If you are a true altruist at heart and will get satisfaction only from a career devoted to helping others out, social work is one choice you should certainly consider.
Yes, many occupations allow for the opportunity to make a difference in society, but social work encompasses many of these professions under its broader domain.
Social workers are popular among government agencies, healthcare professions, non-profit organizations, and other institutes.
Social workers are crucial in helping disadvantaged and needy children, families, individuals, and groups from all backgrounds. They advocate for their clients and help them adjust to and recover from challenges like divorce, illness, unemployment, healthcare concerns, etc.
Not only is social work as a profession highly personally rewarding but also very well paying. The highest paying jobs can go up to an annual salary of $91,500.
If you are considering a profession in this field, the following are some of the high-paying choices you could go for:
1. Social work director
If you prefer to take on a leadership position, consider applying for the role of an organization’s director for a social work position.
Facilities like rehabilitation centers, mental healthcare facilities, long-term care facilities, hospitals, non-profit organizations, etc., require a director to manage the daily work.
This post requires good qualifications and experience. As far as qualifications are concerned, there are various online masters of social work programs you register for and work towards specialization in specific fields like medical, healthcare, clinical, or substance abuse counseling.
As a social work director, your role would be to monitor and keep track of residents, manage day-to-day operations, admit and discharge residents, etc.
You would be responsible for meeting residents and their families, following up on their satisfaction, designing a discharge plan with the team, coordinating services, etc.
If you work as a social work director in a non-profit organization, you would also be organizing fund-raising events. As a social work director, you can earn between $65,500 and 91,500 annually
2. Social work supervisor
Social work supervisors are responsible for supervising and assisting less-experienced social workers. In any organization, the interns and new hires require the most assistance.
For most social work supervisors, a part of their job description is to manage the team, boost their morale, and monitor their progress towards meeting their objectives.
Your job would also entail that you coordinate group activities, assign tasks, get supplies, etc. Social work supervision requires flexibility and the ability to prioritize tasks. A social worker can earn between $55,000 and $68,500 yearly
3. Medical social worker
Another high-paying social work career where you can make a median of $65,300 annually is medical social work.
Medical social work is the field concerned with public health, where the professionals work in hospitals, clinics, patient homes, etc. Such social workers practice counseling, play a role in discharge and planning, and refer clients to other professionals.
There are various specializations within this field; medical social workers can specialize in mental health, geriatrics, infant care, palliative care, and others.
These social workers can get hired in outpatient care centers, rehabilitative care centers, public health organizations, substance abuse facilities, and many more.
Medical social workers operate in addition to the healthcare service providers of the organization and help clients deal with the healthcare system, plan post-discharge adaptation, and offer to counsel.
4. Child and family therapist
Social workers are professionals who specialize in clinical social work and deal with troubled families and children.
They usually earn an annual wage of $63,000. Child and family therapists are concerned with family issues and relevant concerns. They monitor family progress over time and devise treatments to meet the children’s changing needs.
Their main aim is to improve the quality of life of family members. To do so, they provide counseling services for parents and children.
Child and family therapists can specialize in drug abuse, depression, and general child therapy.
To work as a child and family therapist, you must have a degree in social work, counseling, or psychology and relevant experience. A state license is also a must. The median salary of these professionals is $63,000.
5. Foster care social worker
As the name suggests, these social workers are responsible for helping foster children overcome behavioral, emotional, and social issues.
Children in the foster care system have often experienced neglect, abuse, mistreatment, etc.; the court separated them from their parents.
Childhood trauma leads to anger, resentment, sadness, behavioral problems, abandonment issues, and emotional disturbances.
A foster care social worker leads in assigning foster children to new homes. So the primary duty of these social workers is to investigate potential homes via thorough background checks on the foster parents.
After children are assigned to foster homes, the social worker makes follow-up visits and makes sure that the living conditions are favorable.
They also provide the foster parents with the necessary support to adjust to the change. If children are returned to biological parents under court orders, foster care social workers ensure that the parents have made the progress they need to regain custody.
Through regular check-ins, they make sure that the children are in safe hands. Foster care social workers can earn $47,000-$52,000 annually.
Final words
Social work is a diverse field encompassing a broad range of professions. With a degree in social work and relevant experience where needed, you can get hired as a social work director or supervisor, medical social worker, child and family therapist, foster care social worker, and other occupations.
The professions mentioned above are well-paying and very respectable, so you should consider any of them a career option.