Direct Service (read time: 18 min)

Written By Second Day

So you want to work in Direct Service?

Fired up to transform how society treats our most vulnerable? Want to see the impact you can have in your community and in individual lives each day? Direct service and/or social work is an avenue where you will be able to make a difference in individual lives, generations of families, and communities. In this field, you will be interacting face-to-face with those in need, and doing what you can to help them navigate the obstacles society places in their way. This work can be both emotionally and physically taxing, but you have options. If you love it, it is possible to have longevity in a direct service career. At the same time, even a short time in direct service work will provide invaluable experience to inform the rest of your career.

Careers in direct service/social work vary immensely, but this guide will provide descriptions of some of the roles you might take immediately after graduating and the paths to get there. These may include immediately pursuing a MSW (Masters of Social Work), looking for entry level Direct service work, or participating in a service fellowship (Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, etc.) This guide will talk you through each of these pathways, and how to best position yourself in the application process.

This guide was written by Rachel Angle (SDIF '20) in partnership with the Second Day team.

Many thanks to experts in the field who supported this work:

  • Mariah Byrne, Financial Stability Initiatives Program Manager, the United Way of Greater St. Louis

  • Caroline McDonald, Graduate Support Assistant at St. Andrew Nativity School in Portland

  • Marilyn Mock, Director Of Social Services at Fair Share Support Services, Inc

  • Kathleen Savino, Chief Program Officer at The Connection

What jobs exist in direct service?

Jobs in direct service are incredibly varied, so there is not one “entry-level” position or traditional career trajectory. Therefore, this guide will aim to provide a general description of some entry-level positions in direct service and brief descriptions of current direct service workers and their day-to-day experiences.

DIRECT CARE WORKER, PROGRAM ASSISTANT (CLIENT SERVICE AID, RESIDENTIAL AID)

This is a common title for an entry-level position in direct service work. These individuals are often employed by shelters or residential programs for individuals experiencing housing instability. They help handle the day-to-day care and programming for clients but are also necessary in the case of an emergency. A direct care worker may also be responsible for conflict de-escalation. This position is a good place for someone to get their start in the direct service field.

You may also take a direct care position that is not associated with a residential program. For example, you could be a staffer at a youth enrichment program, community center, senior center, or other community-based organization. In this case, it helps to think about which population (children, women, seniors) you want to serve and build experience volunteering with that specific group.

CASE MANAGEMENT

Positions such as these involve working with clients to coordinate and advocate for their access to external services (housing, food, job training, etc.). Case workers are needed in a variety of environments (schools, prisons, hospitals, homeless shelters), so the work you will do may vary depending on where you end up. Case management is not limited to those with social work degrees, but, as discussed below, social work case management involves a specific approach focused on both macro and micro factors influencing the client in question. Since a master's degree is not typically required to do work as a case manager, this type of job may be a good way to experience direct service work (either through a fellowship program or independently) earlier in your career.

Depending on your position, case management involves a combination of interpersonal interactions and work behind a desk (in comparison to a direct care worker position which is almost all interpersonal). Much of the day-to-day work involves desk work such as managing your clients' applications, wellness calls, and gathering data. This work will prepare you for face-to-face engagement with clients where you can provide them with the best information on the resources available for aid.

PROGRAM MANAGER

With an advanced degree or requisite experience (MSW, PhD in psychology, etc.), you may be able to grow to a management position within direct service work as a program manager. A program manager helps to oversee the work of an organization’s case workers and broader organizational programming. If you want to be involved in service work but also work on policy and systems, this managerial position may be more fitting for you. However, experience is highly valued in hiring for program managers, so it will serve you well to do some sort of direct service work prior to getting this role. These can include long-term volunteer work for a charity/organization that deals with direct service, an extended internship, being heavily involved in a direct service organization on campus, and many other avenues for the experience.

Additional career paths in direct service work (with MSW): Therapist/Clinical Social Work, Counselor Advocate (individual, couples, and/or families), Child Welfare worker, etc.

A day in the life of a direct service worker

Because there are so many different roles and types of work that exist, it is easier to understand the range of roles through actual people than just a high-level description. Below, we have included 6 descriptions of people working in direct services:

Hope is a Children’s Service Worker for the Missouri Department of Social Services, Children’s Division

She helps to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of vulnerable children who may be victims of child abuse or neglect. In her day-to-day job, Hope receives around three reports of concern for children who may be at risk of physical, verbal, emotional/mental, or sexual abuse. It is Hope’s duty to make contact with each victim child, and all other children in the home, in appropriate time frames, which include 1-3 hour emergencies. Hope interviews all household members and does a walk-through of the home to gain insight on the family dynamics and child welfare, so it is very important for a person in this position to establish trust and a respectful rapport with the family. Hope may enter a home to find the family and their children in need of food, clothes, mattresses, or basic utilities. In this situation, a Children’s Service Worker must be prepared to offer the family resources and referrals to services in their area that offer resources. Hope works with each family for 45 days or until a finding is made. While working with families, it is not uncommon to receive emergency calls after hours. An entry-level Children’s Service Worker in Missouri, without a master's degree, makes $32k annually. The state provides stability, generous health benefits, PTO, and a pension upon retirement.

