Overview
All Social Workers
-
$1,829 Weekly Pay
-
Very strong Future Growth
-
40,300 workers Employment Size
-
Very high skill Skill level rating
-
64% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
41 hours Average full-time
-
42 years Average age
-
84% female Gender Share
Social Workers assess the social needs of individuals, families and groups, assist and empower people to develop and use the skills and resources needed to resolve social and other problems, and further human wellbeing and human rights, social justice and social development.
Either a bachelor degree in social work or a bachelor in a related field followed by a masters in social work is needed to work as a Social Worker.
Tasks
- acting as a facilitator between clients in need and community services
- assessing resources for health, welfare, recreation, housing, employment and other community services
- providing leadership and assistance for the implementation of pilot projects in community development and self-help, and planning and implementing research projects to address client needs, organisation goals and social policy
- cooperating with community organisations, social agencies and voluntary groups to improve services and develop new services
- conducting individual and family case interviews to identify the nature and extent of clients' problems
- assisting clients to understand and resolve problems by providing information, acting as a mediator and referring them to community and self-help agencies
- analysing, developing, promoting and implementing social policies through the use of practice experience, research, analytic frameworks, and negotiation skills to respond to social need through a fair, equitable and effective allocation of social resource
- monitoring the progress of clients by maintaining contact
- compiling case records and reports
Prospects
The number of people working as Social Workers (in their main job) grew very strongly over 5 years:
from 30,400 in 2014 to 40,300 in 2019.
Caution: The Australian jobs market is changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with extreme caution.
- Size: This is a large occupation.
- Location: Social Workers work in many regions of Australia.
- Industries: Most work in Health Care and Social Assistance; Public Administration and Safety; and Education and Training.
- Earnings: Full-time workers on an adult wage earn around $1,829 per week (very high compared to the average of $1,460). Earnings tend to be lower when starting out and higher as experience grows.
- Full-time: Many work full-time (64%, similar to the average of 66%).
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 41 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 42 years (compared to the average of 40 years).
- Gender: 84% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
Employment Outlook
Caution: The 2019 employment projections do not take account of any impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and are therefore no longer reflective of current labour market conditions. As such, they should be used, and interpreted, with extreme caution. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission trend data to May 2019 and projections to 2024.
Weekly Earnings
Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (cat. no. 6306.0), May 2018, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Main Industries
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Industries are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC 06).
States and Territories
NSW
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
ACT
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian States and Territories, in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Profile
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Education Level
Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Pathways
Either a bachelor degree in social work or a bachelor in a related field followed by a masters in social work is needed to work as a Social Worker.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
- ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
Skills & Knowledge
Employers look for Social Workers who are responsible and independent, yet who can also work well in a team.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Therapy and counselling
Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.
-
Psychology
Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
-
Clerical
Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.
-
Philosophy and theology
Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Law and government
How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
Medicine and dentistry
Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
Foreign language
Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
-
Telecommunications
Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Learning strategies
Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Persuasion
Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.
-
Systems evaluation
Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Operations analysis
Understanding needs and product requirements to create a design.
-
Negotiation
Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Written comprehension
Read and understand written information.
-
Written expression
Write in a way that people can understand.
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Brainstorming
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Originality
Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Far vision
See details that are far away.
-
Flexibility of closure
See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Speed of recognition
Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
-
Memorization
Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
-
Multitasking
Do two or more things at the same time.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Helping and caring for others
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Negotiating and resolving conflicts
Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.
-
Working with the public
Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.
-
Keeping your knowledge up-to-date
Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Giving expert advice
Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups.
-
Documenting or recording information
Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Communicating with the public
Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Training and teaching others
Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Providing office support
Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.
-
Checking compliance with standards
Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
-
Leading and encouraging a team
Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
-
Working with computers
Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1022.00 - Healthcare Social Workers.
Work Environment
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Electronic mail
Use electronic mail.
-
Telephone
Talk on the telephone.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Contact with the public
Work with customers or the public.
-
Disease or infection
Be exposed to disease or infections.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Freedom to make decisions
Have freedom to make decision on your own.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Letters and memos
Write letters and memos.
-
Angry or unpleasant people
Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.
-
Conflict situations
Deal with conflict or disagreements.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Lead or coordinate a team
Lead others to do work activities.
-
Spend time sitting
Spend time sitting at work.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
-
Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
-
Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
-
Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
-
Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
-
Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
-
Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.
