Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
What is a senior social worker and how to become one
Senior social workers are highly experienced and skilled professionals that manage the support services in a community. They help ensure that support programs and services are available to as many people as possible and that people who seek these services are given the best care possible.
The key responsibilities of a senior social worker include coordinating with other social workers, generating monthly reports, referring individuals or families to support agencies, and overseeing the activities of subordinate staff. They also conduct interviews, provide counseling, and report potential abuse cases to the authorities. Furthermore, they conduct follow-ups on participants of support programs to assess their needs further.
To become a senior social worker, you would likely need an advanced degree in social work, psychology, or other relevant fields. However, bachelor's degree holders may still easily qualify for this role with enough job experience in a similar role.
A senior social worker can make an average of $73,000 per year, or roughly $35 an hour. In terms of work environment, they usually travel frequently for work to attend meetings, make house visits, and accompany clients to court hearings.
What general advice would you give to a senior social worker?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Avg. Salary $55,254
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 9%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.51%
Asian 2.67%
Black or African American 13.37%
Hispanic or Latino 15.12%
Unknown 4.19%
White 63.14%
Genderfemale 76.91%
male 23.09%
Age - 42American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 42Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
Senior social worker career paths
Key steps to become a senior social worker
Explore senior social worker education requirements
Start to develop specific senior social worker skills
Skills Percentages Social Work 40.98% Patients 10.97% Veterans 3.59% Treatment Services 3.17% Patient Care 2.99% Complete relevant senior social worker training and internships
Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior social 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 a senior social worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior social worker resumes.Obtain the necessary licensing
Becoming a licensed senior social worker usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed senior social worker in most of states. 32 states require senior social workers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.State Education Exam License url Kansas Degree required Third-party exam required Licensed Master Social Worker Alabama Degree required State exam required Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW) Arkansas Degree required Third-party exam required Licensed Certified Social Worker Hawaii Degree required Third-party exam required Licensed Social Worker Idaho Degree required Third-party exam required Social Workers Research senior social worker duties and responsibilities
- Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
- Refer customers to other community agencies such as clinics, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation services.
- Facilitate family meetings to provide support and psycho-education to patients and their family members and to discuss discharge planning.
- Supervise students in MSW programs and high school programs.
Get senior social worker experience
Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior social worker. The most common roles before becoming a senior social worker include social worker, social work internship team lead and internship.Prepare your senior social worker resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior social 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 a senior social 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 senior social worker resume templates
Build a professional senior social 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 senior social worker resume.
Apply for senior social worker jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a senior social worker job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first senior social worker job
Are you a senior social worker?
Share your story for a free salary report.
Average senior social worker salary
The average senior social worker salary in the United States is $55,254 per year or $27 per hour. Senior social worker salaries range between $40,000 and $75,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do senior social workers rate their job?
Senior social worker reviews
Working collaboratively with clients to help them understand themselves and experience their authentic selves. Learning from my clients.
Low pay
Serving people, impacting change in communities, never boring
pay is low for what you need to do
Making a positive impact for my client that they wanted.
The accredited MSW should be sufficient to practice the specialized areas of social work. The Ridiculous testing after so much schooling is further decreasing our earning power. This is causing the averaged alumni with a MSW to work knowing they are just a few paychecks shy of seeking someone within our own profession for help. The LICENSE should be based on confirmation of school accreditation and graduation...not re-testing. Quite frankly, it's insulting to all MSW graduates! The excessive paperwork places Additional undue stress upon SW and should be trimmed as much as possible. This also applies to the Health Information Technology (HIT) selected by the company. The HIT should have the capabilities to process forms necessary for daily work, data collection, and. ease of access.
Updated January 8, 2025