Tim is an Education and Employment Support Specialist at a Seattle non-profit

that offers services for at-risk youth and their families in education, mentoring, family outreach, employment training and placement. His hours are generally 9 am-5 pm. In his role, he supports youth 18-25 years old with career exploration, job searching, job applications and interviews, college or trade school prep, scholarship applications, and internship placements. He also provides wraparound support through case management duties such as helping clients navigate healthcare, affordable housing, food stamps, transportation passes, and other social services.

Anne is the Social Services Coordinator at William Temple House,

an agency that operates a food pantry, provides emergency clothing and hygiene items, and low-cost/free mental health counseling. Anne comes to WTH through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest and is an Americorps member. She works from 8 am-4:30 pm most days, and collects donations from outside partners, restocks the pantry, and interacts directly with clients to meet immediate needs. On a pantry day, she might be doing intake at the front desk, working as traffic control to monitor social distance and covid safety protocols, or in the pantry supervising other volunteers.

Veronica is a Program Coordinator at a non-profit organization

that prints a weekly street newspaper to create income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty. They sell a newspaper for a quarter to paper vendors (who are the people the organization serves), the vendors sell the paper for a dollar throughout the community and are able to keep the profits they earn. She works weekdays from 8:30 to 4:30, where she spends her mornings directly interfacing with vendors and making sure the office is running smoothly. This time entails selling the newspaper to vendors, along with listening and assisting to best meet their needs within the organization’s capacity. Once the newspaper office closes to vendors, she finishes office work that entails writing reports, posting on the organization’s social media and answering emails. Balancing the large influx of people’s needs not being met is a difficult part of the work, along with understanding and using de-escalation tactics when someone is going through a crisis. Vastly fostering relationships with beautiful people and feeling deeply immersed in the support of the community is the highlight of this position.

Caroline is the Graduate Support Assistant at St. Andrew Nativity School

In this position, she assists students and graduates of Oregon’s only tuition-free, private middle school for low-income students. Her work revolves around three major areas of focus: high school placement and transition; high school support and post-secondary planning; and, post-secondary and career support. She works 9 am - 5 pm most days and occasionally on weekends when she helps out with extracurricular activities (e.g. sports competitions, school events, etc.). Her day-to-day tasks range from preparing college readiness curriculum and going through high school applications to assisting with recess and cross country practice. Additionally, the individuals she works with range from ages 13 to 30. Caroline's position is a one-year placement through Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest and Americorps.

Marilyn is the director of social services at an affordable housing site

She is at the managerial level, and is responsible for overseeing the case managers and administrative staff. She helps to manage their day-to-day work and oversees their paperwork. In addition, she has a small caseload of her own (about 10-12 individuals). As someone at the director level, Marilyn is also responsible for working with other departments. She coordinates with property management staff, is responsible for program development, and also writes grant proposals. Her job often falls within the hours of 9-5, but this can increase during busy times. Marilyn makes an annual salary of 71K, which has steadily increased throughout her 30-year career as a service provider.

Direct service by the numbers (pay and hours)

Like in other industries, hours in the direct service industry will vary depending on which position you take. As a direct care worker in a residential program, your shift may be from 7:00 am-3:00 pm, 3:00 pm-11:00 pm, or the night shift from 11:00 pm-7:00 am. You’ll either work a 40 hour week with these hours or you may be able to pick up shifts per diem, which means on a case-by-case basis. If you’re still a full-time student, per diem shifts may give you the flexibility you need. For these introductory jobs, you will likely get paid around $15 an hour, which, on a full-time basis, is about 30K a year.

There is room for growth in the field in terms of more stable hours (a more traditional 8-5 schedule) and better pay, and as a case manager, you may make above minimum wage and up to $20 an hour. At this level, you’ll likely become a salaried employee making between 30K and 35K depending on location. After getting your master's, your pay ceiling will increase as well, and your benefits will be quite stable (especially if you’re working for the government as a social worker). If you are able to climb the managerial ladder, you can earn $100,000 or more as a nonprofit senior leader or executive director.

How to get a job in direct service

Pathways to direct service/social work careers

SERVICE YEARS/FELLOWSHIPS

A popular place for recent graduates to start a career in direct service work is a range of service fellowships including but not limited to Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, City Year, Avodah, and FoodCorps. Each of these fellowships involve a service placement as part of a structured fellowship program. Depending on the fellowship, you may be placed in an intentional community with other members of the program.

