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The social worker is a professional with a degree in social work and registered with the CRESS (Regional Council of Social Work) of your state . This type of professional focuses on the collectivity and the integration of the individual in society. Because it deals with different types of people, this work can be carried out in different places, but always with the objective of reintegration.
Role of Social Worker
Many people confuse the work of a social worker with a job of charity, but it is important to understand social assistance as a right for each one of us and not as a favor provided by professionals. The appreciation of the work of a social worker is essential for her work to be done with excellence.
The Social Assistance Market for Women
Within the social service market, the presence of men is historically small, at least when it comes to numbers. This means that it is common to think of social assistance as a female profession, both in the values related to the profession and in the construction of its functions.
It is important to understand how the profession works historically in order to understand the job market for social workers today, being about 97% of the total professionals working in the area.
In other words, the social assistance market for women has always been and continues to be very good, with excellent chances of obtaining vacancies and with openings for different sectors.
What is the Profile of a Social Worker?
One of the main characteristics of social workers is, without a doubt, the ability to deal with people . And with any type of person, since this is a profession that strongly targets humanistic values such as respect for others and differences, in addition to the commitment to freedom, justice and democracy.
Characteristics of the Professional
Dealing with people is one of the characteristics, but the social service professional also needs to be able to analyze and understand problematic situations in order to point out possible solutions. This analytical capacity is not only in the field of theory, that is, the solutions pointed out by the professional are also put into practice by her.
The capacity planning is another common feature of social workers, who need in their work, how to apply the proposals so that your goals are met.
What Does a Social Worker Do?
The main function of a social worker is to reduce social inequalities and ensure that the rights of all individuals are respected. To carry out this work, social workers can act in different ways, researching, analyzing, proposing social improvement programs and putting these programs into practice.
Most of the positions for social workers found today are positions linked to public institutions such as city halls and governments. Foundations also offer various positions for professionals who wish to work directly with the public, usually with the help of religious institutions.
However, it is not uncommon to see vacancies for social workers in private institutions such as hospitals, daycare centers and schools , for example. Various functions can be performed by social workers, in the public, private and also in the third sector, such as:
Main Practice Areas
- Social Housing Assistant
- Social Worker of Children and Adolescents
- Social Worker in Companies
Social Housing Assistance
It is the type of social assistance that aims to ensure that all individuals have a place to live. Housing is understood as a place where the person can sleep, store his belongings, in addition to having a place to make his food and eat. A house can be shared with other people or not.
Whoever wants to work with social housing assistance, should look for jobs in public institutions, usually city halls. The work carried out generally relies on the planning and execution of social housing programs , approved after analyzes made by specialists who can also be social workers.
Social Worker of Children and Adolescents
With the work focused on providing assistance to guarantee the basic rights of children and adolescents , the social worker who works in this area can work in the public sphere, as in city halls, for example, in the private sphere, and also in the third sector, as in NGOs and social movements.
As education is directly linked to the rights of children and adolescents, it is common for professionals in the area to also act with the rights of education . The goal is to monitor the education of young people and see what can be improved so that they can adapt to life in society.
Most professionals in the field work with children and adolescents from underprivileged communities , but there are also private schools that hire the work of social workers so that they can observe and adopt measures so that school children have a good relationship.
Social Worker in Companies
The role of a social worker who works within a private company, is to observe the daily lives of workers, detect problems that affect their quality of life and propose measures for these problems to be resolved.
More and more companies are adopting social workers and this is not for nothing. Lately many entrepreneurs have realized that, in order for their jobs to be carried out more efficiently, the worker has to be happy and satisfied in their work environment. For this reason, a social worker within a company not only performs a humanistic role, but also an administrative one, in a way.
The work of social workers within companies usually takes place within the area of human resources , where she is responsible for monitoring possible internal and external conflicts that may adversely affect the work environment in some way.
In addition, a social worker also proposes, together with the HR team, projects so that company employees can improve their quality of life within the work environment,
Graduation in Social Work
The undergraduate course in social work is not one of the most famous or the most sought after in the country, but it is perfect for those looking to do this type of service. Its content is designed so that students understand the social reality that surrounds them and can critically analyze the situations.
