A social workers job is to protect, help and support people who are facing difficulties in their lives. A qualified social worker help others overcome problems and improve their lives and at the same time be prepared to work with a wide range of social services users, including:

• Children
• Older people
• People with some kind of disability, physical or mental
• Young adults
• Homeless people
• Drug addicts

Social workers tend to specialise in working with single adults or with children and families. In both cases he or she should prepared to:

• Assess and Review a service user’ situation
• Build relationships with service users
• Make decisions when necessary, common in child protection cases.
• Offer information, counselling and advocacy
• Take part in team meetings, supervision and case conferences
• Work together with other professionals, such as Health, Law and other social care professionals
• Keep an accurate record of events.
• Contact and make referrals to other agencies
• Provide evidence of court hearings

It is crucial for the social worker to have excellent communications skills, the ability to relate to people of all ages, social classes and races and gain their trust as well as have a non-judgemental attitude.

These are only a few skills required for someone that is willing to work as social worker, on our next post you will find detailed information about what qualifications and skills are required to be a qualified social worker in the UK.