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Guide to Effective Social Work Personal Statements

Table of Contents

A social worker is someone who helps people navigate life’s challenges. They use a variety of skills, including emotional intelligence, communication, and problem-solving, to help people achieve their goals.

Social workers help clients understand how circumstances impact them and offer support and guidance to create positive change in their lives. If you need help crafting a  social worker personal statement , don’t fret. You’re in the right place.

Understanding Personal Statements

Personal statements are short paragraphs that showcase a person’s values, qualities, and character . They are important in all applications, whether job or college. 

The rationale behind personal statements is they help recruiters understand an applicant better. Personal statements are less about writing skills and more about effectively representing your best traits. Even so, many people still have a difficult time writing effective statements. 

Don’t get discouraged if you count among them. Here are some tips to help you write a compelling social work personal statement.

Tips for Writing a Social Work Personal Statement

Social work personal statements don’t have to be difficult. You need only follow a few rules to deliver a compelling representation of your values and character. 

Start by Introducing Your Passion

Begin your social work personal statement like any other essay. – With a compelling introduction.

Whether you’re applying to a university program or a job, recruiters will care about your passion and dedication to social work. Your first statement should show your connection to the field and your willingness to study. 

Use Clear, Concise Language

Your personal statement’s main purpose is to give recruiters a glimpse of your personality . Clear, concise language is the best way to deliver a strong message and allow readers to accurately understand your thoughts.

While you can add Social Work jargon, make sure to limit them. You wouldn’t want to muddle your message by overusing them.

Give Specific Illustrative Examples

Specific examples are key to showcasing your value and passion as a social worker. Specific examples also give the reader an idea of your social work experience and which cases you can handle. Remember that the most life-changing experiences will always have the most vivid details.

Leverage Emotion

Social work can get extremely stressful. For someone to forego expressing their emotions can be strange, given a social worker’s exposure to the harsh realities of the job. Don’t be afraid to show how your experiences made you feel and how they changed you. 

Showing your emotions makes for an authentic personal statement that is more likely to capture attention.

Proofread Your Work

Finally, take the time to go through your work. While mistakes are far from a reason to disqualify your application, they can hurt the impression you leave. Check your work for any spelling and grammatical errors and correct them accordingly.

Social Worker Personal Statement Samples

I am an experienced social worker, and my years of practice have instilled in me the capacity to comprehend individuals’ unique situations and needs. I can remain empathetic while maintaining a practical approach to problem-solving.

Additionally, I have developed the ability to exercise diplomacy in difficult conversations. This has been essential for fostering relationships between service providers and community members. 

I am confident that I possess the necessary experience and skill set to be an asset to any organization.

I aim to pursue a career in Social Work. I believe that gaining a degree from a reputable university is the best way to start my journey. My current role involves working with families in vulnerable home situations, guiding them through what can be an incredibly difficult process. This has given me first-hand experience of the positive impact that social work can have on people’s lives. I’ve also learned the importance of understanding both sociology and psychology when it comes to providing support. 

I am passionate about developing my skills and learning more to offer better care to those who need it most. I’m confident that a Social Work graduate course at a good university would give me the tools I need. It will also equip me with the necessary knowledge for different roles within the field. 

I look forward to continuing my studies and establishing a successful career where I can help make life better for disadvantaged families. I will apply all of my enthusiasm, dedication, and hard work to achieve this.

I have been working with children for years, helping them face the day-to-day issues of their health and well-being. Through my professional experience in a variety of roles, I have helped people from diverse backgrounds. They’ve learned to open up, read pages that changed lives, and play together as a group. 

They know they can rely on me. 

This has given me an invaluable opportunity to pursue social work in graduate school. Here, I am confident I can help more people in need and hone my craft even further. Knowing some require assistance is humbling yet empowering. It drives me to better myself daily to be fully equipped to make a positive impact.

As a Social Work student, I have committed myself to the well-being of children for years. My experience in working with them has given me invaluable insight into how best to approach them and provide the care they require. 

While not every situation is the same, my listening capacity lets me quickly ascertain each child’s circumstances. As such, it brings me great pleasure to make meaningful contributions toward empowering these vulnerable members of society.

As a social work student, I have deeply invested in advancing the well-being of underserved communities. With unwavering commitment and compassion, I strive to provide support for those who are facing difficult circumstances. 

As a lifelong learner and advocate for the marginalized, I work to refine my knowledge and develop innovative social work strategies. 

A  social worker personal statement   is a relatively easy task as long as you follow a set structure and apply our tips. Always remember the purpose of your content, and write with purpose. May you have a prosperous social work career! 

