About My Career Plan Becoming A Social Worker

The actions I need to take before I graduate from UNCC imply maintaining a good GPA, participating in field practices and community services, and building social network relationships with professionals in the social work field. Outside of school, after graduating I will need to be more involved in volunteering, internships, and participating in career fairs to be able to prepare myself for employment. Alternatively, I can see myself working in the field of education instead of social work in the event that I cannot get into the upper division of social work. Although the main areas of concentration that I would like to further study in social work are childcare advocacy and community resources, I also enjoy teaching and spending time with children; so for instance working with a day-care or any kind of school institutions could work for me.

Though UNCC has many programs related to education, I can see myself focusing on the Early Education Bachelor Degree Program. This program is designed to train and license individuals like me to educate children from Kindergarten to 6th Grade. From this program I will learn about school organizations and structures; develop skills to plan and teach a standard elementary curriculum and learn about strategies for working with diverse groups of students. There are some similarities between the Social Work Program and the B.A in Early Elementary, but they are also different in their direct practices. The similarities include the opportunity of working directly with children and their family, work environment and settings; schools, adoption agency, nonprofit child services, and community organizations; and lastly the opportunity to be part of an empowering profession. On the opposite side, their differences are undeniable.

The Early Education Program involves mainly hands-on teaching experience, but the Social Work Program is mainly about practical training on how to solve people’s daily issues. The time commitment involved in B.A in Elementary Education will be challenging for me because I have not taken most of prerequisites courses yet. So completely switching to this program will imply more years spent at the University; meaning more money to spend on tuitions and school fees. Conversely to the SWK program, I have already completed all the prerequisites courses. Meaning that if I get admitted to the upper division by spring 2019, I will be able to graduate the following year. Salary ranges typically vary widely depending on factors like education, certifications, the number of years spent in the profession. The median annual wage for high school teachers was $59,170 in May 2017 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The BLS also mentions that the lowest 10 percent earned less than $39,080, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $95,380. On the opposite, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for all social workers in the U.S. as of May 2017 was $47,980, while the average among the top 10 percent was $79,740 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Writing this paper helped me consider a parallel plan for my studies in case things do not go as planned. I learned during this process the importance of having a second plan in life, especially in terms of career path. This paper also helped me identify my achieved goals in terms of my aspiring career and also helped to see what is ahead of me in terms of the major’s requirements for Upper Division Admission.

Becoming a social worker is my passion, but the field of early education is my second option for my future career plans. The requirements of each program differ greatly but are also similar in a sense. When living in an economic system that is constantly changing, having an alternative career plan is very crucial. I learned from this experience that it is critical to set short-term goals that can be achieved when things do not go the way we think, rather than being stuck with only one initial plan. Life can sometimes be very unpredictable, but with planning and vision, I believe that I can increase my chances of achieving my career goals.