-
Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
-
Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
-
Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
-
Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1022.00 - Healthcare Social Workers.
All Social Workers
-
$1,829 Weekly Pay
-
Very strong Future Growth
-
40,300 workers Employment Size
-
Very high skill Skill level rating
-
64% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
41 hours Average full-time
-
42 years Average age
-
84% female Gender Share
Social Workers assess the social needs of individuals, families and groups, assist and empower people to develop and use the skills and resources needed to resolve social and other problems, and further human wellbeing and human rights, social justice and social development.
Either a bachelor degree in social work or a bachelor in a related field followed by a masters in social work is needed to work as a Social Worker.
Tasks
- acting as a facilitator between clients in need and community services
- assessing resources for health, welfare, recreation, housing, employment and other community services
- providing leadership and assistance for the implementation of pilot projects in community development and self-help, and planning and implementing research projects to address client needs, organisation goals and social policy
- cooperating with community organisations, social agencies and voluntary groups to improve services and develop new services
- conducting individual and family case interviews to identify the nature and extent of clients' problems
- assisting clients to understand and resolve problems by providing information, acting as a mediator and referring them to community and self-help agencies
- analysing, developing, promoting and implementing social policies through the use of practice experience, research, analytic frameworks, and negotiation skills to respond to social need through a fair, equitable and effective allocation of social resource
- monitoring the progress of clients by maintaining contact
- compiling case records and reports
The number of people working as Social Workers (in their main job) grew very strongly over 5 years:
from 30,400 in 2014 to 40,300 in 2019.
Caution: The Australian jobs market is changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with extreme caution.
- Size: This is a large occupation.
- Location: Social Workers work in many regions of Australia.
- Industries: Most work in Health Care and Social Assistance; Public Administration and Safety; and Education and Training.
- Earnings: Full-time workers on an adult wage earn around $1,829 per week (very high compared to the average of $1,460). Earnings tend to be lower when starting out and higher as experience grows.
- Full-time: Many work full-time (64%, similar to the average of 66%).
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 41 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 42 years (compared to the average of 40 years).
- Gender: 84% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
Employment Outlook
Caution: The 2019 employment projections do not take account of any impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and are therefore no longer reflective of current labour market conditions. As such, they should be used, and interpreted, with extreme caution. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission trend data to May 2019 and projections to 2024.
Weekly Earnings
Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (cat. no. 6306.0), May 2018, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Main Industries
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Industries are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC 06).
States and Territories
NSW
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
ACT
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian States and Territories, in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Profile
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Education Level
Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Either a bachelor degree in social work or a bachelor in a related field followed by a masters in social work is needed to work as a Social Worker.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
- ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
Employers look for Social Workers who are responsible and independent, yet who can also work well in a team.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Therapy and counselling
Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.
-
Psychology
Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
-
Clerical
Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.
-
Philosophy and theology
Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Law and government
How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
Medicine and dentistry
Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
Foreign language
Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
-
Telecommunications
Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Learning strategies
Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Persuasion
Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.
-
Systems evaluation
Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Operations analysis
Understanding needs and product requirements to create a design.
-
Negotiation
Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Written comprehension
Read and understand written information.
-
Written expression
Write in a way that people can understand.
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Brainstorming
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Originality
Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Far vision
See details that are far away.
-
Flexibility of closure
See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Speed of recognition
Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
-
Memorization
Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
-
Multitasking
Do two or more things at the same time.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Helping and caring for others
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Negotiating and resolving conflicts
Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.
-
Working with the public
Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.
-
Keeping your knowledge up-to-date
Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Giving expert advice
Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups.
-
Documenting or recording information
Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Communicating with the public
Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Training and teaching others
Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Providing office support
Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.
-
Checking compliance with standards
Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
-
Leading and encouraging a team
Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
-
Working with computers
Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1022.00 - Healthcare Social Workers.
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Electronic mail
Use electronic mail.
-
Telephone
Talk on the telephone.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Contact with the public
Work with customers or the public.
-
Disease or infection
Be exposed to disease or infections.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Freedom to make decisions
Have freedom to make decision on your own.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Letters and memos
Write letters and memos.
-
Angry or unpleasant people
Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.
-
Conflict situations
Deal with conflict or disagreements.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Lead or coordinate a team
Lead others to do work activities.
-
Spend time sitting
Spend time sitting at work.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
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Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
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Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
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Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
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Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
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Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
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Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.
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Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
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Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
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Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
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Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1022.00 - Healthcare Social Workers.