Social Service Workers
Job description
These individuals intervene with persons, families, groups, and communities facing social problems. They plan, develop, and implement intervention programs in collaboration with Social Workers. They organize and lead group workshops and community service programs. They work for:
- Hospital centres
- Rehabilitation centres
- Residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs)
- Community and social action organizations
- Youth centres and detention centres
- Educational institutions
- The federal and provincial governments
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Violence
Main tasks
- Conduct interviews to identify the needs of individuals as well as their individual and environmental resources.
- Provide the professional assistance needed to detect situations of conflict and eliminate tension.
- Support, advise, and supervise the activities of individuals living in group homes (youth centres, residential centres for people with disabilities, CHSLDs, homeless shelters, etc.).
- Use different methods, approaches, and techniques (one-on-one interviews, group facilitation, social activities, etc.) to intervene effectively with individuals.
- Follow up with these individuals to evaluate their progress, encourage them, and discuss problems encountered.
- Promote the defence of individual and collective rights and foster social change.
- Refer people to other social services and help them find and use them.
- Work in collaboration with other stakeholders (Police Officers, Correctional Service Officers, Specialized Educators, etc.).
- Supervise volunteers and co-workers as required.
Advancement and mobility
- Experience and additional training lead to Marriage or Family Therapist, Social Worker, or Probation Officer positions.
Training and requirements
Formation
Sometimes required
- Experience in a social services or support services environment may be a substitute for educational requirements for certain occupations.
- Training in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may be required.
- A Class 5 driver's licence may be required.
- Certification or diploma related to the duties of the position or industry may be required.
- Membership in a regulatory body may be required.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Active listening
- Oral expression
- Judgment and decision-making
- Social perception
- Critical thought
- Persuasion
- Coordination
- Solving complex problems
- Information processing
- Learning strategies
- Time management
- Teaching
- Active learning
- Negotiation
- Reading comprehension
- Written expression
Abilities
- Information organization
- Awareness of issues
- Speech clarity
- Perception speed
- Originality
- Verbal skills
- Information processing speed
- Inductive reasoning
- Idea generation
- Time sharing
- Reaction time
- Auditory attention
- Selective attention
- Deductive reasoning
- Oral comprehension
- Classification
- Written comprehension
- Overall coordination of the body
- Overall balance of the body
- Hearing sensitivity
- Written expression
- Dynamic physical flexibility
- Speech recognition
- Near vision
Knowledge and attributes
- Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
- Autonomy
- Capacity to adapt
- Capacity to work in a team
- Tolerance to stress
- Creativity
- Sense of observation
- Patience
- Open-mindedness
- Knowledge of psychology
Interests
- Direct, organize, and manage
- Watch, defend, and secure
- Create, design
- Assist and advise
- Teach or educate
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
- Enterprising
- People with this profile prefer having responsibilities, influencing others and responding to challenges.
- Investigative
- People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
Appellation d'emploi liée (à traduire)
Social and community service workers (CNP 42201)
Skill type
Education, law and social, community and government services
Related occupations
- Accommodation service managers
- Educational counsellors
- Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- Instructors of persons with disabilities
- Managers in social, community and correctional services
- Social and community service workers
- Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- Social workers
- Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies
Last update: February 14, 2024