[emnat]

I've applied for Social Work courses in Uni for 2012. However, I've been unsuccessful with two out of my five due to a lack of experience.
I have some experience which I included in my personal statement such as;

• Volunteer work in a school for children with special needs
• Regular baby sitting for three different families
• Junior leader in a youth club
• Looking after my brother who suffers from CF

Other things I put into my personal statement included;

• Volunteer work in a charity shop
• Taking part in regular clean up days in my local area
• Church activities such as Sunday school helper
• Mentor in my high school
• Helping out at all college open nights for future students

I've decided that if I don't go to university this year I'm going to take a year out in order to further my experience and hopefully increase my chances of going next year.

However, I'm not 100% on what sort of experience I should be looking for.
Its not easy getting volunteer positions in places such as care homes ect. and I recently got a position in a contact Centre but due laws ect. I was not allowed to really help, I only signed people in.

I was just wondering if anyone had applied for social work before who could help me out, Thanks!

[blondie :)]

Maybe volunteer at a youth group, a lot of my friends do that just because they love doing it! They go a few times a week and help out with young children/dance classes/charities/music events etc. I did it a few times and it was quite enjoyable, but I just didn't have time

Try and shadow a social worker, which may be fairly competitive to actually do, or even just work in social services/the council. Get in touch with your local council or even hospital and see if there's a chance of doing work experience for a week or so.

Are you sure you cannot volunteer at care homes? I know a few who work as a care assistant at care homes to get experience with mental health nursing. There's also chance to become a HCA (Healthcare Assistant) at a hospital or a care home, and I'm sure you do not need any requirements. However, it deals with faeces/vomit and the like.

Contact schools in the area, especially special needs schools, and ask whether you could do a week of work experience. After all, within social care there is dealing with children/those with disabilities.



Just remember that Social Work is a competitive degree to get on, and you have 3 more choices!

[jellybeanjen]

(Original post by emnat)
I've applied for Social Work courses in Uni for 2012. However, I've been unsuccessful with two out of my five due to a lack of experience.
I have some experience which I included in my personal statement such as;

• Volunteer work in a school for children with special needs
• Regular baby sitting for three different families
• Junior leader in a youth club
• Looking after my brother who suffers from CF

Other things I put into my personal statement included;

• Volunteer work in a charity shop
• Taking part in regular clean up days in my local area
• Church activities such as Sunday school helper
• Mentor in my high school
• Helping out at all college open nights for future students

I've decided that if I don't go to university this year I'm going to take a year out in order to further my experience and hopefully increase my chances of going next year.

However, I'm not 100% on what sort of experience I should be looking for.
Its not easy getting volunteer positions in places such as care homes ect. and I recently got a position in a contact Centre but due laws ect. I was not allowed to really help, I only signed people in.

I was just wondering if anyone had applied for social work before who could help me out, Thanks!

Hi Emnat,

I think there are some previous posts on social work courses and the experience required for them, so maybe run a thread search and see what other people have to say. It does sound like you've got some interesting experience, but sometimes it's not the experience that people have that is the problem for social work, but how they relate it back to the social work profession or what they might be studying. For example, saying "I have volunteered at my local youth club once a week for the past 2 years. This has helped me to refine my communication skills with children, as I have to work with children of different ages and backgrounds so have to adjust the way I speak to them or give instructions accordingly." is more relevant to social work than "I have volunteered at my local youth club once a week for the past 2 years. I really enjoy spending time with children and the fun activities we do.", or saying "In my Psychology A-Level, I have learnt about attachment theory. When working with children who are looked after by the local authority this might be useful, as they may have grown up living with someone other than their birth parents." is more useful than saying "I loved my Psychology A-Level because I love to learn about how the mind works." It's possible that you wasted space putting in work experience that isn't relevant (e.g. working in a charity shop, doing clean-up days in your area) when you could have used that to put in an example of the work you've done with children with additional needs, or some information about what you know about current issues in social work. Obviously, I haven't seen your statement so don't know whether this applies to you or not, but it is a common problem.