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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How To Become A Social Worker

How to Write an Effective Personal Statement for Grad School

Written by Michelle, Founder of MSW Helper

Schools of social work are looking for your ability to think critically and contribute to the social work field. This is more important than your grades and experience. I know this because I’ve seen people with high grades and a ton of experience get rejected from the program because they weren’t able to articulate their critical thinking skills (and I’ve seen it go the other way too, where applicants with low grades and little experience get accepted because of their strong personal statement).

So, let’s talk about how you can write an effective personal statement for your grad school application.

Michelle is the Founder of MSW Helper, where she helps Master of Social Work Applicants write top notch personal statements for grad school. Michelle understands how stressful applying to the MSW can be, and strives to help applicants feel confident about their applications. 

Check out her website to learn more: https://www.mswhelper.com/

What schools of social work are looking for

In my experience, most schools of social work ask about these key areas:

• Your experiences that motivated you to become a social worker, including personal, professional, academic, and other experiences
• A discussion of a social problem and how social workers can work towards solving it
• Your goals as a social worker

In addition, schools of social work typically assess your personal statement for the following:

• Evidence of critical and analytical thinking skills
• Potential contribution to the field of social work
• Your ability to communicate clearly and succinctly

This is how you can demonstrate all of the following key areas seamlessly.

Contribution to the field

Let’s look at a personal statement of a past MSW applicant:

Applicant name: Sally ●        Experiences : Sally works at a women’s shelter and talks about what she learned there. ●        Social Justice Issue : Sally decides to talk about an issue within child welfare. ●        Goal : Sally mentions that she wants to get an MSW so that she can qualify for a job at the hospital.

There are a few issues with Sally’s personal statement.

First, there is no cohesion between her experience, social justice issue, and goals, which makes it hard for the reader to understand why she wants to pursue an MSW and how she’ll be an asset to the field.

Second, Sally is talking about how an MSW will be beneficial for her, which comes off as a bit self-serving. When writing a personal statement, it’s important to talk about how pursuing an MSW will allow her to help others.

With this in mind, let’s see an example of how Sally could improve her personal statement:

Applicant: Sally ●        Experiences : Sally works at a women’s shelter and talks about what she learned there. ●        Social Justice Issue : Sally discusses an insight from her time at the women’s shelter, and backs it up with research that proves that her observation is part of a larger social problem.  ●        Goal : This issue that Sally noticed at the women’s shelter inspired her to get her MSW so that she can address that issue and support her clients in a different capacity and advocate for women’s rights at the macro level.

Better, right?

In this version of her personal statement, Sally demonstrates a high level of critical thinking by talking about her insights and backing them up with research, and she demonstrates her potential contribution to the field by discussing how a Master of Social Work will allow her to serve others in a greater capacity. 

If you’re planning to write a personal statement, a great place to start is to think about insights and problems you’ve observed from your work, volunteer, placement, and personal experiences, and use those insights to develop your social justice problem.

Evidence of critical and analytical thinking

In addition to demonstrating your potential to contribute to the field, there are some tangible ways you can demonstrate your critical thinking skills.

First, make sure you understand what social work actually is.

This might sound obvious, but there are a surprising number of applicants who have a pretty limited understanding of what social work entails. I don’t blame them. The media often portrays a specific image of what social workers look like (usually involving child welfare, case workers, or therapists).

However, social work is so much more than that. Social workers work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of society, and can work in many areas at each of these levels.

Also, many applicants pursue social work out of a desire to help others, but it’s not good enough to say that in your personal statement. There are a lot of other jobs you can do that would allow you to help others. Think about how social workers are different from other helping professions (such as nurses, psychologists, police officers, teachers, lawyers, etc.).  Why do you want to be a social worker and not another helping profession?

Understanding what social work is will help you provide a stronger and more thorough answer to the question of “why” you want to become a social worker.

Finally, connect your insights to the bigger picture by integrating research into your personal statement .

It’s one thing to talk about the issues you’ve noticed from your experiences, and it’s another to connect your insight to the bigger picture with the help of research.

Let’s look at Sally again.

Sally’s role at the women’s shelter is to help her clients who experienced domestic violence find housing. Sally noticed that many of her previously housed clients got evicted and ended up back at the shelter.

Sally also did some research and found studies to suggest that women who experience domestic violence have an overall higher rate of housing instability due to barriers such as income loss and lack of social support.

This knowledge motivated Sally to pursue a Master of Social Work so that she can move into a policy role to advocate for income and social support for women who experience domestic violence.

