A satisfying career by serving society

If you wish to make a difference to the society you live in by contributing in more ways than one: be it engaging in community building or doing something fruitful in the field of healthcare for the lesser privileged or even wish to be a part of research project based on community or peoples participation by knowing peoples pulse, arming yourself with a degree in Social work or a formal training in field of social work is just the right thing to do.

Social Work, which, was not recognized till about a a decade and a half ago as a serious career option, has in the past gained substantial ground in terms of number of students taking it up as a career option and even many other professionals have quit their cushy jobs have taken up social work instead to make a difference to the society.

Consequently, there are several universities which have been offering certificate courses, diploma courses, masters degree and even doctoral and post doctoral options and specialisation in social work.

In fact, many NGOs, social marketing firms and even MNCs hire students through campus interviews and hold placements sessions for both short term projects as well as offer them long term employment for various projects. As per Christ Universitys department of Social work which offers courses in Social Work at various level, the Mission of Social Work education is to help trainee professionals develop positive attitude towards individuals and groups in disadvantaged situations by inculcating professional ethics, beliefs in human values and strengths, respect for individuals, integrity, commitment and obligation towards society along with knowledge and competence required for the professional as well as societal development.

Social work as a profession is structured to promote social changes, enhance social functioning and enrich meaning in human relations through empowerment, liberation, inquiry and problem solving.

The profession believes in the dignity and worth of every individual for his or her fullest realization of capacities and adjustment with society. Social Work is based on interdisciplinary theories and approaches which are found highly useful for application in social work practices.

Sapna Kareem, HR manager and volunteer, Janaagraha, says, “ Students equipped with adegree in social work is always an added advantage. However, at the same time it depends on NGO and the projects that they are involved in. We have been holding campus interviews for almost all the institutes in the region and even for Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

Over two dozen volunteers with us are all armed with Masters degree in social work and many have even done their specialisation in community service, healthcare etc”.

Prof Nirmal Das, one of the faculty members at St Josephs College which offers both bachelors and masters degree in the area of Social Work says, “ We get diverse students from across the country who come from science, arts, commerce backgrounds.

The course is a community oriented, rigorous, intensive one which has 40 per cent theory and the remaining is field oriented work and involves various activities such as working twice in a week with NGOs, field work every week like going to rural areas to give the students an exposure to know what lies ahead once the course is over. Most of the students are transformed at the end of the course itself and see a lot of change in them owing to their engaging in the community work beforehand. Because of the formal training, the employablity of the students become very high and we have seen 100 per cent placement for our students in the past.

Not just NGOs, the students can work with MNC as well for their mandatory Corporate social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Many of our students are working with government centres, with noted NGOsa dn some of them are even working with the United Nation for various projects”, he added.