Ready to take the next step in your social work career? Use our career development tools to learn more about the field of social work, advocate for yourself, find your next position, and more.

NASW Leadership Ladders

Social work can be a very rewarding profession. However, transforming passion for your profession into a vibrant and satisfying career is not always easy. The NASW Leadership Ladders series is designed to assist social workers with successfully navigating their careers. Whether you are new to the profession, a second-career professional or a mid-career professional, these tips will help you broaden your sphere of influence and take on the challenges that can catapult you to the next level in your career!

• Finding Opportunities for Career Development
• Career Coaching: A Valuable Resource
• Working as a Consultant
• Negotiating a Higher Salary
• Securing The Social Work Job You Seek
• The Value of Social Work Mentoring
• Documenting for Medicare: Tips for Clinical Social Workers
• Organizing for Office Safety
• Retiring? Tips for Closing Your Private Practice
• Risk Management in Clinical Practice
• Setting and Maintaining Professional Boundaries
• Furthering Your Social Work Education: Obtaining a Doctorate
• Transitioning Across State Lines: Licensing Tips
• Beyond Survival: Ensuring Organizational Sustainability
• Navigating Large Service Systems
• Managing Stress
• Presenting Your Work to Others
• Maximizing the Flexibility of a Social Work Degree
• Writing Essentials
• Dual Degrees
• The Tech-Savvy Social Worker: Prepared for the Challenges of 21st Century Practice
• Frontline to Corner Office
• Letting Your Voice Be Heard
• Opening a Private Practice
• Publishing as a Practitioner

NASW Practice Standards

NASW Practice Standards & Guidelines provide benchmarks that describe the services that social workers should provide, that employers should support, and that consumers should expect.

• Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice
• Standards for Social Work Practice with Clients with Substance Use Disorders
• Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision
• Standards for Social Work Practice with Family Caregivers of Older Adults
• Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care
• Standards for Continuing Education and the Social Work Profession
• Standards for Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings
• Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Welfare
• Standards for Social Work Case Management
• Guidelines for Social Worker Safety in the Workplace
• Standards for Social Work with Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families
• Standards for Clinical Social Work in Social Work Practice
• Standards for the Practice of Social Work with Adolescents
• Standards for Social Work Services in Long-Term Care Facilities

Specialty Practice Sections

NASW Specialty Practice Sections (SPS) enable members to stay abreast of what is happening in the profession and to be most effective in doing your job. Specialty Practice Sections offer the opportunity for professional development through live practice-specific teleconferences, newsletters, continuing education credits and more. Click here for more info.

• Administration/Supervision SPS
• Aging SPS
• Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs SPS
• Child Welfare SPS
• Children, Adolescents and Young Adults SPS
• Health SPS
• Mental Health SPS
• Private Practice SPS
• School Social Work SPS
• Social and Economic Justice and Peace SPS
• Social Work and the Courts SPS

NASW Social Work Credentials

The NASW Specialty Certification program was launched in 2000 in response to growing workforce trends and societal needs requiring specialization and to help NASW members attain enhanced professional and public recognition; increase visibility as specialized social workers; and association with a select group of specialized social workers who have attained national recognition.

NASW Specialty Credentials are open to all qualified and licensed social workers. Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) and Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW) credentials are limited to NASW members only, and the DCSW requires licensure. An ACSW credential is available for social worker leaders in all practice areas. Renewal for the ACSW is every year and the QCSW is every two years. Renewal for Specialty Credentials is every two years. Renewal packets are sent prior to the expiration of the credential/certification.