Connecting experience to research will demonstrate a high level of critical thinking.

Ability to communicate clearly and succinctly

When it comes to writing your personal statement, it’s not only what you say, but also how you say it. Admissions committees are typically assessing your personal statement for your writing ability.

Make it easy to read : Admissions committees read literally hundreds of personal statements each application season, so it’s likely that whoever reads your personal statement is going to quickly skim through your personal statement to find your answers. With that in mind, it’s important to make your personal statement as skimmable and easy to read as possible.

You can do this by adding headings that match each question or prompt so that the reader can easily see that you did answer each prompt.

You should also be concise and get rid of filler words and sentences that don’t directly answer the prompts.

Finally, you should always try to include an introduction and a conclusion in your personal statement where you summarize your experience, social justice problem, and goals. This will allow the reader to get your whole story in a few sentences, and leave them with a strong impression at the beginning and end of your personal statement.

Treat your personal statement like an academic writing sample: Many applicants don’t realize that the personal statement is a sample of your academic writing and research skills. One way to stand out is to treat your personal statement like a school paper. I often advise applicants to use full APA formatting when writing their personal statement, as this will make your personal statement look more professional and will stand out from the crowd. 

Creating Your Own MSW Personal Statement

When writing a personal statement for your MSW, it’s important to demonstrate your potential contribution to the field, critical thinking skills, and strong writing ability. If you follow these tips, you’ll be on your way to writing an effective personal statement that stands out.

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Practice Education in Social Work A Handbook for Practice Teachers, Assessors and Educators

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Msw personal statement, guidelines for preparing the social work interest and background statement also known as a personal statement.

The MSW Admissions Committee is interested in knowing more about you. Your response to the questions below will help the reviewers better understand your background, interests, goals, and suitability for the MSW program. Please take time to examine these questions and critically reflect on your experiences within the context of social work practice. Two to three paragraphs are expected for each question with a complete statement of five to seven pages (12 pt font and double spaced).

Factors to be considered in the evaluation of applicants' statement:

• Personal qualities such as the capacity for self-awareness, maturity, genuine interest in addressing social problems and helping people in need, respect for human dignity, sensitivity, and responsiveness in relationships, openness to cultural and ethnic diversity, the potential for cultural humility, commitment to promoting social and economic justice, and work ethic.
• Potential for professional competence; genuine interest in and a strong commitment to the social work profession.
• Strong academic commitment to perform successfully in the MSW program.
• An ability to engage in abstract reasoning, to think analytically and conceptually, to demonstrate critical thinking skills, and to formulate well-reasoned mature judgments.
• Strong writing skills- the statement is cohesive, clear, well-organized, free of grammatical errors, and formatted correctly.

Questions to be answered in paragraph form to build a personal statement

• What does social work mean to you? Why do you want to be a social worker? When you think about yourself as a professional social worker, what do you see as your strengths and areas for development?
• How have your personal background and experiences, and your undergraduate academic work prepared you for a career in social work?
• Describe how your personal experiences with diverse populations have contributed to your interest and readiness for social work practice. What were you taught from your family of origin about people different from yourself? What have you chosen to keep and what have you chosen to discard from this learning as you have developed your own current personal values and beliefs about people racially or ethnically different from yourself?
• Describe a specific experience (personal or work-related) that raised ethical, legal, or value-related issues. Discuss your thoughts, underlying values, and what steps you took to resolve the situation.
• How have you been engaged in advocating and promoting social and economic justice? Please provide an example. What kind of unmet needs did you observe? Did you try to tackle these unmet needs? What worked, what did not, and why? What would you do differently?
• Tell us the ways you are connected to your community. What do you expect to give back to your community following the completion of your MSW degree?
• Why is the MSW program at CSUMB a good fit for your academic and career goals? What knowledge and skills are you hoping to gain by attending our MSW program (e.g. Practice, policy, research, clinical, advocacy, etc.?).
• Additionally, what are your strategies for success in graduate school? The social work program is rigorous, requiring 60 units of coursework and 960 hours (16 hours a week for 4 semesters) of field internships at human services agencies. How will you meet these challenges? How will you juggle the educational demands and other responsibilities in your life?

PPSC: School Social Work & Child Welfare Attendance Applicants - be certain to incorporate the following in your personal statement

• Tell us about your interest in school social work and your long-term career goals.
• Please describe your professional experience in a K-12 setting.
• Reflecting on your personal K-12 experience, what was the relationship that your family had with your school? What were the messages you received at school early on?
• Touch upon your personal and/or professional experiences with English Learners (ELs), Migrant students, and students with disabilities. Please share your experience with all three groups.