My experience came from volunteering with a Brownie pack and from working as an administrator in Children's Services. There is a whole variety of things that other people on my course did. As Blondie mentioned, care work is a good option, especially if you end up taking a year out (fingers crossed you don't have to!) and can do it full-time with pay. It would give you experience with a different client group too, as I noticed most of your experience is with children, not that that's a bad thing but no harm done by putting an extra string to your bow! www.do-it.org.uk often have interesting volunteer opportunities such as mentoring people with mental health issues or physical disabilities. Other ideas around work with children that may be of interest include unqualified social work posts (unfortunately, these are becoming less common now), working in a residential unit for looked-after children, or contact supervisor work. I don't think many of these would have volunteering opportunities rather than paid work though.

Hope that helps!
Jen

[~ Purple Rose ~]

I didn't have much experience when I was accepted to do a masters in social work, but the uni didn't have definite requirements. You should check with each uni to see how strict they are about their work experience requirements for next year, some have a definite amount they want, some have a preferred amount.
Whatever you have though, you need to be able to reflect on it, and relate it to social work. You also need to be able to demonstrate that you have an understanding of what the career is about and how you are a suitable candidate.

www.do-it.org.uk is a good website for voluntary work, I would also suggest looking at www.vitalise.org.uk and www.otw.org.uk, both of which I have done and would recommend, as well as www.chicks.org.uk, which I haven't done but have heard lots of good things about.

[turkishdisco]

I'm going to apply for a SW masters in 2013. I've also got experience working in schools, but I'm interested in specialising in adult services (especially mental health). I agree that Do-It is a good place to look for volunteering, but they often take ages to get back to you, so don't be afraid to hassle them if you don't get a response.
And yeah - it's all about making your experience relevant. Good luck!

[cate3110]

Hi there. I'm also wondering about experience for social work degrees. I'm hoping to apply for 2013 entry. I have a degree in Sociology and I take care of my autistic brother when my parents go on holiday. I've also just started volunteering with Victim Support (community based) but I also work in Children Social Care in a large city council. It is a admin role, i.e. answering phone calls from service users and professionals and being on the reception desk. I speak to many many people regarding their cases, but because it is only briefly and mainly to pass on messages or signpost them to other departments and I don't have specific involvement with any cases, will this still count as relevant experience with service users?

[likeyourvibe]

It should do, but it is best to clarify with the universities of your choice exactly how much experience they require. If you are unsure it could be worth doing some volunteering in your preferred field if anything it helps build on face to face contact and social skills with the clientele you would be likely to work with. The university I went to discouraged depending on work we had done within the family (in my case this was also caring for my autistic brother) as you were not working in a 'professional role'.

[Darkostar]

As Blondie , JellybeanJen and Purple Rose have already said its best to check the requirements of the university.

Some universities may also expect you to have been volunteering for a certain
period of time e.g full time for 6 months or 1 year part-time as well as what you have volunteered in.

Maybe you should go over your statement with someone too to see how that has sold your learning and experience from any volunteering you have done and whether its sending out the right message to potential universities.

Good Luck!

[Simsim1211]

Hi guys...

I am applying for Social Work BA (Hons) degree for September 2013 at Demontfort University.
The entry requirement for this degree states -
"Three months or 450 hours experience in a social work or social care setting involving direct work with service users or carers and where a reference can be provided. (This cannot include observational placements gained during college courses)"


I was wondering, is this amount of experience needed at the time of application or by the time the course starts?
Also, I turned 18 at the end of July and any voluntary work I inquired about, relevant to Social Work, was only available for me to do once I turned 18. I am in the process of having a CRB check done now for one agencies and will start actual work in January. This means so far I have very limited Social Care environment experience... will this affect my chances of being accepted on the course?
And do you think I'd need the full 450 hours completed??

majorly confused and stressed