How To Write A Perfect Social Worker Resume
If youre familiar with the world of social workers, you know that this isnt a career path for the faint of heart. Its one where you are working closely with people who need the most helpwith daily living, with poverty, with mental health, or with a variety of other life issues that need professional assistance. Being a social worker means you are someone who is tough but fair, committed to getting things done, and able to remain professional even with the most difficult or challenging situations. Whether youre just starting out as a social worker or have been working in the trenches for years, you need a resume that will show off those skills to the fullest.
Lets look at sample resumes from three different social workers: one just starting out, one clinical social worker, and a child and family social worker.
First up is Jason, who just graduated from school and is looking for his first full-time job as a social worker.
When youre writing your own resume, you want to make sure its telling a coherent story about who you are, what skills and experience you bring, and what you want to achieve in your next job.
Next up is Frieda, who is further along in her career as a medical social worker.
And our last social worker is Brady, who specializes in macro social work with children and families. Brady is experienced, but is looking to transition into more of an administrative role.
Social Worker/case Manager Resume
Headline : Passionate, caring and dedicated Social Worker with 6 years of experience in healthcare settings dedicated to improving quality of life for the elderly. Skilled in cultivating a safe and supportive environment that promotes the social and emotional health of patients and provides access to government, community, and educational resources.& nbsp
Skills : Computers, Copy Machines, Faxes, Phones, Knowledgeable In Microsoft Windows, Word and Excel, Word Perfect, and Proficient In Hebrew.
Description :
Tips To Create The Best Social Work Resume
The best social work resume is the one that showcases your willingness to care and help people. A cv template that shows your passion and projects to the world that youre a master of social work and youre equipped to help.
Having a resume template and viewing some of our social worker resume samples can give you an idea of what to include in your resume.
But what pattern must one follow to write the most streamlined and eye-catching social work resume?
Our resume builder at resume example will provide you the 3 common formats with a social work resume example:
Reverse-Chronological Writing your work experience in reverse chronology i.e. writing your latest work experience on the top.
Functional Compensating for lack of experience by emphasizing more on skills.
Combined As the name suggests, its the combination of both of the above-mentioned formats and provides an equal importance division between work experience and skills.
Heres social work resume example on how to arrange the sections in your cv using the reverse-chronology format:
SummaryHobbies/Interests
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Showcase Your Work History
Your work history should consist of a list of your previous professional experiences in reverse chronological order. Start with your current role or the last job you held, and mention your job title, workplace name, location and dates of employment. You may also add bullet points to display your prominent achievements and tasks if you’re working on chronological or combination resumes.
Compare these two examples to get a better idea of how to execute your work history:
Poor example:
Clinical social worker
- Diagnose the psychological and emotional disorders in around 100 patients within a week.
- Work closely with physicians, doctors and therapists to develop comprehensive treatment plans for patients.
- Communicate with patients’ families and explain treatment plans, providing reassurances and financial help when required.
This work history entry provides a better insight into a social worker’s job duties and skills. The addition of numeric data makes these tasks into specific accomplishments employers can use to assess your application.
To create an impressive work history section, refer to these guidelines:
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Resume Summary Example: A Personal Note
Social workers make deep connections with clients and the community, so the summary section holds great importance in your social work resume. The summary is also called a profile and you should consider it a combination of both.
In these 3-5 sentences, you want to pat yourself on the back for your career highlights, but also illuminate your prospective employer on your social work philosophy and interpersonal style.
For a slightly different take, try our case manager resume example. If you want to see a more focused guide, look at our drug and alcohol counselor resume sample, our juvenile counselor resume sampleor our healthcare social worker resume sample.
It is here that you want to pat yourself on the back for your career highlights, but also illuminate your prospective employer on your social work philosophy and interpersonal style.
For more specific social work resume examples, check out our case manager resume example or our social worker. We also offer more specialized resume samples such as the geriatric social worker resume example, the healthcare worker resume example or the drug and alcohol counselor resume example.
You can find a resume example for your summary section below.
