1. Orientation to BSW Field practicum Session 2
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

2. AGENDA Welcome and Introductions Preparing for Field Student Workbooks
Self-assessment
What are your skills, values and interests?
Student Application for Field
Brief Resume
Q & A Session
Wrap up and evaluation
BSW FIELD PREPARATION SESSION 2

3. Getting to know yourself
Conducting a Skills Assessment:
the process of identifying the skills you can bring to a practicum or employment situation.
The Field Practicum is a competitive process.
It is imperative that you have a very clear sense of what you have to offer – what skills do you have that set you apart from everyone else?
BSW Field preparation session 2

4. Categories of Skills
Generally, your skills can be broken down into two categories:
Technical skills are specific to perform a particular task. Examples include computer skills, language skills, laboratory skills.
Generic Skills are often referred to as transferable since they can be easily transferred from one situation to another. Examples include communication skills, organizational skills, time management skills.
Remind students to not underestimate the value of generic skills because they are equally or in some situations more important than technical skills. Employers will often train new employees or students to develop their technical skills but usually find it hard to train or modify someone’s generic skills. For example, students who complete internships with CYFS will be train in the use of the CRMS system. This is considered a technical skill.
BSW Field Preparation Session 2

5. Remember…
Skills are acquired from all areas of your life including volunteering, projects and assignments at school, extracurricular activities…not just paid work experience. Don’t sell yourself short!
For each position/project/task you have done in your life, think about what you did, how you did it, and what you learned from doing it.
Quantify and qualify your skills when possible to provide some rich examples that demonstrate your skills.
BSW Field Preparation Session 1

6. Transferable skills
Students may not have work experience directly related to social work.
You can demonstrate skills that you do possess through employment experiences, volunteering or from coursework.
Through these experiences you can demonstrate transferable skills – usually generic – which potential internship sites are looking for in students.
Discussion regarding paid internships here
Bsw field preparation session 2

7. Transferable skills example
Position: Server in a fast-food restaurant
Duties: Take orders, serve tables, deal with customers
Transferable Skills:
Provided excellent customer service in a fast-paced environment with the ability to multi-task.
Maintained strong relationships with staff to ensure that orders were accurately and quickly delivered to customers.
How could this individual use these transferable skills to demonstrate their generic skills when seeking a social work internship?
After each bullet get students to identify the transferable skills.
customer service skills, multitasking, familiar with a fast paced environment
Teamwork, cooperation, customer service/quality
A good resume will describe your transferable skills, instead of merely describing what you did or your duties.
Internship agencies will expect students to be able to articulate your skills.
Circulate handouts:
Employability Skills (Publication of the Conference Board of Canada)
Skill related action verbs (Publication of Career Development & Experiential Learning, MUN)
Circulate ‘Skills’ worksheet and get students to complete the same. Debrief the activity. What have they learned about themselves, etc.
BSW field preparation session 2

8. Preparing for the field experience
Additional considerations:
Values
Interests
Personality Traits
Group discussion regarding the influence of work and personal values and areas of interest (or not) on the internship experience.
Values in the context of work values and personal values.
Interests as well in the context of work and personal. There are some interests that we have that we always want to keep in our personal domain as hobbies for instance. In relation to social work practice, there will be some areas of practice that we be of getter interest (and fit) to us than others.
This is an attempt to help students become more self aware as their prepare for field with respect to their personal belief systems, types of social work practice that may/may not be suitable for them, or any of their own stuff that they may need to sort out. As the students process this, it is important to distinguish that there is a difference in the learning context of stepping outside of your comfort zone vs. something that may not be a good fit for them as an individual. We can use an example to illustrate i.e. an internship within an religious social agency setting may not be a good fit for a student whose personal belief system differs significantly.
Have students complete the Values and Interests worksheets. Debrief and discussion.
Group discussion about personality traits – their own and those they consider important in a field instructor/supervisor. Having a good sense of self in this regard will help with the ‘fit’ of the internship experience. For example, individuals who require a lot of structure and directions in the work setting may have difficulty with some types of community placements. Handout ‘Personality Traits’ worksheet for completion.
Have students finish up with the ‘Prioritize your Skills, Values and Interests’ worksheet as a way to bring their self-assessment together.
BSW Field preparation session 2

9. The practicum process
Become familiar with the field documents on the School’s website
Let’s review:
BSW Student Application for Field
BSW Student Brief Resume
Pull up the website and show where the field information and appendices are located. Highlight orientation to field and the BSW Field Manual
BSW Field Preparation session 2

10. The End! Please complete the Evaluation Form
The Skills, Values, Interests and Personality Traits worksheets were taken from the Boston University School of Social Work
Social Work Career Guide 2009 Revision
BSW Field preparation session 2