Social Work Career Development: A Handbook For Job Hunting And Career Planning [Paperback]

Carol Nesslein Doelling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2005

Social work is a complex profession with multiple specialties and work settings. Very few mass market career publications or web sites address in detail the career management and job search needs of social workers across job functions, fields, or degree levels.

Social Work Career Development is the most comprehensive book of its kind and a superb reference for any social worker. Updated to respond to changes in the job market and the profession since the best-selling first edition, this unique handbook addresses in detail the career management and job search needs of social workers, including self-assessment exercises, strategies for researching the job market and networking, details on resumes, curriculum vitae, and portfolios; tips on selecting master's and doctoral programs, and much more.

Social Work Career Development is a must for practitioners, managers, and faculty. It may be the most valuable career planning tool available to students and should be in every college career center and library.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Questions to facilitate research regarding the market in sub-fields of social work
Interview questions by function for practice
Pitfalls and illegal questions in interviews
Licensure and certification for social work and related specialties
Detailed vignettes of job searches at the BSW, MSW, and PhD levels

Also available:

Professional Writing for the Human Services - ISBN 0871011999
Social Work Research Methods: Building Knowledge For Practice - ISBN 0871013002

NASW Press

NASW Press, a division of National Association of Social Workers (NASW), is a leading scholarly press in the social sciences. We serve faculty, practitioners, agencies, libraries, clinicians, and researchers throughout the United States and abroad.

Known for attracting expert authors, the NASW Press delivers professional information to hundreds of thousands of readers through its scholarly journals, books, and reference works.

Some of the areas we publish in include:

-Social work in the field of aging
-Models of social work
-Social work with children and adolescents
-Ethics in social work
-Community organization
-Professional development

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: NASW Press; 2nd edition (February 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871013630
• ISBN-13: 978-0871013637
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the Social Worker's Career, September 4, 2005

By 

P. Lyon "shadow.raddar@gmail" (Long Beach, CA 90815) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Social Work Career Development: A Handbook For Job Hunting And Career Planning (Paperback)

I have been waiting for this edition to come out for over a year. Her last edition was great and her second is living up to my expectations.

The author is thorough and she has produced the best and most up-to-date information/how-to book on social work that I know of, and I've done my homework. She has written the material to cover most of the possible employment scenarios that a SW could find their selves in and has provided links and/or resources to follow-up for more detail if necessary. She addresses licensure, certification, billing, education and the post education development of the social worker's career. Resumes, cover letters, check-off lists, applications, interviews are topics covered in detail.

Chapters are: 1. Setting a Direction for Your Search; 2. Researching Market and Salary Information; 3. Preparing Resumes, Curricula Vitae, Portfolios, and References; 4. Identifying Jobs and Pursuing Leads; 5. Interviewing Effectively; 6. Evaluating Job Offers; 7. Career Management and Professional Development. Detail subheadings are given in each chapter (ex: Ch.1 - Assessing Your Strengths, Deciding on Your Objectives, Making Transitions, Preparing Your Message, and Moving On). It is published by NASW, and Amazon has the best price at this time.

Carol Doelling, thank you.....
Phil

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, February 23, 2008

By 

Claire M. Cote - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Social Work Career Development: A Handbook For Job Hunting And Career Planning (Paperback)

This book is amazing. It's such a great resource for social workers. Doelling tells you step.by.step about the interviewing and writing of the resume process. By breaking it down and giving a lot of resources, she makes it comprhendable and less intimidating. This book is good for social workers who work in a variety of capacities, not just direct service. I am a policy practitioner and this book has resources for me too!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Particularly helpful guide for new social worker job seekers., July 30, 2009

By 

Cynthia Danute Cekauskas, LCSW "Lithuanian Am... (Savannah, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Work Career Development: A Handbook For Job Hunting And Career Planning (Paperback)

I wish this guide would have existed when I graduated from the University of Michigan with my Masters in Social Work (MSW) in 1979. It would have been particularly useful at that time. Now, with 30 years in the field the book, though helpful, leaves a little to be desired to those of us who have long been in the field.

The book's strengths lie in helping to develop confidence in social workers just entering the field after earning their graduate or bachelor degrees. Personally I would have liked to have had more information helping those who may have left the field for a short time perhaps to raise families, care for elderly parents or move with their servicemember husbands to new duty stations.

I actually bought the book at an annual NASW Florida Chapter conference for Chapter Five: Interviewing Effectively. I found that chapter to be lacking however. I would preferred if that chapter could have been expanded to be more like Matthew J. DeLuca's Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions or Ron Fry's 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions [101 GRT ANSW TO THE TOUGHE].

It is difficult to prove but I believe that as a "veteran" social worker (over the age of 50) I may have experienced some age discrimination. Additionally if one has spent a good many years as a community organizer or policy planner/analyst it may be difficult to change fields say to direct service. The book may have mentioned this a couple times but did not expand on this subject extensively enough. I mean what happens if you walk into an interview and you are already being prejudged because you spent many years in a particular type of social work but now are trying to change into another field? It can be very challenging to convince someone even with the best of social work skills. I would like to see a sequel to this book more tailored to the older (more mature?) social worker.

Otherwise this is a GREAT book for the newly graduated MSW or BSW or those who been in the field for less than ten years. The main text of the book is concluded, for instance, with twelve (12) wonderful appendixes which contain, among other topics, sections on sample cover letters and correspondence, sample resumes, sample interview questions and sample skills by function. Overall, therefore, the book is a worthwhile read for both the novice and more experienced social worker job seeker alike.