Social Work is a profession committed to the pursuit of quality of life, social justice and for development of full potential of each community, group and individual in a society. Professionals in the field of social work, work in a variety of social settings like:

• Funding institutions

• Consulting firms

• Health education

• Human rights and social duties

• Social planning

• Social development

• Probation and correctional services

• Rehabilitation

• Family and child welfare

• Urban and rural community development

• Criminology

• Psychiatric social work

• Personnel management and human resources

• Grassroots advocacy organizations

Professionals in the field of social work or social workers are normally regarded as professionals with a degree or PG degree in Social Work and candidates with a Ph. D in this subject have immense scope for developing in this field. However, the emerging and upcoming areas for career in social  work that include both private and government sector jobs in organizations like ILO, UNO, UNICEF, ADB, World Bank, etc… in addition to construction and research organizations.

Courses in social work and eligibility for getting into these courses:

As mentioned earlier, the courses available in the field of Social work are Bachelor of Arts in Social Work/Bachelor of Social Work, Master of Arts in Social Work/Master of Social Work/Master of Philosophy in Social Work and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work. As for as UG Courses in Social Work is concerned, candidates with higher secondary qualification are eligible to apply to this course, while for PG courses, candidates with UG degree in sociology or social sciences or social work are eligible to apply. For M. Phil course, candidates must have completed their Master of Social work or Master of Arts in Social work from a recognized university, while for Ph. D in social work, candidates with MSW or M. Phil in Social Work are eligible to apply.

Job prospects in the field of social work:

Social Work is a field that offers job opportunities to the candidates based on the kind of specializations chosen by them. The Master of Social Work course is offered in the following specializations:

• Industrial relations & social welfare

• Personnel management

• Urban and rural community development

• Medical and psychiatric social work

• Rural and urban development

• Family and child welfare

• Criminal and correctional administration

• Human resource management

Therefore, a qualified social worker can find job opportunities in the following domains:

• As specialists in psychiatric social work and medical aid by making a career in old age homes, mental hospitals, counseling centres, clinics and similar institutions

• A specialist social working professional in the field of criminology can work in correction cells, prisons and similar institutions

• Specialists in labor welfare segment can work as labor welfare representatives in corporate sector inclusive of MNCs and HR departments of labor-centric industries

• They can work in non-government offices for the development of sanitation and health facilities as community welfare specialists

• They can also take up teaching as their profession by teaching to the general public about the utility of social work

• They can also find job opportunities in international organizations like UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO and other organizations with similar working strategy and these organizations look for social workers for their projects and developmental projects and they also pay well for social workers.

Government jobs in the field of Social Work:

Professionals in the field of social work can find job opportunities in government community development projects. Government organizations in India offers job opportunities to social workers in tribal welfare, women welfare and child welfare programmes and these professionals can find job opportunities in other government sector organizations as well.