3 Social Worker Job Description Samples for 2023

Write an Outstanding Social Worker Job Description

Writing the perfect job description isn’t easy, nor is it to be taken lightly. Remember, for many candidates, this might be the first time they come into contact with your company, so if you don’t impress them, you could lose them before they make it to the end of your social worker job description. 

In fact, during our research, we’ve unfortunately stumbled upon quite a few job descriptions that definitely did not make a great impression! Some have been copy-and-pasted from Google search results, while others only read “Social Work Director for globally recognized college health and academic network.” Either way, there are several faux pas companies make when writing job descriptions, alienating a lot of stellar talent from submitting a resume. 

Fret not: with a little bit of guidance from BeamJobs, you’ll be able to write the best social worker job description in a jiffy!

Decide who you need on your team and why

There’s a very important one-word question you need to ask yourself and your team when drafting your job description. And that question is: Why? 

To elaborate a bit more, why are you looking for a new social worker? Does your team have an unmanageable caseload? Is your organization moving in a different strategic direction? 

Help your potential candidates quickly understand the reason they’re needed, so they’ll already have an overview of what you’ll be expecting so they’ll know if they’ll be a fit from the start.

When you’re looking for a social worker, you want someone who is compassionate, hard-working, and prudent. Does your job description reflect that?

• For example, does your job description demonstrate that you care about your community? The staff on the front lines? Do you highlight your mission and vision throughout the text? 
• Social work can be extremely intensive, physically and emotionally. Do you mention the hard and soft skills necessary for success, like working under pressure or great multitasking skills?
• Do you provide an overview of your long-term strategic vision? Do you make it clear that they’ll need to make proactive decisions towards this vision?

By spending a few minutes answering these questions, you’ll make it so much easier to ensure your job description truly resonates.

Proofread and perfect for a well-developed job description

“Time is money,” goes the saying, but we’re a bigger fan of a spin-off of that quote: “Time is precious!” Avoid writing a job description text that’s as long as the notes from that 3-hour meeting you were just in. Instead, keep it sweet and concise! 

Critically analyze each paragraph, and make sure it’s just boiled down to the essentials, so your candidates know what to expect when they land an interview for the social worker position. 

Then, make sure you edit and revise, checking your spelling and grammar. 

It’s also important to have a second (and maybe third) pair of eyes take a look at your job description from a content perspective. Have at least one other person from the social work department have a look at it, and maybe ask someone from another team to catch anything you might have missed. 

After you’re done proofreading, all that’s left to do is post it and share it with the world. Let the social worker resumes roll in!

Start Off Right by Outlining Your Social Worker Job Description

Are you procrastinating on creating a job description and wishing you could just skip to interviewing candidates? With our trusty outline, it’s easier than you think to write an amazing job description if you follow it step-by-step!

Job details

Start by quickly introducing your company and the vacant role. Keep it short, but give candidates the most important info so they’ll realize why they should apply for your social work position. Why is the position open? Who will they be working with? And to further entice them to keep reading, briefly mention why they should work for you.

About the company

This section should go next, right after readers have had their first glimpse into the job and their interest has been piqued. Tell them a little about who you are, but don’t wax poetic on the history. Give them a sneak peek into your values, culture, and vision. That way, social workers can see if you’ll be a good match.

What you’ll be doing

Applicants will likely skim through this section to get a quick sense of what they might be doing day-to-day. Mention what’s unique to the role, as opposed to saying something trite or generic like “Help change the lives of others.” To make it easier to read at a glance, use bullet points for this section. 

• Provide counseling, general assistance, and clinical counseling to students
• Attend and participate in team meetings, parent-teacher meetings, and annual reviews to set or follow up on IFSPs and IEPs
• Hire, evaluate, and supervise relevant staff

Qualifications

This section helps potential candidates see if they have a chance at getting the job. However, you should avoid listing every possible hard or soft skill necessary. Only include what’s truly needed on day one, as opposed to what can be learned on the job. Otherwise, you might discourage people from applying.

• 3–4 years of social work case management experience
• Demonstrated knowledge in executing high-level strategies (some experience in finance/business development needed)
• 10+ years of relevant social work experience, with minimum of 5 years in a managerial/supervisory role, in both an office and home-based setting

Benefits

If there’s one thing you should always remember, it’s to never make promises you can’t keep. Make sure you only mention perks that actually exist, and instead of saying “competitive compensation,” offer a salary range. 

Finally, include any other benefits that could make your organization stand out, and make it as specific as possible, which will make it easier to attract and retain talent.

Roles and Responsibilities Inside the Social Worker Industry

Being a social worker requires juggling many responsibilities. After all, it’s a pretty tall order to have to improve the physical and/or mental health of your clients and help them better manage their problems. 

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of different potential roles you can include in your social work job description. While it’s unlikely that someone will be doing all of them at once, there’s a fair chance they’ll need to handle them all at one point or another during their career.

Communicator

• Social workers often have to deal with challenging clients, including those who may be at risk of physical endangerment, self-harm, or increased mental health problems. There may often be communication barriers (gender, language, age, etc.), so it’s critical that they’re excellent communicators, both verbal and written.
  • Support at-risk, underprivileged youth and their families by liaising with their service providers, and facilitating communication as needed
  • Assist with more challenging cases and provide final assessments on patients’ psychiatric/social/physical needs 
  • The role requires culturally sensitive communication skills, both verbal and written, as well as high emotional intelligence and active listening skills. Bilingual experience a plus

Counselor

• One of the key responsibilities that social workers undertake to help their clients is counseling. While some social workers may refer clients to counselors, most stellar candidates will need to help their clients personally, to some extent, to overcome their challenges.
  • Provide counseling, general assistance, and clinical counseling to students
  • The role requires Illinois social work licensure, high emotional intelligence, open-mindedness, and active listening skills

Third-party management

• Many social work organizations work closely together with government bodies and other third parties. An adept social worker will be great at building and fostering relationships with these parties to allocate much-needed resources to ensure the long-term success of the company.
  • Liaise with third parties (including agencies and service providers) to help execute our long-term strategic vision
  • Represent the social work department in front of press, committees, the general public, etc.
  • This role requires strong interpersonal skills as well as excellent people management and verbal communication skills. (Knowledge of local laws and regulations preferred.) 

Planner

• From the short- to long-term, there’s often a lot going on at the same time. To ensure tasks actually get completed and your organization stays on track, it’s important to have a candidate who is adept at handling multiple responsibilities and envisioning the bigger picture.
  • Attend and participate in team meetings, parent-teacher meetings, and annual reviews to set or follow up on IFSPs and IEPs
  • The role requires strong time management, organization, critical thinking, and written communication skills. A driven personality is a plus

Reporting & analysis

• It’s common for social workers to need to take down a lot of qualitative information from their clients or team and synthesize it for later analysis. When you find someone who excels in this, they’ll be able to quickly grasp what’s relevant, report on it, and drive actionable change.
  • Develop policies and procedures together with the social work director, based on committee, task force, and department meetings, as well as the latest research
  • The role requires strong written communication skills, a problem-solving attitude, critical thinking skills, and excellent time management abilities