The Perfect Social Worker Resume Writing Tips

Do you want to apply for a Social Worker position to help you get closer to your career goals? Applying for jobs on Seek, LinkedIn, and other job boards can be a time-consuming process, however, to streamline the process, you can ensure your resume writing helps you to stand out from the crowd, and your online profile helps you to get an interview!

If a recruiter or hiring manager are looking for a Social Worker, they are searching for specific transferable skills. With less than ten people being interviewed for the job and hundreds of people, just like you, applying, The Perfect Resume team have created Resume Writing Tips to help you stand out from the others.

What do recruiters look for in a Social Worker resume or an online profile?

Tailoring your resume to a Social Worker position is mandatory today to ensure that your application will pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In doing so, your resume will be read by the prospective employer. Then, fingers crossed, you will be shortlisted as a potential candidate and be called for not one, but multiple job interviews!

Firstly, before you apply to be a Social Worker, you need to be acquainted with what a Social Worker does!

Social Workers handle the service referrals and assistance for clients to handle everyday life problems. They often assist clients who have issues caused by neglect, abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and parental substance abuse. Clinical social workers may also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.

Hiring Managers are looking for a compassionate Social Worker to assist in helping serve the community by assisting clients that are affected by issues such as neglect, child abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and parental substance abuse.

To be successful as a Social Worker, you should have knowledge of necessary Community Services and Development procedures, be open to learning, and have strong communication skills. Ultimately, a high performing Social Worker should be able to achieve responsive crisi intervention and the ability to stay calm and empathize with clients when they are upset.

Knowing this, your resume and online profile should include the hard and soft skills that the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

The Social Worker position description template will also contain pivotal information about what the candidate will need to do daily. Such as:

• Assisting clients in receiving services by telephone and in person.
• Getting clients involved in beneficial activities.
• Assessing clients and gathering relevant information.
• Offering information and supporting clients and their families.
• Contacting and making referrals to other agencies and services.
• Maintaining accurate records and preparing reports.
• Participating in training, supervision, and meetings.
• Watch for signs of child abuse.
• Provide crisis intervention.


You will also have some requirements and personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate in your resume to ensure your potential employer will take your application seriously, such as:

• Bachelor's degree in psychology, social work, or related field.
• Experience working with clients that are affected by issues including neglect, child abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and parental substance abuse.
• Ability to give full attention to what social service clients are saying, understand the points being made, ask questions, and not interrupt inappropriately.
• Awareness of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Ability to judge the relative costs and benefits of potential social service and health care actions and choose the most appropriate one.
• Comfortable using a computer for various tasks.
• Proficient in word, excel, outlook, and powerPoint.
• Ability to stay calm and empathize with clients when they are upset.
• Licensed clinical social worker.


You may also want to do some industry research to find out what other companies want in their Social Workers.