Social Workerresume Examples & Samples
- Assessment of patient, including family situation, physical limitations, vulnerability, mental status, special cares, financial situation, communication ability and services receiving or needed
- Counseling: Short-term casework counseling related to health care and coping with changes
- Assistance: Arranging for team/family conferences, working with patient and family to establish realistic care plans, utilizing community resources to enable patient to follow through with care plan
- Establishes working rapport with physicians, nurses, and other staff and facilitates communication between staff and patient/family
- Works as a team member with staff to assist patient to return to optimal health situation
- Enters summaries of contacts with patient/family, agencies, friends, institutions and staff into Excellian computer system
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Nursing Home Social Worker Resume
Use this template
Why this resume works
- Including your niche expertise on your nursing home social worker resume will appeal to hiring managers seeking specially-qualified candidates.
- Include the patient types you worked with, such as end-of-life/hospice or memory care patients, and mention how you demonstrated collaboration and communication in your work experience since those are vital skills for nursing home social workers.
- Highlight your experience educating patients and their families, as well as any community initiatives you implemented, to improve the nursing programs you supported.
Social Worker Associate Resume
Summary : Social Services professional with 7 years of experience as a Social Worker, working with men, women, youth, and children. Recognized for the ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively within a team. Demonstrated conflict resolution skills, and strong decision-making skills.
Skills : Conflict Resolution, Person-Centered Planning, Crisis Management, Scheduling, Patient Advocate, Information And Referral, Grant Writing, Budgeting, Client Needs Assessment, and Supervisory.
Description :
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How To Write Your Resume With Examples
Refer to our step-by-step guide to learn how to write each resume section. This guide will help you write an effective social worker resume with tips and examples tailored to your role.
1. Write a convincing summary statement or career objective.
Your resume should open with an introductory statement informing the employer why you’re the ideal candidate. You can approach this section with two strategies: the career objective or the summary statement.
The summary statement is the best strategy for most cases since it clearly states the relevant skills and experiences to fulfill the employer’s needs within the role.
The career objective informs the employer of your career goals and mentions your qualifications for the role. This strategy is ideal for candidates just starting their careers, changing industries or returning to the workplace after time off.
Suppose youve recently completed a bachelor’s degree in social work and seek your first formal work experience. In that case, you should write a career objective that clearly states your qualifications and intentions in this new role.
Below are two examples of a poor and a good career objective to better understand how to write this section.
Poor example:
Seeking a long-term position as a social worker in a reputed organization. My communication skills and empathy and compassion will enable me to scale the heights in this profession.
Good example:
To write an excellent summary statement, consider this example:
Skills
Who Is A Social Worker
Social workers are those professionals who have devoted their life to the service of the ailing and the needy. They are often associated with NGOs, think tanks, and organizations that seek to bring about a momentum change in the lives of others and the community.
It is a profession that is marked with selflessness and genuine concern for the welfare of the people. For instance, they are often responsible for helping people cope with the problems that they are facing.
Individuals who are facing neglect, abuse, domestic violence, mental health, parental substance abuse, and a range of other issues are often helped by social workers who help them overcome these issues.
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Use The Social Worker Job Description As A Writing Guide
When you get to the work experience section of your resume, make sure you consider the specific job description of the social work position youre applying for.
A simple trick to make sure your resume addresses the needs of the employer is to use their job description as your guide. If you look closely enough, youll find the keywords that you should include in your professional experience.
For instance, take a look at the job description for a social work position below:
Notice the underlined keywords. Once youve identified the target skills that the employer is looking for, the next step is to add those keywords in your professional experience bullet points.
As an example, check out how these bullet points address the employers job description above:
Using this method in your experience section is a great way to grab the attention of hiring managers and show them that you have the social work skills needed for the job.
Clinical Social Worker Resume
Why this resume works
- Your clinical social worker resume should focus on your ability to diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.
- Be sure to discuss how your responsibilities and leadership abilities resulted in positive changes at your workplace.
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Choosing The Best Resume Format For A Social Worker
The most commonly used chronological resumeformat works well for job seekers in almost any occupation, particularly if their work history has followed a linear path in a series of employee positions. In that resume section, progressive job experience and accomplishments are organized by employer / workplace in reverse order from most recent to earliest dates. It would likely be a good fit for most social worker job applicants who already have experience in the same field.
