Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Job

How to Know a Career in Social Work is Right for You

Published

How to Know a Career in Social Work is Right for You

Licensed clinical social workers are skilled individuals with a passion for people and helping them during some of the most challenging times of their lives. They assess and diagnose, form treatment plans, offer therapy and counseling, and even provide crisis intervention for people experiencing mental health emergencies.

Clinical social work is rewarding, and many people with a desire to help people know it''s the right career choice for them. However, that doesn''t mean everyone is entirely sure. You may believe a career in social work is right for you if you can relate to the information below:A 

You Have Good Communication Skills

Anyone wanting to become a clinical social worker must have good communication skills. After all, meeting with individuals, families, and communities is a part of everyday life. All parts of your job will require you to do the best by other people, which can sometimes involve making hard decisions. The better your communication skills are, the easier you may find it to connect with your clients, create a supportive and safe environment, and ensure their needs are met. 

You''re Empathetic and Compassionate

Being a clinical social worker requires working with people from all walks of life. You''ll often be meeting them during some of their darkest days when they need support and mental health services.

As a result, being empathetic and compassionate is crucial to being the best clinical social worker you can be. Genuinely caring about helping people may help you perform your job to a higher standard. 

You Have Previous Experience with Helping People

You don''t need previous experience helping people to become clinical social workers. However, a former job or volunteer position assisting others may mean you already have a passion for people. 

This experience can help you understand the skills you need to become a social worker. If you believe helping people comes naturally to you, a career in social work may be a natural next step. 

You''re Adaptable and Flexible

Every day as a social worker is different. You may be required to provide last-minute crisis intervention at the end of a busy day or spend an entire day writing treatment plans or offering therapy and counseling. This variety can be exciting for someone who is adaptable and flexible. 

Social workers must wear many hats, and predictability is not something you can say about this profession. As a result, routine-driven people don''t always thrive in social work roles. 

You''re Resilient

Social work is an emotionally demanding job where you''ll sometimes be pushed to your limits. Some people find it challenging to disconnect from their clients and unwind after a hard day at work.

However, resilient people who manage their stress levels and emotions typically thrive in social work settings. As long as you have a strong support system and can maintain professional boundaries, you may spend many rewarding years in a social work role. 

You may not be entirely sure whether a job as a clinical social worker is right for you. However, if you care about people, are resilient and flexible, and have excellent communication skills, now might be the right time to explore education options and start your new career. 

The post How to Know a Career in Social Work is Right for You appeared first on Jobacle.com.

You may also like

What To Do When Your New Job Catfishes You
Published

What To Do When Your New Job Catfishes You

So you got a job catfished. In the interview process, the employer tells you the job’s one thing. You accept the job offer, thinking you have a good idea of what you’ll be doing for work. But when you start your new job, it’s totally different from what you expected—and you’re miserable. What do you do?

Job Catfished: What To Do When Your New Job Isn’t What You Expected…

@j.t.odonnell Reply to @publichealthwitch When you get job catfished! #catfished #jobcatfished #edutok #careertiktok #toxicjob #jobhelp #careeradvice ♬ original sound – J.T. O’Donnell

When you get job catfished, your new employer is preying on your emotions, assuming that you won’t want to jump jobs quickly. But you are absolutely going to look for a new job.

If you’ve been job catfished, you should look for a new job as soon as possible.

You shouldn’t quit if you don’t have to, though. Don’t quit your new job because it’s actually harder to explain why you left. Any employer that you now talk to in your job search is going to wonder, “Well, why do you want to leave this job so soon?” And if you quit, they’re going to think, “Well, gee, if you don’t like our job, you’ll just up and quit on us.”

This is why you should stay in your current job if you can. When you start interviewing for a new job, say, “The reason I’m leaving my current job so quickly is that the way it was described to me and what it actually is are two really different things. And I know this is not the kind of work, now that I see what it truly is, that I want to do long term. So I want to get out as quickly as possible so they can find someone new and I can do the thing that I really want to do. And that’s why I’m excited about your job.”

If you can talk calmly and confidently—and objectively, not bringing the emotion into it—that says a lot about you and your character. And I know it’s frustrating and I know you want to vent, but in that interview, if you can pull it together, you’ll get the sweetest revenge with a hot new job.

Being job catfished is an awful feeling, especially if it took you a while to get that job, just to realize it wasn’t what you expected. The good news is, I can help you find the right job for YOU.

I’d love it if you joined my FREE community where professionals like you are learning how to become empowered in their careers so they can finally find career happiness and satisfaction, and overcome job burnout once and for all!

Sign up for my FREE community and become a Workplace Renegade today! My team and I are looking forward to working with you soon.

4 Ideal Questions To Ask In A Phone Interview
Published

4 Ideal Questions To Ask In A Phone Interview

In every interview, it’s important to ask questions. This especially includes phone interviews.

Asking questions during any type of job interview makes you seem more intelligent and interested in the job. It also makes you more appealing to hiring managers—as long as you don’t ask questions you could easily find the answers to. If you ask the right questions, you also gain a strategic advantage. You can find out what the interviewer really cares about.

So, what questions are the best ones to ask?

Here are four ideal questions to ask during a phone interview:

1. If You Could Choose The Perfect Job Candidate, What Qualifications, Experience, Or Characteristics Would That Person Have?

You can simplify this question in a couple of different ways:

  • “What does your ideal candidate look like?”
  • “What’s on your wish list for an absolutely perfect candidate?”

