Where to start
Social Workers provide support, act as advocates, and assist people to access the services they need. They work with individuals (from babies through to the elderly) and families to help improve outcomes in their lives. This may involve helping to protect vulnerable people from harm or abuse, or supporting people to live independently.
Social Workers often have a ‘caseload’ of individuals or families that they work with at any one time, and often work in multi-disciplinary teams alongside health and education professionals.
You can find out more from Prospects.ac.uk
Like many roles in the health and social care sector, you’ll need to be:
- patient and able to respond calmly in challenging or highly pressured situations
- able to build rapport, with strong listening and communication skills
- confident in advocating for service users while working within legal and policy frameworks
- flexible and able to respond to new roles, tasks and environments
- willing to reflect on your own actions, listen to feedback, and apply that learning to your future practice.
To find out more, listen to Nick Roberts talking about his own experience of not knowing what he wanted to do and how he found his career in social work. Our public sector graduate schemes panel included Hannah Olatunde who also completed the Frontline programme as a mature student after a career in law.
Any experience of working with people in vulnerable situations or from disadvantaged backgrounds, including children or young people will help. Try volunteer or paid roles in residential care homes, hospices, homelessness charities, or holiday play schemes. Our Volunteering page includes local and national opportunities.
You will need a specific qualification to work as a social worker in the UK- and in most jurisdictions. These can be acquired from from on-the-job graduate training programmes, postgraduate courses and some undergraduate programme, although these are not currently offered at Cambridge.
Requirements for training are set out by the appropriate regulator for the nation that you wish to practice in. See below for further detail or the equivalent in your home country.
- Social Work England
- Northern Ireland Social Care Council
- Scottish Social Services Council
- Social Care Wales
Bursaries are sometimes available - availability and eligibility changes over time. See NHS Student Bursaries or awarding institutions for the current situation.
Graduate Training Programmes include;
Officially recognised qualification courses can be found on social work professional bodies’ websites or other country’s equivalents.
Once qualified you can find social worker vacancies on health and social care trusts or local authority’s own vacancy sites (for example, https://jobs.cambridgeshire.gov.uk ) or BASW (British Association of Social Workers)
- Relevant experience (either paid or voluntary) with client contact will help you to demonstrate the relevant skills, and your suitability for a face-to-face helping role.
- Your personal statement or application will need to clearly articulate your motivation for the role, reflecting on what you learned from your experiences and how they have informed your decision to pursue this career path.
There are student societies with a focus on working with vulnerable people where you might build relevant experience.
You can find interviews with Nick Roberts and Hannah Olatunde on our YouTube channel.
Now you have looked at this page, think about your next steps. Everyone's journey is different. There are many ways to move forward. Here are some actions you could take now:
- Look for roles using the resources above.
- Talk to alumni working in this field via Handshake or LinkedIn.
- Talk to a Careers Consultant - book a 1:1 appointment through Handshake.
- Attend events - watch for relevant events.
- Ready to apply? Use the CV and cover letter guide to draft a CV or an application. CareerSet is a tool you can use to review your CV and cover letter. Write a speculative application.