Maybe - To My Social Work Colleagues

by Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, Ph.D., LCSW

     Congratulations on your choice of profession! You have made a selection that can take you many places and present you with many opportunities and challenges in your effort to make the world a better place for individuals, families, communities, and beyond. 

     You may begin your career in child welfare, or a school setting. Maybe you will work in mental health or in an integrated healthcare setting.  And, just think of all the “maybes”....

     Maybe you will pursue a career in macro practice—working to develop communities and mobilizing groups to bring about needed change here and throughout the world. 

     Maybe you could work for legislators, helping them understand the complexity of the problems their constituents face and lending support to obtaining just policy solutions that support and enhance human potential. You might decide that you would like to run for public office.

     Maybe you could supervise interns and guide them on their way to becoming capable social workers.

     Maybe you could try your hand at teaching a social work class and meet the challenge of bringing theory and practice together in a meaningful way for students.

     Maybe a Ph.D. in social work is in your future, along with the opportunity to move in a new direction, carrying out research in an area that is close to your heart.

     Maybe you could navigate the social work practice and technology frontier—using your professional best thinking and advocacy skills to ensure that people have access to competent social work services no matter where they live.

     Maybe you could be a social worker in a library – a great place to encounter and help people in need of resources.

     Maybe you will bring your social work skills as a volunteer to help individuals and families come through a disaster and help communities recover.

     Maybe you will develop your mediation skills and help divorcing parents make good decisions to support the well-being of their children.

     Maybe you will be the social worker who makes it possible for a student to find success in the school day and thrive.

     Maybe you will move into nontraditional settings—you have highly transferable skills and a critical set of professional values that all can benefit from.

     As you travel on your professional path, always remember that the National Association of Social Workers is available to enrich your practice, to provide ethics consultation, continuing education, notice of job opportunities, and to amplify your voice for social justice and commitment to keeping social work at the forefront of the helping professions. 

     The world needs you, and I am glad you are here.

Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, Ph.D., LCSW, is the president of the National Association of Social Workers and an associate professor of social work at Illinois State University.