Social Worker: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a social worker?

The need for new staff can affect both your existing team and cases. A great social worker hire can help your business decrease the rate of workloads and improve the lives of the people involved in your cases. A quality social worker:

• Understands the social work system
• Improves the lives of people
• Stops people from getting into bad situations

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance social worker

Before hiring a social worker, consider your caseload and needs for the position. If you have high demand, hiring a full-time social worker ensures stability and understanding of how cases are handled. A full-time employee can develop ongoing relationships with clients, which can make the services more effective.

If you have a small caseload or only need a social worker when special circumstances arise, hiring a freelance social worker might be a better fit. This allows you to use the social worker on an as-needed basis, making the hire more cost-effective. Freelance social workers might not always have immediate availability, which can delay services to clients in an emergency. 

What are the types of social workers?

Social workers are employed to help people overcome challenges, but some social workers focus on a particular area, which can affect where the person works, the clients they interact with and the specific things they do for their clients. Some types of social workers include:

• Clinical social workers: These licensed social workers can diagnose and treat various disorders related to mental, behavioral and emotional health. They work with other health care professionals to create a treatment plan and deal with the client’s disorder.
• Health care social workers: Working in health care settings, these social workers help diagnose patients and form care plans.
• School social workers: Students might be referred to school social workers to help with various issues, such as aggressive behavior or extensive absences, and academic performance.
• Child and family social workers: These social workers help families and children in trouble, including housing, childcare and food stamps. They might help kids who are abused or work on foster care and adoption cases.

Where to find social workers

To find the right social worker for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Hire in similar fields. Unless you’re hiring a clinical social worker who needs specific education and licensing, consider hiring professionals in similar fields. Candidates with degrees in sociology, early childhood development, psychology and similar fields are often qualified for social worker positions.
• Promote internally. Look at other employees within your organization who might do well in a social worker role. 
• Attend a career fair. Set up a booth at a career fair hosted by a college that has a strong social work program. This gives you a chance to meet college seniors or recent graduates who are looking for social worker positions.
• Post your job online. Try posting your social worker job on Indeed to find and attract quality social worker candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Social Worker

A great social worker candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Work with case managers
• Know the social work system
• Basic Math Skills
• Team Work
• Empathy for patients
• Positive Attitude

Writing a social worker job description

A thoughtful description is important in finding quality social worker candidates. A social worker job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your social worker job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on social worker jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Social worker
• Social work
• Social services
• Case manager
• School social worker
• MSW
• Human services
• Mental health
• Social worker MSW
• Medical social worker

Interviewing social worker candidates

Strong candidates for social worker positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• How to navigate the social work world
• The hardest case they’ve had to deal with
• How to manage difficult clients

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of social worker interview questions for examples (with sample answers).