Welcome to Issue #198 of the Social Work E-News! Thank you for subscribing to receive this email newsletter, which is brought to you by the publisher of The New Social Worker magazine, SocialWorker.com, SocialWorkJobBank.com, and other social work publications.

 

Congratulations to Spring 2017 social work graduates! YOU are the future of our profession, and I send you wishes for much success and fulfillment in your social work career. Here is a message that was written just for you by one of our authors, Dr. Danna Bodenheimer, who also wrote Real World Clinical Social Work: Find Your Voice and Find Your Way and has a new book coming out soon!

 

I am looking for creative photos of Spring 2017 social work graduates for our next issue. If you have a really amazing and creative graduation photo (group photos would be awesome), please send to me, Linda Grobman, for consideration. Please include a caption with name(s) of those in the photo, as well as the name for the photo credit. Please ONLY send one (your best) photo. We will not be able to use all photos submitted.

 

Are you going to the Network for Social Work Managers conference, June 15-16, in New York City? I am planning to be there and hope to meet you if you will be there, too. They have some great keynote speakers lined up, and Erlene Grise-Owens will be presenting on organizational wellness, an important aspect of self-care.

 

 

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School social work, mental health social work, aging social work, medical social work, child welfare social work, military social work, macro social work. At the heart of these diverse areas of practice and expertise, we are all social workers and hold a variety of social work skills.    

 

When I review member résumés in my position at NASW-NC, I am often asked how one can portray the social work skills specific to one area of practice as transferable to another practice area. If you have spent the last five years working with children, this doesn’t mean you can’t successfully switch your area of practice to aging adults or program administration. Most of the time, being able to successfully articulate skills an open position requires is crucial to making the case for a practice move. Licensure may be a barrier, if you don’t have one. But, in general, being able to switch from one area of social work practice to another is one benefit of our profession that enables us to continue to learn and grow.

 

Transferable skills are skills social workers develop in one setting that they can use and build upon in another setting. The ability to identify your transferable skills allows you to explore career opportunities where you can use your personal qualities and abilities as well as your professional knowledge and competence. That can be more important than the job titles you’ve held or where you’ve worked in the past.

 

Let’s start by outlining the difference between hard skills and soft skills when it comes to defining your professional social work skillset on your résumé and articulating your value in an interview, job review, or to anyone who questions what a social worker does.

 

Soft skills are the personal qualities and interpersonal skills needed to perform a job. Soft skills for the social work profession are incredibly important. However, when considering including them on a résumé, examples are essential. I often see résumés of social workers who have a skills section and list soft skills with no supporting information, for example: Listening skills, Organized, Flexible, Teamwork, Patience, etc. To a hiring manager, these are just empty words on a page if there is no information to convey how you might actually possess these skills.

 

When articulated appropriately, these soft skills are actually considered hard skills for the social work profession. The key is to communicate how well you use these skills that make you a good social worker, regardless of area of practice. Here are a few examples.

 

Listening skills. One of the core tenets of being a competent social worker is the ability to actively listen. Paying attention to, and remembering, what a client tells you and responding with appropriate questions allows you to establish trust. Good listening skills are also critical in your work with colleagues, supervisors, volunteers, and community members.

 

Communication. The ability to read, write, and speak clearly to convey important information is essential. But for social workers, it is crucial to be able to communicate well with a variety of individuals, including clients, team members, and supervisors. Social workers should understand and be practiced at verbal and nonverbal communication, as well as be able to write clearly and concisely to communicate objectives, goals, and scope of services.

 

Self-care and coping with pressure. Stress and burnout in social work are real. Being able to articulate how you manage pressure is critical. Do you actively use supervision, set boundaries, seek out professional development opportunities? Outlining a self-care plan and following that plan as a social worker is, indeed, a valuable skill.

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