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Crafting a Compelling Teaching Personal Statement

Your teaching personal statement needs to give an insight into your personality, teaching style & unique qualities only you hold. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of writing a compelling teaching personal statement.

The best personal statements are more than just a list of experiences and achievements. A personal statement which tells a compelling story will always compel the reader to want to find out more. If you keep your philosophy as the central theme and ensure that you use examples of practice which link back to that, it will ensure that your personal statement is a coherent and interesting piece of writing.

What Inspired You:

Begin by reflecting on what motivated you to become a teacher. Headteachers want to understand your background, inspiration, the reason you trained as a teacher and why you want to teach your specialism. Highlight your passion for teaching and your genuine desire to make a positive impact on students’ lives.

Showcase Key Achievements:

Highlight your career achievements, qualifications and teaching milestones that you’re most proud of. Demonstrate your ability to drive student progress and results through concrete examples throughout your teaching personal statement. If you’re an early career teacher, discuss your teaching placements, voluntary work, or even include any quotes from observation reports.

Showcase Teaching Skills:

Demonstrate your teaching skills by providing specific examples. Discuss successful teaching strategies you’ve employed, innovative lesson plans you’ve created, or how you’ve adapted to meet the needs of diverse learners. Highlight any extracurricular involvement, such as coaching sports teams or leading clubs, which showcases your dedication to students’ holistic development.

Keep It Concise and Well-Structured:

Teaching personal statements should be clear, concise, and well-structured. Aim for a maximum of 500-600 words. Use headings or bullet points to organize your content. Start with a captivating opening paragraph and conclude with a strong summary of your qualifications and enthusiasm for teaching.

Proofread and Edit:

Thoroughly proofread your teaching personal statement to eliminate grammatical errors, typos, or awkward phrasing. Consider seeking feedback from mentors, colleagues, or friends to ensure clarity and impact. Editing is crucial to present yourself as a professional and detail-oriented teacher.

Show Enthusiasm:

Infuse your teaching personal statement with enthusiasm and optimism. Convey your passion for teaching, showcase your qualifications, and demonstrate your commitment to fostering student growth. A positive and enthusiastic tone can be infectious and leave a lasting impression.

To conclude, your teaching personal statement is your chance to shine as a teacher. Get personal. Write about what makes YOU in the classroom.

For further support and tips, please reach out to Gemma Yates.

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Master of Social Work - Guidelines for Preparing the Personal Statement

Guidelines for Preparing the Personal Statement (~600-800 words)

This statement must be included in your application for admission. The autobiographic statement details your interest in social work, including personal experiences, strengths, values and beliefs that will contribute to your competence as a social worker. The autobiographic statement should be a carefully prepared document that is typed and double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and 10-12 font. Please place your name at the top right hand margin on each page and number pages at the bottom center.

Please address the following: 

• Describe in detail your personal understanding of social work as a profession. 
• Discuss your interest in rural/non-urban social work practice 
• What factors influenced your decision to seek graduate social work education at Jacksonville State University? If you have worked or trained in another field, why are you now considering a career change? 
• Describe the intellectual and personal qualifications that will enable you to practice social work successfully in non-urban/rural social work, for example collaboration with others, leadership ability, ability to empathize, communication and language skills. What limitations do you see in your work experiences, skills, or other attributes, including your awareness of your personal biases that you want to address to ensure your effectiveness in practicing social work? 
• How will you balance outside responsibilities with academic responsibilities? 
• Discuss your notable accomplishments, such as related work experience, military experience, volunteer services, other academic accomplishments, etc.

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• Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS)

BASW England has developed refreshed standards to promote the development, and awareness, of Professional Standards in Social Work Education within the social work profession and with people with lived experience of social work.

It is hoped that this document will be used to promote the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) and lead to a wider understanding of the role of the practice educator (PE) by students, employers and anyone involved in practice education.

Additional information on PEPS

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BASW England Practice Educator Professional Standards for social work (PEPS) 2022 presentation sets out the context and journey for the PEPS refresh which was carried out by the BASW England Steering Group.

Additional resources

The Centre of Excellence in Practice Learning is coordinated by the Greater Cambridgeshire Teaching Partnership. Registration is free and there is free access to the Journal of Practice Education. Resources will be posted on here which are relevant for PE’s, students, OSS and users of services.  Find out more  https://coepl.ning.com .