Alternative resume formatsare sometimes appropriate for those new to the workforce or changing careers, or those with a more varied occupational background. That includes some self-employed professionals with a project-based background well suited to a functional resume format. Other functional resumes emphasize specialized skills or areas of professional or clinical expertise, rather than work history. Social workers in private practice might wish to emphasize a specific aspect of their background or client demographic on a functional resume. In some instances, a hybrid work history makes sense in adapting chronological and functional elements
List Of Certifications For Social Worker
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Social Work Resume: Education
The education section of your resume for social workers should consist of the elements that we have mentioned below:
- School/university you have attended
- Location of your school/university
- Enrollment and graduation dates in month and year format
Take a look at our social work resume sample below to know what an ideal education section should look like:
Choosing The Best Resume Format For Social Work
No matter your career, employers and recruiters hands-down prefer the reverse chronological order social work resume. Unless you have a compelling reason not to use this format, this is the way to go. This will mostly affect your employment history section which should start with your most recent position and work backwards through the past 10 years of experience
If you are new to the workforce, are changing careers or are a seasoned social work professional, you may consider one of the resume formatswe suggest as chronological alternatives or hybrids.
Unless you are a scientist or work in a highly technical field, the functional resume format should not be your first choice. It offers a means to emphasize niche or highly complex skills by expanding the skills section and reducing the employment history section in exchange.
Positions for social workers are expected to grow by 13% from 2019-2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thats well higher than the average career growth.
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What Does A Social Worker Do
Social workers support the emotional health and physical wellbeing of children, families and other vulnerable populations. They provide counseling, coping skills and advocacy for their clients and client families. These professionals are capable problem-solvers who can identify or diagnose behavioral and emotional disorders. Social works often manage large caseloads and develop and implement care plans for the people and families they serve.
Read more:What is a Social Worker? Types of Social Workers and Social Work Environments
Prepare To Write Your Resume
Before you write, make sure you do the prep work necessary to have a smooth sailing resume-writing process. A resume consists of precise information therefore, taking the following steps to gather all you need to write will help:
- Ensure your professional background and qualifications align with the desired role’s requirements. Pay close attention to repeated keywords and skills for example, treatment of mood disorder diagnosis or behavioral intention plans since you will likely need this knowledge to thrive in the role. If you possess most of the requirements, you should feel confident to apply.
- Collect details such as the exact dates of your employment, graduation dates, performance reviews, promotions, certifications, training degrees, etc. Have all this information ready when you begin to write youll be able to build your sections accurately without getting distracted trying to look for the date when you changed jobs.
- Write with recruiters and applicant tracking system in mind. They will both be on the lookout for the usage of relevant keywords, spelling errors, hard-to-read fonts, irregular resume layouts and overused terms like “go-getter.” Double-check with a copy editor friend to make sure your resume is grammatically correct.
- Check out resume examples for your desired job. These examples demonstrate a hypothetical candidate’s resume, which gives you a clear idea of the skills and accomplishments you should highlight and the jargon you should be utilizing.
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Social Work Resume Examples Of 2022
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that jobs for social workers will increase by 11% overall from 2018 to 2028. Although projected growth differs by specialization, all areas of the industry are projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. Jobs for child, family, and school social workers are expected to grow 7%. Employment for health care is expected to grow 17% as social workers help aging populations adjust to treatments. Changing attitudes to mental health and substance abuse will see jobs in this area grow by 18%.
Although the number of jobs for social workers is expected to grow, there will still be competition for these positions. A strong resume can help you stand out from other applicants. Here, you can find downloadable resume examples for entry-level and experienced job seekers as well as tips for writing a better resume and tailoring it to specific job descriptions.
Begin With Your Contact Information
One of the first things you can list on your resume is your contact information. First, write your full name on the first line, leaving the second line for your phone number, professional email address, personal website and the city and state where you currently live. Sharing your contact information at the start of your resume gives your potential employer a way to contact you if they need to reach out to you.
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