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Senior social worker skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted experts
Matt Grace,
Dr. Dianna Cooper
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical senior social worker skills. We ranked the top skills for senior social workers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 41.0% of senior social worker resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a senior social worker needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 senior social worker skills for your resume and career

1. Social Work

Here's how senior social workers use social work:
  • Participated in family therapy seminars and grand rounds and provided clinical supervision to on-call crisis team social workers and Para-professionals.
  • Secured joint commission accreditation through the development and implementation of improved policy and procedures for the social work department.

2. Patients

Here's how senior social workers use patients:
  • Collaborated with inpatient multidisciplinary team with Medicare Risk Case Managers to develop appropriate discharge plans for high risk geriatric patients.
  • Facilitated family meetings to provide support and psycho-education to patients and their family members and to discuss discharge planning.

3. Veterans

Here's how senior social workers use veterans:
  • Provide individualized intensive case management services to assist Veterans with overcoming barriers to maintaining stable housing.
  • Collaborated with other hospital departments to streamline services for homeless veterans.

4. Treatment Services

Here's how senior social workers use treatment services:
  • Worked closely with other treatment providers to ensure the delivery of appropriate treatment services.
  • Provide treatment services for a variety of complex client social service needs.

5. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how senior social workers use patient care:
  • Facilitated and coordinated patient care by achieving efficient utilization of resources for targeted population.
  • Participated in daily multidisciplinary rounds and weekly case conferences to discuss patient care.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how senior social workers use rehabilitation:
  • Referred customers to other community agencies such as clinics, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation services.
  • Conducted patient chart reviews for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accreditation.

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7. Psychosocial Assessments

Here's how senior social workers use psychosocial assessments:
  • Investigated complex cases regarding abuse and neglect and provided immediate crisis intervention and completed psychosocial assessments.
  • Completed permanency hearing reports, FASPS, psychosocial assessments and other necessary paperwork.

8. MSW

Here's how senior social workers use msw:
  • Coordinate selection process for and training of MSW Interns.
  • Supervised five Youth Counselors and two MSW student interns.

9. Discharge Planning

Here's how senior social workers use discharge planning:
  • Facilitated family counseling, individual supportive and group therapy sessions; recommended discharge planning for individual.
  • Participated in discharge planning for assigned residents in collaboration with interdisciplinary team.

10. Substance Abuse

Here's how senior social workers use substance abuse:
  • Provided group and individual substance abuse counseling to clients in a therapeutic community setting.
  • Group and individual psychotherapy in an intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment setting.

11. English Language

Here's how senior social workers use english language:
  • Promoted economic development by designing and creating English language websites for local businesses.
  • Provided social services including English language course to the migrant workers waiting for day jobs.

12. Mental Illness

Here's how senior social workers use mental illness:
  • Coordinated housing for Homeless Veteran Population diagnosed with Severe Mental Illness.
  • Perform initial and ongoing clinical assessment of women with severe mental illness.

13. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how senior social workers use community agencies:
  • Utilized and collaborated with other community agencies to improve client status and restore them to self-sufficiency.
  • Assisted patients/families with referrals to community agencies and provided education and resource information.

14. Foster Care

Here's how senior social workers use foster care:
  • Manage Foster Care and Adoption cases as well as Foster Care Prevention and CPS Ongoing cases and monitor progress.
  • Coordinate safety plans together with the family and/or alternate setting such as foster care or safety plan with relatives.

15. Social Services

Here's how senior social workers use social services:
  • Ensured social services provisions empowered residents to achieve self-sufficiency and independence.
  • Completed initial assessments and determined level of Social Services intervention.
top-skills

What skills help Senior Social Workers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on senior social worker resumes?

