Social Work

Have a look at Prospects and the National Careers Service to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

• Social worker
• Social work assistant

You will need to show evidence of the following:

• good interpersonal skills
• caring attitude, patience and the ability to remain calm in a crisis
• resilience, motivation and commitment
• flexibility to adapt to new roles, tasks and situations
• initiative, effective decision-making skills and problem-solving ability
• strong observation, analytical and listening skills
• case work and report writing ability
• the capacity to absorb legal and procedural information
• the ability to negotiate, and influence, mediate and interpret information
• good planning and organisational skills
• teamwork and collaboration skills
• good judgement and the ability to think on your feet
• understanding of equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice

According to Prospects, social worker salaries start at around £33,000 for newly qualified social workers, rising to approximately £37,000. Salaries can vary by local authority.

In the NHS, you'll typically start on Band 6 with a salary scale of £35,392 to £42,618.

Senior social workers can earn in the region of £39,000 to £45,000 in local authorities, and £43,742 to £50,056 on Band 7 in the NHS. Some senior posts such as team manager, commissioning manager and head of service can earn more than this.

To get more information on typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Prospects: Social care
• TARGETjobs: Public service, charity and social work
• British Association for Social Workers: Careers advice

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

• Children & Young People Now - magazine for professionals working with children, young people and families
• Social Work News

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry. See our recruitment events and employer & sector insights for details of upcoming events.

Join a related student society. NUSU societies often organise and promote events or invite guest speakers to talk about their careers.

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

• The British Association of Social Workers (BASW)
• Health and Care Professionals Council - for Social Workers in England

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Use these resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for opportunities in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts. Includes opportunities for paid part time case assistant roles.
• search for opportunities on North East Jobs - for part-time work as a social work assistant or youth worker
• Frontline offer an annual internship programme
• LG jobs or Sector1 – for part time or full time public sector jobs, including part-time work as a social work assistant or youth worker
• you could also look for opportunities to gain experience in: children’s homes, nurseries, family refuge centres, eg Refuge and Women's Aid, community centres and mental health services such as those listed on Rethink Mental Illness
• volunteering in the Students’ Union can help you find a relevant volunteering opportunity within Newcastle. They have links to a wide variety of local charities and not-for-profit organisations

You may also want to look at the work experience section of our Community, Advice and Guidance page.

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage.

Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.

You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for opportunities in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• BASW Jobs
• CharityJob.co.uk
• Children & Young People Now Jobs
• Community Care Jobs
• Compass Jobs Fairs
• LG Jobs
• Sector1.net
• jobsgopublic
• NHSjobs
• local authority and council websites advertise social worker vacancies

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice

advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• Community Care has an article on the best approach to arranging work shadowing opportunities
• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

North East organisations

Some local authority social services departments have opportunities for shadowing a social worker. See Newcastle City Council Care and Support and Children’s Social Care Services for contacts and information.

Newcastle City Council list social care providers in their adult care services directory.

UK organisations

• targetjobs - search employers by sector
• Use the Charity Commission register to search for relevant charities

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.