How To Become An Outreach Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is an outreach worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Outreach workers are the representative of an organization to the community it's serving. Their duties vary depending on the target group of their organization. They maintain a pipeline of participants to fill the particular quota of their program. They liaise with referral partners and agents to ensure the programs meet the needs of their clients. Furthermore, they maintain a log of participant information and keep records as appropriate. This is to aid the tracking and recording of post-course progress and outcomes. Additionally, they participate in case management meetings.

Most outreach workers have at least an associate's degree in sociology, psychology, or a related field. Employers consider candidates with a degree in communications. You must possess communication, active listening, interpersonal, and organization skills. You can find employment in non-profit organizations that deal with people living in dangerous environments. Outreach workers make an average gross salary of $37,806. This falls between $28,000 and $52,000.

What general advice would you give to an outreach worker?

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Director of Field Education / Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, Carthage College

I think there are two critical skills for social workers, whether they are first entering the workforce or seasoned professionals. These skills are humility and an appreciation for ambiguity in our work. A humble approach to our work empowers clients to become experts on their circumstances. Social workers are then positioned in a collaborative role to help clients use existing skills and resources to improve their situations. An appreciation for ambiguity is closely related to the idea of humility. It helps us to remember that practice situations we face in this field are often far more complicated than they appear on the surface. Thus, all social workers need to make a strong commitment to lifelong learning and ongoing consultation with colleagues to ensure that multiple perspectives are included as we work to solve complex problems.

ScoreOutreach WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,639

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.80%

Asian 6.17%

Black or African American 11.32%

Hispanic or Latino 23.49%

Unknown 4.83%

White 52.39%

Gender

female 69.18%

male 30.82%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an outreach worker

Explore outreach worker education requirements

Most common outreach worker degrees

Bachelor's

56.5 %

Associate

17.3 %

Master's

10.3 %

Start to develop specific outreach worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	12.93%
Autism	8.56%
Patients	8.08%
Crisis Intervention	7.57%
Substance Abuse	6.73%

Complete relevant outreach worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New outreach workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an outreach worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real outreach worker resumes.

Research outreach worker duties and responsibilities

Review and research leads regarding personal injury cases by obtaining information from the Medicaid recipient's attorney and insurance adjuster
Provide information and referral to patients regarding community resources and needs indicate, and advocate eliminating barriers to care.
Provide resources for the community regarding health care issues and rehabilitation.
Conduct client interviews clients to gather information, assess need, and determine appropriate Medicaid category of eligibility.

Prepare your outreach worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your outreach worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an outreach worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable outreach worker resume templates

Build a professional outreach worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your outreach worker resume.