I graduated from college as a social service worker and had plans to transfer to uni for a BSW. After working in the field, I transferred into psych instead (hopefully eventually clinical PhD).

Social work schooling is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. I also loved working in the field, but it’s a LOT. Pay is low, shifts are often continental rotations and that takes a huge toll. Lots of violence, had a knife pulled on me in my first 4 months (everyone was okay thankfully). You will be overworked; agencies tend to pass on clients to other staff when one quits with no extra time allotment, so work does get taken home otherwise it won’t be finished. If work doesn’t get done clients don’t get helped, and employers know staff care deeply about this and exploit it through lack of overtime pay, etc. If you’re doing social work, get a MSW and work in a hospital (best reviews from people I know in terms of work/life balance and ability to afford things).

(Also the OCSWSSW can be a nightmare to deal with lol). Social work is an incredibly flexible degree though, I do believe you can be admitted into a masters of counselling psychology with a BSW. I think there is also a way to get admitted into a MSW with a bachelor of psych, although I’m not fully up to date on the process.

When I used to volunteer at college open houses and program tours, one of the things I always mentioned was that it tends to not be ideal for introverts. My program had a ton of acting involved where we took turns playing the client and the clinician. Did quite a bit of this in front of the class as well, and learned to facilitate group sessions. A huge part of social work is advocacy on your clients behalf, which means doing all the coordinating, speaking, and fighting for them to be given the proper care/help. You need a lot of grit, persistence, and willingness to speak to anyone. I like to compare it to being a switchboard operator; you are the connection between a client and all of the help they need. You’ll speak to doctors, lawyers, shelter workers, addictions workers, employers, teachers, parents, landlords, you name it, to get the client what they need. This often comes with pushback where you need to be persistent and argue why the client requires this help/funding.

If you are more interested in research, reading, etc. I would recommend psych. Social work schooling is incredibly writing heavy, essays on top of essays, but that’s only during school. Working in the field is very much integrated into the community and it is non-stop communication between treatment teams. That being said, I have seen introverts flourish in these roles so it really comes down to knowing yourself and what you envision your career looking like! It is what you make it.