Things I wish I'd known as a Student Social Worker

Key themes: Things I wish I had known as a social work student, tips for students and practitioner insights to university and front-line social work practice.
I am a practicing social worker supporting adults and have experience working in various areas of the service. My voluntary background prior to qualifying was supporting children and families.
I found the first year more difficult as I did not fully understand the relevance of what I was learning until I went on placement and saw the practical application of knowledge. Consolidating my knowledge meant that I went from getting low grades to a first class overall when I qualified. My second placement went very well and by the end I felt confident to go into practice in a statutory setting and got a job before I even unpacked my uni room!
I hope the information shared helps people undertaking their social work journey.

[@gemmatazzini3425]

I'm starting University to do my Social Work degree in September. As someone who is also young and starting off in this career, this video really helps! These kind of videos are so hard to find, so thank you so much for taking the time to do them! :)

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

I really appreciate your kind words😊. I will be continuing to put them up and create lots more to help social work students !

[@preciouskolleena7074]

I’m also a social work student! Good luck ✨

[@atiqahzaheer9404]

I start this September too. What uni are you going to?! :)

[@GlowinNaturally]

I really had to trust my process! cohorts really helped me along the way. Being hard yourself will stress you out even more I noticed! Love watching fellow social work youtubers 🤎

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hey agree with you comment ! So nice to see a fellow social worker and KZbinr ! :)

[@purshindarahluwalia4554]

Kayliegh I was surprised you replied to my comment. Shows how caring you are. Look after yourself first. Carry on the good work. We need young people like you in these difficult times. Regards. Purshindar

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

That's so lovely of you. Thank you. I wish you all the best Kayleigh 😊

[@katherinemulrooney1926]

Starting my degree in September, thanks for the tips!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Brilliant ! Good luck 😃

[@katherinemulrooney1926]

@@KayleighRoseEvans thank you!

[@socialworkshorts]

Love your table/spreadsheet idea and your end of day planning! Fab!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Great ! I've decided I am going to do a video on how I organise myself to manage stress so I can show exactly what it looks like ☺️

[@socialworkshorts]

@@KayleighRoseEvans Great idea! We need people to talk about that kind of thing definitely!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

@@socialworkshorts Brilliant thanks for the support 😊

[@elsbethhaycock9742]

fabulous talk Kayleigh great that you have so much confidence to do those videos I'm so proud of you xx

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Thank you ! Glad you enjoyed it. Filming the videos is helping lots with my confidence. :)

[@supermary9109]

Thanks for the video! I've been on disability for mental health for the last 7 years, but I'm just now going back to college to become a Clinical Social Worker. (I made this account/chann about it) ANYway! I start this summer and I'm SO nervous!!! But also SO excited!! Anywho! Subbed! Thanks for all that you do!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Thank you for your message here. Glad to hear you are doing this ! I wish you all the best with your journey in social work and KZbin and thanks for the encouragement for my stuff 😃

[@supermary9109]

@@KayleighRoseEvans Absolutely! Thank you so much! It's gonna be a wild ride!!

[@dariusm9641]

Very inspirational and people's expectations do not matter if they are rooted in different values than that of respect for human kind

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Wow what a great comment. Thank you :)

[@kadejahussain1743]

I’ve just started my social work degree. This is so so helpful as I can relate to a lot of the things you’re saying. Thank you!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

I'm really pleased to hear it. Good luck with your studies 😊

[@rebeccarobinson1374]

I wish I would have known that driving was a must. I’m on my final year but finding it difficult to get a placement because I don’t have a driving licence. I should have delayed and waited until I got one. It seems like students with car will get the better placements.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

That's useful to know. I did see that there was a space for whether the person was a car driver as part of the process on the forms as I am training to be a practice educator. That's a shame you feel it has disadvantaged you :(

[@MSWMinute]

Thank you for sharing your social work journey.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Thanks for the support 😊

[@SociableSocialWorker]

Great video, some good tips.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Glad you liked it ! :)

[@Sunkissbabe2]

I’m interested in this field however I heard the pay isn’t so great especially for someone just starting out

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

The starting salary is around £27, 000-£29,000 in the UK and £32,704 is the national average for social workers. This is just a rough indication but you can find proper stats online.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

@elle thanks for the book recommendation I hadn't heard of that :)

[@muslimatadeyemi1883]

I have learnt a lot from you . Thank you for all you do

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

So pleased to hear it thank you 😊

[@bint126]

I found this really helpful. Thank you so much♥️♥️. How do you the notes thing where you write important information?

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

I'm so glad to hear it. I will make a video to show you the notes thing soon :)

[@chloeunderwood8625]

Hi im in my second year of the social work degree. thank you so much for this video as it was honest and your spoke so well. i got a law exam coming up any advice you could give me for it and any advice for my first placement.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi thanks so much for your kind comment. For the law I broke down Alison Brammer's law book into small chunks on revision cards and then recorded myself speaking them out loud and listened over and over again ! I will put a video together about placements. :)

[@chloeunderwood8625]

That the book i got and writing it down in my notebook. Thank you so much x and yes that would be a good video to do x

[@preciouskolleena7074]

I’m a junior in the program myself! I love it!

