenging.
  • It is highly rewarding.
  • The jobs market is growing.

The student will also learn many skills that can be applied to everyday life, helping to build more sympathetic, open-minded, and well-rounded people. You will learn about ethics and values, self-awareness, service delivery, language diversity, leadership, diversity, advocacy, and much more.

As with any degree, a bachelor’s in social work can help you when applying to office jobs and other positions too. This course demonstrates determination, initiative, communication skills, critical thinking, and more.

Choosing the Right Program

There is a difference between an associate’s degree (AA) and a bachelor’s degree (BA). An associate’s degree is a shorter and less comprehensive qualification. While this will cost less, it will also result in a more limited range of career opportunities.

The more common option is the four-year Bachelor of Social Work degree (BSW) which is the base requirement for many social work positions2. This prepares students for a range of positions.

The right online bachelor’s in social work should be accredited. To qualify, the program must also include at least 400 hours of supervised field experience. That means that even when a program is online, it will still require a lot of in-person learning, and this is something to factor into your decision process when choosing whether you have the flexibility to support such a program.

Career Prospects

With a social work degree, you’ll be considered suitable for the following types of work:

  • Case consultant for evaluation and recommendation of individuals with special requirements
  • Child life specialist
  • Court-appointed special advocate
  • Criminal justice social worker
  • Gerontology social worker
  • Child protective services worker

The course can also be useful for those interested in working as counselors, in schools, or even in politics/local government.

Conclusions

If you like the thought of helping others, and you are fascinated in sociology and psychology, then a social work degree is one of the best options to quickly start putting that knowledge to good use. To become a clinical psychologist will require years of training following an undergraduate and master’s degree. Social work provides a practical and fascinating guide to helping the people in our community who need it most. And now that this type of training is available online, anyone can do it!

If you’re interested in getting started, check out these sponsored links for some amazing opportunities.

  1. Social Worker Salaries
  2. Social Work Degrees: What You’ll Study