Hot Tip -- by Warren Werle

If you've read the articles in this month's nextSteps magazine, you've already been given some great ideas about the opportunities out there for social workers, as well as some ideas about the different jobs we social workers do.

One of the most effective ways to checkout social work careers and one of the best ways to "break into" this business is through volunteering. Many social workers earned their first jobs as a direct result of volunteering (like me). No need to go into great detail about more of the benefits of volunteering as we did that back in March 1998. (You may also want to have a look at another Hot Tip related to volunteering.)

Although we covered the topic previously, the whole idea of volunteering is worth mentioning again, especially for all you budding young social workers. Volunteering does many things (read the Hot Tip article!) but for potential social workers it's a must.

Did you know that to enter into the Mount Royal College social work diploma program one of the admission requirements is at least 50 hours of volunteer and/or social work experience in a social services agency? Did you know that "relevant volunteer/ work experience in a social work setting" accounts for 20 per cent of the criteria used in determining whether or not you will be admitted into the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary? You can be a great student but without that volunteer component, well, good luck.

So get out there and volunteer. You'll not only get all the benefits mentioned in the March '98 Hot Tip, but you'll also get a good idea if that type of work is for you while having a much needed component when you apply to post-secondary institutions. Volunteer Calgary is a great place to begin looking for opportunities.

(Warren Werle is a career counsellor at the Calgary Youth Employment Centre.)