[@sarahnasuha3914]

i have a question, it seems like most universities in the uk doesn’t have the specific ‘social work’ course is it under sociology? or they have other names for it ? 😬

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

You will need either a degree or masters in social work to get into work in the UK. You need to make sure that the course is approved by the regulators (I will put a link to further information about this). If you did sociology you would then need to top up with a master's in social work so if you know you want to do it you would apply for social work straight away in the UK. www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/social-worker

[@lloyd5293]

Thank you for your breakdown

[@Gratitude.pjshetty]

Very informative video, thank you for making it. I have one question please do let me know, the mandatory placements as a part of this course can we choose where we want to do it as students or its totally controlled by the university? Thanks

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi thanks for your positive feedback. What generally happens is you express an interest in whether you want to go into children's or adults and then also in what area you would be interested in trying. They will try to find you somewhere to match. 👍

[@Gratitude.pjshetty]

@@KayleighRoseEvans wonderful, thank you so much for the much needed reply that too this quick 😊🙏

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

@@Gratitude.pjshetty No problem. 😄

[@FkKhan-ge7hp]

Hey. I am from Bangladesh. I am studying University Department of social work 🥰🥰

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hey ! Great to have you here. Hope your studies are going well 😊

[@sarahitchin4941]

Really good advice for student social workers- thank you

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Really pleased to hear it thanks ☺️

[@leeleecee2911]

Do you think it's possible for a person of anxiety to do a job like this?

[@IAMSHELLS]

Heya just watching this video & came across your comment. I’d personally say it’s possible BUT you have to consider your own mental health & wellbeing. Especially if you are going to be a frontline practitioner. We all suffer with mental health, but the role of a social worker is to safeguard vulnerable children & adults. Which means the role itself can be quite demanding

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi I personally have struggled with anxiety at times, however have found that through identifying triggers, making sure I am in a suitable role for me and finding allies it can be done. However, I think social work can be a particularly anxiety provoking role at times due to the level of responsibility, uncertainty and risk you deal with. In order to make an informed decision you have to know this but I don't think anxiety defines a person and I do think it's possible :)

[@IAMSHELLS]

@@KayleighRoseEvans I’d definitely agree with you! Whatever mental health needs a person has they should be supported in their role. Though I wouldn’t recommend a fast paced team where there are many stress factors. As professionals we still need to be kind to ourselves and definitely put our needs first as we would be unable to deliver an effective service. Peace & Love to all Frontline practitioners

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

I really like what you have said. You are right it is about being kind to ourselves and taking time to learn about ourselves as well as others and knowing where our skills would be best used. This benefits everyone. I find it sad when you see workers feeling they can't do social work because they are struggling in one particular role. Thanks for offering such positive guidance here 😃👍👍

[@IAMSHELLS]

@@KayleighRoseEvans absolutely no problem 🖤

[@horseisjustcats.tapedtogether]

Great thoughts!

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Thank you 😁

[@DenisTravels]

Hi Kayleigh I’m thinking of becoming a social worker but I wanna know what is the legislation involved in the practical work , theory and the legislation involved at university plus I would also like to know what is the course work like? Do you need to be a bookworm. Thanks in advance.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hiya, I will be honest when I started uni I was surprised by how much legislation and reading was involved as the job is very practical. However, when in the role you also have a lot of writing to do as you have to feel confident to keep good records, write assessments and write in a way that stands up to scrutiny in a court context. There are lots of assignments, there are law exams and placements in social work roles. I wouldn't say you have to be a bookworm but you will have to read as part of it to get through the course and then are expected to keep yourself informed after completion. You get used to what is required as you go through the course though! Hope that helps 😃

[@DenisTravels]

Hi @@KayleighRoseEvans . Thank you so much that really helps.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

@@DenisTravels That's great 😃

[@9Dan22]

Does the degree classification matters? For example a student with 3rd class class can find a job as social worker?

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi I have found that I had to write down my degree result in some applications for jobs but not discuss directly in the interview.

[@Seharkhan69]

Hi Kayliegh, did you study an Access course before embarking onto an undergraduate Degree in Social Work?

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi I didn't personally but I remember a fair few on my course did. 👍

[@Seharkhan69]

@@KayleighRoseEvans Oh so,did you follow the tradtional A levels route into Uni to study this degree?

[@janeyjarvis4390]

They need social skills , life skills after going in university. It’s a shame every social worker I’ve met has been corrupt and lying .

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

You are completely right that life and social skills are crucial. It's sad to hear that your experiences have been negative. I think there are a lot of us trying to do a good job. Thank you for your comment, always appreciated.

[@janeyjarvis4390]

@@KayleighRoseEvans yep and it’s sad cause everyone I’ve spoken too doesn’t have a good word to say about social workers . ? Think nice they get into the system of a real job it’s corrupt.

[@DJ-hf3qq]

How many have you met?

[@lizziebowerman4090]

What law book do you refer to?

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

www.whsmith.co.uk/products/social-work-law-5th-new-edition/alison-brammer/paperback/9781292244167.html

[@saimah8367]

Hi I can't drive do you think this will get in the way if I do social work

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi there are some roles you can do without a car, like working in a hospital or rehab centre for example. However, home visits are harder without a car but I know people who cycle or use public transport. When you are a student there are forms to fill in for placement to say if you are a driver or not and then you get a placement that suits you. :)

[@saimah8367]

@@KayleighRoseEvans thank you for the reply ❤️

[@ellie2829]

Hi, which country are you recording from please?

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi I am recording in England :)

[@ellie2829]

@@KayleighRoseEvans amazing!- I've been struggling to find social worker videos and especially ones from the UK! Thank you so much for this ☺️

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

That's brilliant. Well I am planning on doing this for the long haul so if you ever have any ideas for me for future videos let me know. If you look at the description box I always put ways to contact me there or just comment below the videos. Thanks 👍👍😊

[@ellie2829]

@@KayleighRoseEvans that's great to hear, I can't wait to look over your other videos as well! So grateful for this. And yes, I will definitely have a think if I have any ideas will let you know ☺️

[@muslimatadeyemi1883]

Please are you able to coach me . And can I message you privately.

[@KayleighRoseEvans]

Hi my email is [e-mail]