Aspirations for Future-Social Work - Essay Example

The purpose of life may also change continuously for some individuals as they gain more experiences in life .I have also wondered about how my life should take shape , in order to figure out my career options I made a not of how my personality is and what career options will best suit me .I have always been troubled by my desire to help people. I have noted since my early childhood days that I become worried when people around me are facing any trouble. I simply cannot ignore their situation and move on in life.

The desire to help anyone in trouble sometimes becomes an obsession for me. I am not talking about helping only the poor people or things like that; I even want to help people who face any family or personal problems. I have learnt to live with this attitude of mine and have even decided to move ahead my career path in this direction. Work Environment Social work; although a very satisfying career option but is also a very challenging one. The work environment is not the one which is provided by corporate world.

Understaffing and large caseloads is the norm in the industry. Social workers also have to work under a lot of budgetary constraints as unlimited amount of money is never available to a social worker. The work also involves a lot of field visits and leaving your desk to visit the client. The working hours are normally 40 hours a week but may even increase in emergency situations. Educational Qualifications and Trainings Required A bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) is the basic requirement that most organization demand for entry level positions in social work .

These programs deal with social work values and ethics, promotion of social and economic justice human behaviour and social research methods. Most of the programs also provide you with minimum of 400 hours of field work. (British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) As a thumb rule in England I need 5 GCSE’s grade A to Cincluding English and Mathsand 2 A-levels.These arethegrades that Ineed to obtain in order to enter a BSW program. (Prospects, 2011) However if I want to move into heath and school work or even clinical work ; then a masters degree in social work will be required(MSW).

At this stage I really do not know if I would like to go for the Masters degree but would decide as time progresses. A doctorate degree will be my preferred option if I want to teach in a university. I am currently not keeping this as an option as I would like to work on the field and leave the research work to others. Apart from these necessary degrees a social worker also needs to undergo various certifications and programs in order to advance in his career forward. Most states also require social workers to fulfil licensing, certification or registration requirements-these will be studies by me when I actually work on the field.

Some of the colleges which I will be targeting for my BSW programme have been listed by me in the table below- (Social Work Training, 2011) Bristol University Middlesex University Birmingham University Bradford University Cardiff University Lancaster University Leeds Metropolitan University Liverpool University Employment Opportunities According to department of labour statistics, 67% of jobs in 2008 were in the healthcare and social assistance industries and 23% were employed by the government.

(British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) Most of the social workers have been working in the cities but some do get a chance to work in the rural areas as well .The BASW predicts tough competition in urban