Tips to Create the Best Social Work Resume
The best social work resume is the one that showcases your willingness to care and help people. A cv template that shows your passion and projects to the world that you’re a master of social work and you’re equipped to help.
Having a resume template and viewing some of our social worker resume samples can give you an idea of what to include in your resume.
But what pattern must one follow to write the most streamlined and eye-catching social work resume?
Our resume builder at resume example will provide you the 3 common formats with a social work resume example: –
Reverse-Chronological – Writing your work experience in reverse chronology i.e. writing your latest work experience on the top.
Functional – Compensating for lack of experience by emphasizing more on skills.
Combined – As the name suggests, it’s the combination of both of the above-mentioned formats and provides an equal importance division between work experience and skills.
Here’s social work resume example on how to arrange the sections in your cv using the reverse-chronology format: –
Summary
Work ExperienceSkills
Education
Certifications
Awards and Achievements
Hobbies/Interests
Social Worker Resume Summary
Writing a summary acts as a mini resume within your big resume. A summary is nothing but a concise, well-written summary of your resume and it highlights the most important aspects of your entire resume. Shortening it down to a mere 4-5 lines that play an important role in getting the recruiter’s attention.
As easy as it might sound, writing a good summary for a social worker resume is a lot harder as you have to very carefully frame the paragraph while summarizing your resume. You also have to show your interest in joining the organization for which you’re applying, in a very precise manner as brevity plays a major role in writing a good summary.
Using some of our tips from social worker resume examples will help you create a eye-catching resume.
The Importance
Writing a professional summary is an integral part of any social work resume. It provides the recruiter a glance at your major training and accomplishments and presents a first impression for them to decide whether they want to study your profile more or not.
Imagine taking so much time and pain into perfecting your resume only to realize that a slight mistake in your summary cost you your chance to get selected. To eliminate that risk, a professional summary needs to be well-framed and attractive enough to persuade the recruiter to study your entire resume.
Professional Summary Examples
Check out each and every social work resume example by our resume builder at resume example to better prepare your summaries.
Professional Public Health worker with 6+ years of experience in research, infection control training, and patient support. Excellent communication and public speaking skills. Promotes adherence to safety rules and regulations. Seeking a position as a personal trainer.
Professional public health worker. Proven success in working with community members and leaders. Seeking a position in the public health industry to manage at-risk cases and provide effective solutions.
Dedicated military veteran and research coordinator with N+ years of experience and compassionate service in public health. Proven communication and organizational skills. Seeking a research position with a hospital well-established in providing excellent service to the community.
A passionate social worker with excellent communication skills. Adept at problem-solving and strategic planning. Serious about providing service to others.
Social Worker Resume Objective
For a young graduate who’s willing to set sail into the realities of the world with just one objective, to care for people and help them with their problems. However, getting their first position can be difficult. Even though they might be qualified, highlighting their lack of experience might be counterproductive.
Replacing the professional summary, here the “Objective” comes into play.
An objective on your resume replaces your professional summary section for a reason as it covers the following points: –
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Your education qualifications
Your current and future goals
Your skills
What you would bring to the table
Unlike the professional summary, in a social work resume, the objective should not be longer than 3 lines and must include all the above 4 points in a cursive format.
Check out these social work resume examples on how to correctly frame an objective: –
“Self-motivated and highly empathetic recent graduate with a master’s degree in psychology seeks to use communication and problem-solving skills to people at ABC hospital adjust to the challenges in their lives.”
I’m a recent graduate from XYZ school looking to find an opportunity with your NGO to help and change lives. I’m hardworking, caring, and willing to help people and promoting a self-care attitude.
“I am a caring and highly organized social worker with a proven record of conducting successful group therapy sessions and high client satisfaction. I am seeking a long-term position where I can apply my communication skills and empathy to become a member of the hard-working team at ABC society.
A resourceful individual with a degree in sociology, looking to bag an opportunity with ABC NGO and be an efficient member of their team with skills like communications and initiation.
Social Work Resume – Work Experience
Adding work experience to your social work resume promotes trust in you and increases a hiring manager’s confidence in your abilities. It shows the recruiters that you are a candidate that is well prepared for this field. It projects the fact you genuinely want to help people and have gained valuable experience.
If you’ve worked closely with social workers and have done a lot of volunteering and contractual jobs, putting your soft skills into play, you might be thinking of adding everything to look good. However, you should always understand that there’s a pattern followed in every social work resume example and our team will guide you through it for your experience section: –
LCSW
2014–2017
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Conducting interventions to a caseload of 42 clients. Worked with each client to create a list of targets, with 85% meeting or exceeding targets within 9 months.
Assisted doctors at mental health clinics with new patient intake/documentation for 60+ clients.
Created 27 successful treatment plans, plus timely discharge plans.
Helped build a support group for domestic violence victims.
