Is it possible to get into the social work field with no previous training when you are just beginning work on your degree?

d,

If you're an undergraduate in a CSWE-accredited BSW or MSW program, you'll be required to do an internship to graduate.

Also, try volunteering at an agency. They usually like volunteers and do not look at "qualifications."

-John

Thanks John. Do you get paid while doing an internship? Do you do that around a job you already have?

D,

The internship, usually called a practicum or field placement, is usually not a paid placement. There are some exceptions. Additionally, some schools allow placement in your current place of employment, while others don't, or have restrictions on this. In cases in which the placement is in a current place of employment, the student is generally required to do the placement in a different department or different role from that of his/her regular job--otherwise the student would not be learning anything new in the placement, and there would be some role confusion, since the role of a student intern is different from that of an employee. These issues are discussed in more detail in articles that have been published in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER and in THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE (a collection of these articles). See Fall 1997 at http://www.socialworker.com/backissu.htm for one of these articles.

Also, if you search this forum, there was some discussion not too long ago regarding paid vs. unpaid placements.

Linda