Matt Grace

Assistant Professor, Hamilton College

I have never been in a position to hire, but I do think there are some skills that all employers value. Foremost are oral and written communication skills. Regardless of the specifics of a job, chances are that you'll need to know how to effectively convey information, whether that's in the form of a presentation, a report, or even an email. Having worked in an office job prior to entering academia, I can't tell you how many of my co-workers were unable to craft a simple, coherent e-mail. This might seem trivial, but e-mail miscommunication can slow down a project or lead to internal tensions on a team. Second, while many higher education institutions are pushing students to learn to code, I think data literacy is just as important. The ability to distill trends and tell a story from data are vital skills for any company seeking to connect with the public.

What soft skills should all senior social workers possess?

Dr. Dianna Cooper

Associate Professor, Campbellsville University

The "change theory" used in social work practice follows several steps, including engaging, assessing, planning, intervening, evaluating, terminating, and following up. Soft skills are most likely to occur in engagement, intervention, and termination. Social workers are trained to "start wherever the client is," understanding that clients can be individuals, families, groups, communities, or organizations. Social workers are trained to respect the client as the expert in their needs, honor self-determination, use a strengths-based approach, and respect difference while using inclusion. The training turns into soft skills such as being empathetic, warm, genuine, and respectful. Social workers also develop skills in knowing when to listen and when to nudge the client toward action. Social workers are trained to intervene and, when change is completed, to terminate. Helping clients know when to end services also requires soft skills of talking about hard topics, seeing a brighter future and setting goals, recognizing when change is happening, and saying goodbye respectfully.

What hard/technical skills are most important for senior social workers?

Dr. Dianna Cooper

Associate Professor, Campbellsville University

Hard or technical skills are most likely to occur in the stages of assessing, planning, intervening, and evaluating change theory. Social workers are trained to gather lots of information and then analyze strengths and needs. Social workers present their assessments to clients and work together to create goals and the steps that reach goals when executed. The process involves using the client's vision of what "better" looks like. Social workers then use evidence-based techniques to move the client toward the goal and define measures to know when the goal is met. The technical skills used in this process include analyzing many types of information repeatedly, knowing what resources exist and how to refer, knowing how to design effective goals and steps to achieve goals, researching current evidence-based practices, defining and measuring progress, and setting limits and timeframes.

What senior social worker skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.

Associate Dean, University of Nevada - Reno

The need for social workers with expertise in mental health care, school-based social work, health and substance misuse are particularly important. Sixty percent of mental health care in the US is provided by social workers and the need is growing.

What type of skills will young senior social workers need?

Jacqueline Burse Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Because of the impact of COVID-19, racial, political, and economic issues, it will be critical for master's level social work graduates to hone in on their advanced clinical skills (assessment, evaluation, counseling/therapy) in efforts to address mental health and wellness.

What technical skills for a senior social worker stand out to employers?

William WestonWilliam Weston LinkedIn profile

Professor, Centre College

The ability to write clearly and think critically. The deep sense that other people in other cultures, and other positions in our own culture, see the world differently, enabling students to respond to a broad range of people appropriately.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about senior social worker

List of senior social worker skills to add to your resume

Senior social worker skills

The most important skills for a senior social worker resume and required skills for a senior social worker to have include:

  • Social Work
  • Patients
  • Veterans
  • Treatment Services
  • Patient Care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Psychosocial Assessments
  • MSW
  • Discharge Planning
  • Substance Abuse
  • English Language
  • Mental Illness
  • Community Agencies
  • Foster Care
  • Social Services
  • Clinical Supervision
  • Service Delivery
  • Compassion
  • Mental Health
  • CPS
  • Family Therapy
  • Group Therapy
  • Home Health
  • Senior Care
  • Protective Services
  • Law Enforcement
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Child Welfare
  • Child Protective
  • Community Services
  • Medical Care
  • Individual Therapy
  • Clinical Services
  • Community Resources
  • Domestic Violence
  • Financial Assistance
  • Intake Assessments
  • Support Services
  • Provide Emotional Support
  • DBT
  • Court Reports
  • Court Hearings
  • Medicaid
  • Community Outreach
  • Collateral Contacts
  • PTSD
  • Medical Professionals
  • Crisis Situations
  • Child Care

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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