How to become a social worker

To get a job as a social worker you must register with one of the four UK regulators

• Social Work England
• Social Care Wales
• Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
• Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC)

This is to make sure all social workers are fully qualified and are operating to the highest standards.

You'll have to re-register every two or three years. Re-registration requires you to complete ongoing learning and training. The four regulators listed above have different requirements. 

Social Work England requires social workers to keep a record of their CPD (Continued Professional Development) activities. Social Work England also carry out random audits to ensure that those registered have been doing the necessary training.

To become a registered social worker you'll need either an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in social work. You can also do a degree apprenticeship to become a social worker.

If you have a degree already, you could do a work-based training programme to gain a master's degree or postgraduate diploma in social work.

To be an effective social worker, you need to be flexible and have a problem-solving approach. You'll need to be able to understand people's challenges and be confident and competent in handling your workload. 

Useful skills social workers need:

• Active listening - to establish trust and collect client information, you'll have to engage in active listening. This means paying attention to and remembering what others tell you. You can do this by demonstrating appropriate body language and responses. 
• Boundary setting - the nature of the job makes it easy to become emotionally involved in cases. Establishing boundaries prevents crossing professional lines and helps maintain focus on the ultimate goal.
• Problem solving - quick thinking allows you to make critical decisions and solve intricate problems by applying your knowledge, understanding, and case analysis.
• Communication skills - social workers need to communicate clearly and articulately with a range of people in a variety of ways. This may be face-to-face, over the phone, presenting cases to colleagues or making written referrals.
• Interpersonal skills - as a social worker, a big part of your role is about building relationships and trust with your clients, so being able to work with people from all backgrounds is essential.
• IT proficiency - as you will need to complete a substantial amount of paperwork and keep accurate records, proficiency with computers is essential.
• Organisational skills - social workers have to juggle a busy caseload and work with other agencies on a regular basis. Good organisational skills are vital as this will enable you to prioritise your cases whilst under pressure.
• Resiliiencey - the work can be emotionally challenging and you may have to deal with people in crisis. Resilience and looking after your emotional needs are necessary to succeeding as a social worker.

You'll need to pass enhanced background checks to become a social worker.