101 Careers in Social Work

This engaging guide addresses the extraordinary breadth of the social work profession and the diverse career paths available. Updated and expanded, the third edition includes 15 vivid new profiles of social workers who describe the rewards and challenges of their distinct roles. It presents "Social Justice Spotlights" highlighting important social and political issues relevant to different practice domains. The new edition also delivers current data on employment opportunities and salaries from the Department of Labor and provides links to new resources--books, essays, films, and websites--that enable readers to explore specific career paths in greater depth. It dispels common myths about the social work profession and demonstrates why social work is a smart choice for those seeking a career of service that requires creativity, critical thinking, compassion, and a passion for social justice.

Illuminating current trends in social work education and practice, the book describes more than 100 specific careers--traditional and nontraditional--available to social workers, including best features, challenges, required core competencies and skills, educational and licensing requirements, and personal narratives. The book also covers how to fund one's education and provides job-hunting tools and websites. Additional features include, for each career, a discussion of benefits and challenges, job outlook, and salary information. Questionnaires and self-assessment checklists provide additional material to help readers choose a social work career tailored to their unique talents, interests, and passions.

New to the Third Edition:
• Fifteen new personal narratives describing the benefits and challenges of different social work arenas
• "Social Justice Spotlight" for each field of social work practice
• New data on employment opportunities and salaries from the Department of Labor and other sources
• New resources for additional career exploration

Key Features:
• Describes more than 100 distinct career paths available to social workers
• Addresses pros and cons of each career including personal narratives
• Covers educational and licensing requirements, employment opportunities and salaries
• Includes job-hunting tools and websites
• Provides self-assessment questionnaires and checklists to help readers assess which jobs would be a good fit based on their skills and passions

Jessica A. Ritter, PhD, MSSW, BSW, is a full professor of social work at the Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Ritter has over 20 years of experience as a social worker. She earned a BSW, MSSW, and PhD in social work at the University of Texas at Austin. Her career as a social worker and academic has been dedicated to political advocacy, child welfare, and children's rights. Over the course of her career, she has held a variety of positions at both the micro and macro levels--from working as a caseworker at Children's Protective Services, to working in an administrative capacity in child welfare, to conducting research. Today, her passion includes teaching policy and macro-level social work courses with the goal of getting undergraduate social work students excited about social policy, demystifying the political process, increasing students' levels of political efficacy, and inspiring students to be engaged politically. Dr. Ritter is a Fulbright scholar and is the author of two books-- 101 Careers in Social Work and Social Work Policy Practice: Changing Our Community, Nation, and the World. Being a social work educator is one of the great joys of her life!

Ann Obermann, PhD, MSSW, BSW, LCSW, is an assistant professor of social work and online education coordinator at the Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Obermann has been a practicing social worker for over 20 years, partnering with children, youth, and families in a variety of social work settings and roles. After receiving her BSW, Dr. Obermann worked as a residential and jobs counselor for youth experiencing homelessness, running groups, outreaching youth, and handing out clean socks. With her MSW in hand, Dr. Obermann worked with teenage girls and their families, running therapeutic groups, family therapy sessions, conducting mental health evaluations, and handing out clean socks, all which contributed to earning her LCSW. Through the years, Dr. Obermann has been a family therapist, foster parent trainer, supervisor of mental health therapists, adjunct professor, and program manager at a community mental health center. Currently, Dr. Obermann is enjoying working in higher education after receiving her PhD from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, with her research focusing on issues of access and equity in online education. She teaches philosophy of social work, generalist practice with groups, social work leadership, social work with children and adolescents, and working with families.

Kristin Lindsay Danhoff, PhD, MSW, BA, is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in psychology and her master's in social work from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Dr. Danhoff has over a decade of experience in the field of social work and has held direct service positions with state agencies, hospitals, and community-based nonprofits in Nebraska and Colorado. She has expertise in domestic/interpersonal violence, child welfare, medical social work, and evaluation research. Today, her career as an academic focuses on program evaluation related to accreditation and grant-funded community projects. Dr. Danhoff's scholarly pursuits focus largely on evaluation methodology, teaching across cultural strengths, contemplative pedagogy, and hidden beliefs in teaching perspectives. Her teaching passions follow her professional career focusing on both micro and macro systems--teaching generalist practice courses to support students' confidence and ability in effectively engaging with client systems and research courses with the goal of simplifying and revealing the language, methods, and benefits of research to social work practitioners. Dr. Danhoff also serves on the Board of Directors for the Social Work Education Assessment Project (SWEAP).