Introduced new clients into the therapy groups.
LCSW
2014–2017
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Conducting crisis intervention to help clients.
Made targets and goals for clients.
Helped doctors and clients daily
Documented new clients
Promoted a self-care attitude
Helped domestic violence victims
In-Demand Social Work Skills
With social work jobs, health care in today’s time has evolved drastically. A large part of the world has started to become more empathetic towards people who are facing challenges in life, meaning there are an increasing number of opportunities arising for you to help people. And it takes a certain skill set to be able to assist those in need or social care.
There are thousands of social work positions in both big and small scale operations, creating social work jobs and helping people. From domestic violence to depression, the severity of problems is just on the rise. So there is a demand for skilled social workers.
Here! Check out some in-demand social worker skills from a social work resume example online that can help you land your desired job
- Emergency response training
- Trauma-informed therapy
- Crisis intervention for clients
- Psycho-social assessments
- Child welfare and protective services
- Behavioral therapy for clients
- Human services worker
- Confidential documentation and recordkeeping
- Case management
To be a social worker, soft skills or human skills matter the most as a person’s personality shapes the way he/she looks out for the world. Here are some human skills for your social work resume skills section to boost your job search: –
- Highly adaptable
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Collaboration/teamwork
- Verbal and written communication competency
- Ethical decision making
- Understanding diverse perspectives
- Developing empathy for others
Dos and Don’ts for Your Social Work Resume
Devising a social work resume to be a good social worker can be a little trickier compared to other resumes. Becoming a social worker is a very delicate and important position to hold in society as the entire act of being a social worker is voluntary and thus requires internal motivation and sheer will to dedicate one’s life to help people and take care of their well-being.
Some do’s and don’ts for a social work resume format example: –
Do’s
- Always start your social work resume with your name and credentials.
- Precisely mention in what field as a social worker you want to join.
- Harmonize the fonts
- Your social work resume and cover letter template should complement each other.
- Keep your social work resume to 1 page.
- Be specific about your experience and try to include more volunteer work, if you have any. You can include any social work position you held, even as a social work intern.
- Mention your social media accounts to increase credibility.
- Make changes according to the job description.
- Write information in bullet points.
- Use either a professional summary or an objective, never combine both.
- Until necessary, don’t exceed your social work resume length.
- Avoid writing about social work difficulties you faced in your previous experiences and keep it for the interview.
- Never lie in your resume just to match with the job description.
- Don’t overuse bullet points.
Social Worker Resume with No Experience
Being a junior and starting from scratch is always a bit of a struggle over the commitment for all the job seekers as you’re competing head to head with people much more experienced and qualified than you. So how to make sure you at least get to land an interview with the hiring managers?
Follow these example pointers by our experts at resume example to help you land an interview of your choice: –
- Be very vigilant to carefully read the job description.
- Emphasize more and more on your educational qualification as that’s your only arsenal in your cv at present to showcase.
- While mentioning your educational qualifications in your social work resume, briefly explain the important activities you undertook as part of your projects like utilizing community resources to launch a support group, forming a case management team with local social workers for crisis intervention, and getting recommended by case managers, etc.
- You must have licensure by a professional third party that governs the social worker’s activities. Brief about the type of licensure you have ( Clinical social work licensure or Master social work licensure). Keep in mind to mention your qualifications truthfully as only a licensed clinical social worker can undertake certain social professional activities.
- Include your skills in a manner that it looks like you genuinely have something to offer. Listening skills, communication skills, crisis intervention, case management, treatment planning, etc. Your skills must always be a mix of both human skills and professional/technical skills.
- Always include a cover letter as it acts as a push for your social work resume.
Key Takeaways
- Try to follow a reverse-chronological cv format.
- Follow precision while mentioning work experience and education.
- Take help from a resume builder online like resume example to eliminate obvious errors.
- Always read the job descriptions before applying.
- Keep updating the experience section of your cv.
- Always mention the social services you’ve been undertaking professionally or casually.
- Complement your resume with a matching cover letter.
- Talk about your collaboration with social workers (if any)
- Mention how optimally you have used community resources for a social cause.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is a good objective for a social worker resume?
A1. A good objective for a social work resume consists of the candidate’s passion to help people and how will he/she be able to do it. Take a serious issue like mental health, how will you deal with the rising concerns over mental health will show your worth in your objective.
Q2. What is a social worker’s salary?
A2. According to the NASW study , the median annual salary for social workers that have earned a graduate degree $48,000.
Q3. What degree do I need to be a social worker?
A3. Bachelor’s in social work is the minimum criteria to enter into the field of social work. You can also major in social work while completing various certifications which target specific types of social work.
Q4. What can you do with a social work degree?
A4. With a degree in social work, you can target so many issues at once like clinical psychology, foster homes, domestic violence, mental health, etc.
