How long does it take to become a Social Work Internship?

It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a social work internship. That is the time it takes to learn specific social work internship skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 6 to 8 years years to become a social work internship.

How To Become A Social Work Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a social work internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Virginia Schwindt

Students doing a social work internship observe professional social workers or field instructors and assist them in their job. Their progress is supervised by a professor and is evaluated with credits, like any other academic activity. As such, it is part of the academic curriculum, not a paid position.

However, it might prove essential in landing an actual social worker job later on. A social work internship provides valuable learning opportunities allowing you to apply concepts discussed in class to real-life situations. It is an excellent moment to try to establish professional contacts as well.

Don't be afraid to challenge yourself on the job. Try out your newly discovered skills, ask questions, and take in the experience of the clients of the services as well, not just the staff. After completing a social work internship, you will have all the tools at your disposal to be successful at an interesting and emotionally rewarding job.

What general advice would you give to a social work internship?

Virginia Schwindt

MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University

Take the licensing test as soon as you are able to, and be open to where you work. It is great to want a specific population or employer, but being open to other experiences may be where God wants you to be. Don't limit yourself because, as a social worker, you can do so many different things.

ScoreSocial Work InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,178

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.17%

Asian 7.28%

Black or African American 12.40%

Hispanic or Latino 18.74%

Unknown 5.18%

White 54.23%

Gender

female 81.70%

male 18.30%

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 a social work internship

Explore social work internship education requirements

Most common social work internship degrees

Bachelor's

75.1 %

Master's

12.7 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific social work internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	16.13%
Social Work	9.84%
Intake Assessments	6.76%
Mental Health	6.62%
Community Resources	5.94%

Complete relevant social work internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New social work interns 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 social work internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real social work internship resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed social work internship usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed social work internship in most of states. 32 states require social work interns 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 social work internship duties and responsibilities

Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary team to provide necessary referrals and counseling to achieve establish patient goals.
Participate in program development relate to identify needs of oncology population
Provide emotional support and referrals to veterans and family members/ significant others in support of veteran's treatment.

Prepare your social work internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your social work internship 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 social work internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable social work internship resume templates

Build a professional social work internship 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 social work internship resume.

Apply for social work internship jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a social work internship 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 do social work interns rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Social work internship reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Pros

Working collaboratively with clients to help them understand themselves and experience their authentic selves. Learning from my clients.

Cons

Low pay

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Serving people, impacting change in communities, never boring

Cons

pay is low for what you need to do

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

Making a positive impact for my client that they wanted.

Cons

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.

What is a social work internship and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a social work internship?

Social work internship career paths

Key steps to become a social work internship

Explore social work internship education requirements

Most common social work internship degrees

Start to develop specific social work internship skills

Complete relevant social work internship training and internships

Obtain the necessary licensing

Research social work internship duties and responsibilities

Prepare your social work internship resume

Choose from 10+ customizable social work internship resume templates

Apply for social work internship jobs

How did you land your first social work internship job

Average social work internship salary

How do social work interns rate their job?

Social work internship reviews

Social work internship FAQs

How long does it take to become a Social Work Internship?

Search for social work internship jobs

Social work internship jobs by state