Transferable skills are skills social workers develop in one setting that can be applied and built upon in another. Identifying your personal qualities and abilities as well as your professional knowledge and competence is necessary to help you explore a wide array of career opportunities.
The universal and broad-based nature of our social work skills enables growth and gives us the option to move to different areas of social work practice and non-traditional settings. For roles in the business, technology, policy, and the corporate world, just because a job requirement doesn’t say “BSW,” “MSW,” or “Social Worker” doesn’t mean social workers aren’t the perfect fit.
Join us on Thursday, May 18 at 9 pm EST (6 pm Pacific) for the #MacroSW chat co-hosted with media partner The New Social Worker Magazine (@newsocialworker) and featuring guest expert, Valerie Arendt, MSW, MPP (@vlarendt), Associate Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter.
We’ll discuss how to identify transferable social work skills and market them in other social work practices and non-traditional settings. This chat is based on the article published in The New Social Worker Magazine, Changing Areas of Practice: The Transferability of Social Work Skills.
On this chat we will explore the following:
- What are the core social work skills which make us unique as a profession?
- What social work skills cross over into non-traditional or corporate settings?
- How can social workers market their universal skills to non-traditional settings?
- How can #MacroSW help field education in developing internships in non-traditional settings?
- Share examples of social workers in non-traditional roles or how you changed practices.
The Social Work Month theme for 2017, “Social Workers Stand Up,” highlighted social workers are trained to look at situations in a holistic way and help people solve problems, cope with stressors and gain access to needed resources. Our social work skills are universal and when we analyze and articulate our skills, we will be able to readily market ourselves to other practices and sectors. Doing this successfully will give social workers greater versatility and appeal.
Resources:
- Changing Areas of Practice: The Transferability of Social Work Skills, The New Social Worker Magazine
- Show Them You are a Rock Star! Marketing 101 for your Social Work Job Search, The New Social Worker Magazine
- Your Social Work Brand, The New Social Worker Magazine
- Why Private Companies are Taking on Social Workers, The Guardian
- Social Workers for Business? How They’re Helping the Private Sector, Business.com
- What’s a Columbia School of Social Work Graduate Doing at Google?, Columbia University School of Social Work
Guest Expert:
Valerie Arendt, MSW, MPP is the Associate Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter. Valerie offers a unique combination of creativity and leadership as she provides professional and career support to 5,000 social workers in North Carolina. Valerie manages all communication for the association and advocates for and promotes the profession of social work. She is the current career columnist for the national The New Social Worker Magazine and helps new professionals successfully transition into their social work careers.
About The New Social Worker magazine
The New Social Worker is a quarterly magazine focusing on social work careers. The magazine, now in its 24th year of publication, was founded by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW, its publisher and editor. A monthly e-newsletter is also available, and most current and past articles are available at the website at www.socialworker.com. A PDF edition of the magazine is available free of charge.
