Are you studying social work? It’s a noble calling to work with the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the disempowered. As a social worker, it’s your job to hold space for people, carry hope for them when things seem hopeless and work with them to identify goals and achieve them. 

A large part of social work practice comes with real-world experience. When completing social work degrees such as the Keuka College online MSW program, students are placed across different sites where they get hands-on industry experience. This placement experience goes a long way to help mold future social workers into the dedicated professionals that they are destined to become.

This helpful article will focus on practice, patience and perseverance and explore the crucial importance of placement in social work degrees, so read on to learn more about this valuable topic.

Learn to handle difficult situations under guidance

Social workers often deal with sensitive information and vulnerable clients, which can be 

challenging and difficult to navigate. A client may disclose traumatic life experiences, such as abuse. Or a client may test your boundaries, trying to befriend you or learn more about your personal life. As a social worker, boundaries between yourself and your clients are essential to preserve both parties’ safety and well-being. 

During your placement, you’ll be supervised by an experienced social worker who acts as part-teacher and part-mentor. You’ll learn how to deal with difficult situations under close guidance from your supervisor. They will help you navigate creating boundaries, escalating risky issues when appropriate. Your supervisor will also help teach you how to practice under difficult situations and deal with problematic client behavior. 

At first, for example, a social work student on a placement may perceive a client as uncooperative. The client may miss crucial appointments or respond to the student’s efforts to develop rapport with suspicion, dismissiveness or outright rudeness. With a qualified social work supervisor at their side, however, a student can learn to recognize and empathize with clients and find alternative approaches to meeting their needs. This is a key skill that a placement opportunity can provide. 

Mentors to lean on for advice and support

As we’ve shared above, you’ll be paired with a mentor who will supervise you throughout your student placement. Social work students can learn from, lean on and observe the work of professionals with more experience than them. This is a crucial step in the placement process, as you can witness how a senior or experienced social worker responds  to challenging problems , and they can demonstrate key aspects of practice, including holding space, healthy boundaries and close, hard work with clients. You can lean on your mentor for advice, support and guidance throughout your placement. You must ask them questions throughout your placement, especially when you don’t understand something, or you are confused by a way of working or approach. 

Build an understanding of how different institutions work

Depending on what type of organization or institution they are placed in, students will gain insight into the key workings of their site, including everything from administrative to client-facing work. Social workers work in a range of settings, each with unique processes, procedures, policies and frameworks. Social workers tend to undertake at least two student placements throughout a degree, giving  them a diverse range of experience and exposure to different types of organizations. For instance, social work students may be placed in hospitals, mental health units, community centers, aged care homes, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, not-for-profit organizations, homelessness services or family services. 

Discover your preferred work environment and client type

Throughout their placement, social work students will be able to gauge what they do and don’t like about their specific placements. This allows you to learn about your preferred work environment and client types. This is important because social workers can work across a broad range of places and may not enjoy all of them. For instance, if you undertake placement in an aged care facility, you may discover that you absolutely love the work or you don’t. You might learn instead that you prefer to work with families and young people or those experiencing mental health issues or substance use problems. Or you may decide that you’re better suited for a policy or advocacy role after some experience in direct practice. Placement gives you an opportunity to discover what work environment and client type you prefer, which helps shape your career. 

Develop core skills in real-world situations

Students can build the required skills for the job during their placements. You will learn the tools, skills and knowledge required for direct practice as a social worker. For instance, placement allows you to apply the theoretical frameworks and models that you learn during study in a real-world context. You might learn how to use motivational interviewing to assist someone with substance use disorders or learn how to refer to various services if the service you undertake a placement with can't support a client with a particular problem they are facing. 

Furthermore, you might learn how case management works and hold a caseload of your own during a placement, linking people in with required support. Or, you might learn how to undertake a family violence risk assessment or develop a safety plan for clients with thoughts of self-harm. While you may learn the underlying theory behind these interventions in your academic studies, your student placement gives you a golden opportunity to learn how to translate theory into practice.

While studying in the classroom, social work students will learn general methods for interviewing clients and undertaking strengths and needs assessments, among other key theories. However, each specialty area of social work requires a unique, tailored approach. Social work students can learn these specialized skills in their field placements. For instance, completely different approaches are required when working with survivors of family violence as opposed to working with perpetrators of family violence.

Practice makes perfect

This helpful article has shared all about practice, patience and perseverance and the crucial importance of social work placements when studying this discipline. You’ve learned how placements can support students in handling difficult situations, relying on their supervisor for mentorship, discovering a preferred work environment and client type and translating theories into direct practice skills.