Jenni Burton (Chair of the Professional Capabilities & Development group ) - Read Jenni’s latest blog 

Access BASW England Practice Educator Professional Standards for social work (PEPS) 2022

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View FAQs here 

A statement published by BASW in March 2022 announced the pending review of the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) published by BASW in 2020.  Following a period of productive consultation with key partners the reviewed document is now ready to share and put into practice in the next academic year.  

The reviewed document includes guidance and assessment that is fully integrated with the values for social work practice and provides a contemporary and comprehensive set of guidance for PEPS providers, HEI’s and PEPS trainees.

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Ask the expert: ‘What do I include in my social work personal statement?’

We asked you to share your social work career questions with our resident expert, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly. Here, Dame Lorna answers queries from a student social worker and a practitioner looking to progress in their career.

How do I become an advanced practitioner?

Dear Dame Lorna

I qualified in 2014 and since then I have been working with older adults and adults with physical disability. I’m keen to explore the alternative career pathway of advanced social work practitioner / strategic social worker.

I’ve not seen these positions advertised, and I don’t know what qualifications I would need or how to achieve them. Qualifications so far: BA (hons) first class; BIA (best interests assessor) master’s; PEPS (practice educator professional standards) 1 and 2 master’s.

What can you suggest?

Many thanks

Dear Angela,

Thank you for your letter.

Your letter made me wonder about the current setting in which you are employed. By this I mean are you employed by a local authority in the positions that you have mentioned? Or are you in the private or voluntary sectors? Also, is your title that of social worker?

In answering your question, I am going to assume that you are employed as a social worker by a local authority.

And given you hold the PEPS 1 and 2 qualifications, I assume that you have been supporting students as a practice educator.

My advice is that you discuss your aspiration to make progress in your career with your line manager.  This should be as part of a focused conversation around your professional development and the opportunities in your current organisation.

This focused conversation should be possible in the annual discussions that will normally take place; these are sometimes referred to as an appraisal or job review.

However, if this is not a conversation you are comfortable to have with your line manager, then you need to look at roles in the adult social care sector that could best help your development and support your progress to holding a more senior/strategic position.

It would assist your development to use your skills and experience to support the advancement of newly qualified social workers or take on roles where you are managing people,  resources/systems or practice.

These roles may not be advertised externally. You will need to look at the job advertising platforms of the local authorities in your scope.

Furthermore, you could think about looking outside of your current employer (if it is a local authority) to roles in the health sector.

We do hope that we’ll see you at Community Care Live 2023 in October, where there will be opportunities to explore career progression within the public and charity sectors and have one-to-one discussions about vacant roles in these organisations.

All best wishes

What do I include in my personal statement?

Dear Dame Lorna,

I am a student social worker.

I am due to finish my MA social work course in September 2023.

All my placements were in the children and families’ sector. But I would like to apply for an adult social worker role. I don’t have much experience in the adults’ field, apart from working part time as a healthcare assistant. I don’t know what to include in my personal statement.

Dear Chinse,

Social work, while very rewarding, brings challenges in both adults’ and children’s services.

Having reflected on the above, your personal statement should address cases that you have held as a student where you have been working with the whole family. It should also include the transferable skills that you would take into working within the adult social care field.

To assist you, if you have not already completed your final placement, ask your practice educator to assist you in doing some observations/joint visits with a social worker working in adults’ services. You will then be able to reference this in your personal statement.

Within your personal statement you should also reflect on the relevant experience you have gained as a health care assistant. This may include any cases or clients you have supported with mental ill health, disability, or other adult-related social care issues.

You may also consider doing some paid or voluntary work in a care home or other adults’ services.

If you have not already read up on legislation and the application of these in the adult field, I would advise you to do so. This will include the following: (this list is not exhaustive);

• Care Act 2014 (if working in England) or Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (if in Wales);
• Mental Capacity Act 2005, including the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (covering England and Wales);
• Mental Health Act 1983 (also covering England and Wales).

In your personal statement, you need to show your understanding of the legislative framework and policies and your knowledge of strengths-based approaches in adult social care. Remember, the key will be how you demonstrate transferrable skills.

Do drop in and see us at the careers stand during this October’s Community Care Live event. This will also be an opportunity for you to explore adults’ social care job opportunities and options further.

Got a question?

Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly

Send your career questions to our resident expert, Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly, to get more clarity and guidance on your career progression plans.

Dame Lorna has over 30 years’ experience of leading and developing social care services. She has an unparalleled level of insight into frontline social work and is well-versed in the issues that affect practitioners today. For the last two years, she has delivered careers clinics to social workers at Community Care Live.

We will publish answers to the questions you send in to Dame Lorna every fortnight. Questions can be sent to  [email protected]

ask the expert , career development

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