Undergraduate Disciplines
Disciplines such as political theory, history, philosophy, economics, ethics and law are some of the main ones that make up the curriculum of the course. Several public and private institutions offer the undergraduate course in social work and most of the students aim to work in the public sector , with the more conventional jobs of social workers such as guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents or in social assistance for the homeless.
Main Universities of Social Work in Brazil
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
- Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo – São Paulo (SP)
- University of Brasília – Brasília (DF)
- University of Vale do Rio Dos Sinos – São Leopoldo (RS)
- Federal University of Pernambuco – Recife (PE)
- Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul – Porto Alegre (RS)
- Paulista State University Júlio de Mesquita Filho – São Paulo (SP)
- Federal University of Paraná – Curitiba (PR)
- Paulista University – São Paulo (SP)
- University of the Amazon – Belém (PA)
Specializations in Social Work
Professionals trained in the undergraduate course in social work can also choose to take a postgraduate course, both to specialize in a particular area of the profession and to act as researchers and teachers.
Main postgraduate courses that we can find are:
- Organizational Social Work
- Public and Social Policies
- Psychosocial Intervention
Organizational Social Work
It is the course that aims to train the social worker to work within companies, both in the public and private sectors. It is a course designed for those who are able to use their knowledge of social assistance to apply it in different sectors.
The curricular matrix of the course focuses on subjects such as economics and resource management . His duration is 12 to 18 months on average and his monthly fees cost around R $ 350.00.
Public and Social Policies
The professional who wishes to work directly with public policies for social assistance, has in this course almost an extension of what she had in the undergraduate course, with a deepening of the political debate on social assistance.
As the vast majority of professionals in the field work in the public sector, it is important that a postgraduate course such as this one is given, as it generates a differential for the professional, in addition to enabling the social service area to advance in the country, through of research carried out by students.
The course lasts an average of 12 to 18 months and has subjects with strong political theory, in addition to deepening students’ knowledge in public resources management, human resources, among other subjects. The postgraduate course in public and social policies can be taken at public and private institutions, where there is an average monthly fee of R $ 300.00 .
Psychosocial Intervention
This course seeks to develop the students’ ability to find improvements for situations common to social workers through psychology . As the name of the course already suggests, it has a strong base of psychology to train the student, in addition to encouraging the psychological proposals thought by them, that is, putting theory directly into practice. The duration of this course is 18 months and tuition costs an average of R $ 475.00 .
How Much Does a Social Worker Earn?
A social worker can work in different types of companies and, for this reason, we can see that the average salary can vary from one type of job to another. Here are some examples:
Work in Hospitals : Between R $ 4,600.00 and R $ 8,100.00
Work in City Halls : Between 1,890.00 and R $ 4,900.00
Administrative Area: Between R $ 2,200 and R $ 9,000.00
Education: Average of R $ 2,100.00
Third Sector: Average of R $ 2,100.00
The average salary of social workers also varies from state to state, with states in the south and southeast regions having the highest remuneration for this type of professional. Here are some examples:
- Sao Paulo – R $ 2.535,00
- Amazon – R $ 2,365.00
- Para – R $ 2,250.00
- Minas Gerais – R $ 2,140.00
- Bahia – R $ 2,100.00
We can also note that, although São Paulo has a higher average salary than other states, the difference is still small. It is worth remembering that this is only an average of what the industry professionals earn, that is, there are many vacancies where the salary is higher and others where it is lower.
How Much does an Organizational Social Worker Earn?
At the corporate level, the salaries of social service professionals can change a lot and are generally higher than that of professionals working in the third sector or even in some public positions.
How Much Does a Social Worker Trainee Earn?
Small Business : R $ 1625.00
Average Company: R $ 2115.00
Large Company : R $ 2750.00
How Much Does a Full Social Worker Earn?
Small Business : R $ 2540.00
Average Company: R $ 3300.00
Large Company: R $ 4,300.00
How Much does a Master Social Worker Earn?
Small Business: R $ 3,970.00
Average Company : R $ 5,165.00
Large Company : R $ 6,715.00
The work of a social worker is often not understood or is confused with other types of work. Even so, all those who exercise this function are aware of the importance that the role of a social worker has within society.
Especially in Brazil, where there is great inequality and the work to guarantee the rights of the least favored is great. In addition to loving what they do , social workers certainly understand the importance of the result of their work and what it represents for us to live in a more just world.
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My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
