Social Work Assistant
What is the work like?
Social work assistants support qualified social workers in helping, protecting and advising a wide range of people in the community, hospitals and other settings such as residential care homes.
As a social work assistant, you could work with a variety of client groups, including:
- families under stress
- older people
- people with physical or learning disabilities
- people with mental health problems
- children at risk.
Your duties could include:
- making contact with clients and following up enquiries
- advising clients and their families about available resources
- setting up appointments
- carrying out routine home visits to monitor clients’ welfare
- following a social worker’s care plan
- assessing clients’ needs and putting together care plans (for example, when a client leaves hospital)
- keeping records and writing reports
- keeping up to date with changes in legislation
- attending meetings with your department and outside agencies
- liaising with other health and care professionals.
You may be known by other job titles, such as community support worker, home care officer or social services assistant.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
You often do not need any formal qualifications to start work as a social work assistant, although employers will usually ask for a good standard of secondary education to GCSE level or equivalent. You may find it helpful to take a full- or part-time college course such as a BTEC National Certificate in Health and Social Care before you look for work, but this is not essential.
Whatever your qualifications, you will increase your chances of finding work if you have some experience of working with people in a caring role. Your experience could be paid or voluntary. See the Social Work and Care Careers website for advice on volunteering and links to volunteer recruitment sites.
You will also need Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance before you start work (although previous convictions or cautions may not automatically prevent you from working in social care – see the CRB website for details).
A driving licence would be useful because you are likely to be visiting clients in a range of settings around the community.
What further training and development can I do?
When you start your job your employer will provide training, usually a mixture of in-house training courses and learning on the job from experienced staff.
You are also likely to have ongoing training throughout your career, and gain work-based qualifications such as NVQ levels 2, 3 and 4 in Health and Social Care (specialising in working with adults or children and young people).
You could also study part-time at a local college for other qualifications such as a social care-related Foundation Degree. With this qualification you may be able to join the second year of a social work degree if you decide to train as a social worker in the future. Course entry requirements can vary, so you should check the exact details with each course provider.
With experience, your employer may also offer the opportunity for you to study for the social work degree part-time.
Register of social care workers
The General Social Care Council (GSCC) is setting up a register of social care workers in England. The register is currently for qualified and student social workers. However, in the future all social care workers will need to join the register and follow the GSCC Code of Practice. See the GSCC website for more details.
Where can I go for more information?
5 Albion Place
Leeds
LS1 6JL
Tel: 0113 245 1716
London
SE1 2HB
Tel: 020 7397 5800
Registration helpline: 0845 070 0630
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What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Starting salaries can be around £15,000 a year.
- With experience and relevant qualifications, this can rise to between £17,000 and £22,000.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
In a full-time job you would work around 37 hours a week. You could work fixed hours or a shift pattern including unsocial hours. Part-time and sessional work is common.
As a community social work assistant, you would spend much of your time visiting clients and other agencies. You could also work in residential homes or hospitals.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- a practical and flexible approach to work
- tact, patience and empathy
- an understanding of the needs of different client groups
- a non-judgemental attitude and the ability to relate to people of all backgrounds
- the ability to work in a team and also use your own initiative
- the ability to assess situations and take appropriate action
- resilience, to cope with difficult situations and uncooperative clients
- good time management and organisational skills
- computer literacy and administrative skills.
What opportunities are there?
You could be employed by local authorities, charities and voluntary agencies, private sector care homes and agencies. Jobs may be advertised in the local and national press, employers' websites and specialist recruitment agencies.
With experience, you could work towards qualifying as a social worker by studying independently or with support and funding from your employer. Alternatively, you could use your experience to move into related careers such as family support work, counselling or nursing.
You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open new window):
Jobs Go Public/Social Care Careers
LGJobs.com
Community Care
The Guardian
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
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