Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
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3 star:		(1)
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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

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!

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.

I read this book while exploring career opportunities in psychology and social work. This book has lots of useful information about different jobs, the education required, salaries, and help with resumes and interviews. I found it full of useful points, and the list of suggested actions to list on your resume, based on the sort of job you're seeking, was especially useful. One thing I didn't like was the organization of the book - appendices were overused and broke up the flow, but that may have been fixed in more recent editions.

I purchased Social Work Career Development: A Handbook for Job Hunting and Career Planning. The product came in a timely manner, I was pleased with the price and the amount I Paid for it. I would purchase from this user again in the future.