Some job seekers are a little afraid to ask this question because they don’t want to highlight their imperfections—but that isn’t what this question does. Their answer gives you a blueprint of what they really hope to find, which means that you can tailor all your answers to their questions much more closely than you could without this information. Your responses will stand out from the competition.

2. Why Did The Last Person In This Role Leave The Job?

Man writes down questions for a phone interview

If the previous person was promoted, what was their next job title? Is that typical? Is that where you’d like to end up? What did they do to get promoted? These are things that could help you know how to be successful in the role and decide if it fits with your chosen career path.

If the person was fired or left the company, the reason why may give you valuable information as well.

3. What Are The Biggest Challenges Of This Position?

Woman asks a question during a phone interview

Every position has a certain number of problems and challenges associated with it.

If you know what their biggest problems and challenges are, you can talk more effectively about how you can solve them and help the company. You’ll sell yourself for the job.

4. From What You’ve Told Me, I Think I’d Be A Great Fit For The Job And I’m Very Interested. When Can We Schedule A Time To Discuss This Further?

Man smiles after asking a question during a phone interview

In any interview, it’s important to ask for the next step. This question, or a version of this question, will allow you to show your excitement for the opportunity and eagerness to move forward.

By demonstrating your enthusiasm and interest, you’ll automatically stand out to potential employers, and you’ll actually give yourself a better chance of making it to the in-person interview.

Asking questions like these brings out information you can’t learn anywhere else. They help you show your professionalism and interest in the job. Make a list of questions to ask and keep it in front of you during the interview. (That’s one of the advantages of phone interviews—they can’t see you.)

Along with these questions, you’ll probably have a few more that specifically address that job. Just make sure to write them down so you don’t freeze up and forget in the stress of the call.

Take the time to prepare for your phone interview and make sure you get invited to the in-person interview. Discover more phone interview tips and download a free phone interview prep podcast here.

Need more help acing your next phone interview?

We’d love it if you signed up for Work It Daily’s Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a Work It Daily-approved expert and was published at an earlier date.

Personal Development For Lifelong Learning
Published

Personal Development For Lifelong Learning

One portion of an employee’s personal development is work-related, but there is more. When you think of an employee’s personal development do you think of the skills for them to keep current, get a promotion, or transfer to another department? Improving core skills such as analytical abilities, critical thinking, and/or decision making? Skills to take on a leadership role and manage staff? Obtaining higher credentials?

Assuming so, organizational leaders should:

1. Make sure you understand what employees do and how it aligns with the company’s goals
2. Let employees do the job you hired them to do (leveraging their strengths and interests); nobody likes to be micromanaged
3. Challenge employees with stretch goals
4. Encourage employees to learn new things and give them the tools they need to learn:

  • Read books, magazines, trade journals, newsletters, blogs
  • Watch online videos, listen to podcasts
  • Take courses (in-person, online) and attend webinars, workshops, conferences
    • Company-provided training – Microsoft Office, application-specific courses
    • Hard skills such as an SQL class, foreign language
    • Effective communication skills – writing classes or speaking training (e.g., Toastmasters)
    • Other soft skills – time management, problem solving
    • Learning platforms – LinkedIn Learning, MasterClass
  • Leadership-related training
    • Supervisor skills, management trainee program
    • Some will want to manage people, but others won’t and that’s ok
  • Professional license, certification (e.g., PMP, CISSP), college degree
    • Don’t forget to support CPE (continuing professional education) requirements
  • Groups – professional associations, networking groups, etc.
  • Other – internships, volunteer opportunities

These are great work-related considerations, but there is more. There is a saying by Confucius: “I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being.” Do you encourage employees’ personal development (and the key word is personal) to be the best version of themself? Have you asked them what is important to them? If it’s important to them, it should be important to you too.

Developing A Growth Mindset

Personal development is lifelong learning and it’s never too late to start. Encourage employees to develop a growth mindset and continue learning while working for the company. This includes opportunities to:

1. Enhance their quality of life such as health/fitness, self-care, self-confidence

2. Self-improvement to fully develop their character, capabilities, and potential

  • Develop a reading habit
  • Personal finances, personal creativity, or other personal-related learnings
  • “Work-related” skills listed above even if they aren’t relevant to their current role
  • Some organizations (such as Amazon, Chipotle, and Starbucks) have free or practically free college programs for front-line employees, which removes financial barriers

3. Realize their dream – maybe to become an entrepreneur and start their own business

How To Create A Custom Personal Development Plan For Employees

Online learning, education concept

Has your organization recognized that they need to think differently about developing employees? They should work together with the employee to create a custom personal development plan (PDP) based on what the employee is interested in (including both work and personal aspects). Four basic steps are:

1. Perform a self-assessment

2. Establish and prioritize goals (both short and long term) breaking up the goals into manageable tasks

3. Create a step-by-step plan identifying required resources, timelines, etc.

  • Identify objectives to reach the goals as well as strategies to achieve the tasks
  • Identify any weaknesses, development needs, barriers

4. Measure progress

  • Reward and celebrate accomplishments
  • Be prepared for setbacks – adjust and course correct

As a leader, be available when employees want to talk with you as well as periodically check in with them to ensure they have a good work-life balance. Both of these could be good coaching/mentoring opportunities.

When there is a comprehensive personal development plan, the employee is more likely to be and stay excited about what’s next (and stay with the organization longer). For more information about personal development, follow me on LinkedIn!