Many of these fellowships are well established, giving you access to a job placement you would struggle to get independently. If you are interested in the direct service field, these 1-2 year programs give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in a community and learn a great deal from working full time in a community service job. As we discuss below, the types of organizations that hire direct service workers/social workers value a commitment to place and community. However, one of these fellowships makes it easier to work for a limited amount of time in the community and then decide your next steps. The biggest downside of these roles is that many of them will pay $20,000 or less per year. They do often include some additional benefits like loan deferrals, housing, or support, but can be tough financially, particularly in bigger cities. To learn more, check out our list of fellowships.

GETTING YOUR MASTERS IN SOCIAL WORK (MSW) DIRECTLY

If you already know一either through volunteer experience or research/informational interviews一that you want to go into social work, you can decide to apply for MSW programs right out of school. Importantly, a social work degree is not only conducive to direct service. It may be a step towards going into policy work一whether as an advocate or a policy maker. Within a social work masters, you can choose to specialize in a field (ex. Welfare of Children & Families/Individuals, Groups & Families, Clinical Work, Community Change/Community Organizing, Management & Leadership, Policy Practice).

Getting a social work degree can be an advantage in both direct service work and overall work in social change. Many positions in direct service work, including some case management positions, are credentialed一meaning they either require or highly prefer an MSW. In addition, many MSWs include internship/field placements, which means you can gain experience while you gain your degree. One of the primary drawbacks of an MSW is cost一average tuition at a top school could be around $40,000 per year, but there are ways to mitigate that cost (e.g., fellowships, financial aid, and in-state tuition discounts), and make a social work degree financially feasible. For additional information, we recommend checking out https://socialworklicensure.org/ or https://www.mswguide.org/

GOING DIRECTLY INTO SERVICE WORK

If you are not interested in a fellowship program or pursuing a masters degree, you may decide to go directly into direct service work as a direct care worker/client service aid/residential aid or a case manager. This path is far less guided, so you may struggle to get your foot in the door, but once you do, it can be an excellent choice. Particularly, if you have strong ties to a particular community or previous experience with this type of work, it can make a lot of sense to work directly for a nonprofit or government agency. These roles often pay slightly more than other fellowships but have less community support and structure for graduating seniors. If you chose this path, pay special attention to the application tips below as you are starting your job search.

The key uniting feature of these disparate paths is the social work philosophy; social work is about focusing foremost on the environment that surrounds a client. Using this perspective, social workers are able to evaluate the way external communities, societal structures, and families affect a client’s work. If you choose to pursue a social work degree, you should believe in this approach to social change. Technically, a ‘social worker’ has a social work degree一so be careful about terminology with folks in the field. Using the specific role title such as case manager or direct care worker can be helpful.

Questions to guide your thinking

Do I want to work with a specific population/within an issue area?

In order to anchor your search, it can help to focus on either a specific population or issue area. Direct service workers care for a number of vulnerable populations, including but not limited to youth, individuals dealing with substance abuse, transitioning out of the criminal justice system, LGBTQ individuals, those experiencing housing insecurity, victims of domestic violence, and other types of abuse, and differently-abled individuals. Of course, each system can also interact to create compounded vulnerability, and you may end up working in the intersections. However, identifying who you want to work with, and volunteering or seeking out internships within that particular issue area will help you get credentials, experience, and knowledge particular to the community you hope to serve.

How do my privilege and prior experience factor into my ability to do this job?

If you truly want to do direct service work, it is prudent to think through your motivations for doing this work, and your positionality vis a vis the people you’ll be working with. It is common for privileged individuals to enter these spaces with the belief that they are there to “save” or “teach” clients of their service organization. However, the experts Second Day spoke with emphasized how different the reality is. In their experiences, they ended up learning far more from the people they met on the job than the other way around. Doing this work will allow you to see the world, and the people you serve from a far broader perspective. Our experts recommend entering these spaces with compassion, and being ready to have your assumptions challenged.

What to demonstrate in your application

The job search process for direct service jobs will differ depending on which path you choose, but the tips below will help position you for any interview/application process whether that be through a fellowship or not.

RELEVANT SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE BEAT PRESTIGE

Direct service/social work is a profession in which flashy credentials and big-name schools won’t get you very far. You will be in direct contact with historically marginalized individuals and the organization hiring you will want to know you will be able to thrive in that environment. To best position yourself, highlight:

  1. Engagement in volunteer opportunities and relevant work: Volunteer, internship, or fellowship experience will help you figure out if you want a job in direct service, get that job, and succeed on the job. Thankfully, volunteering in a direct service capacity is far easier to do than a competitive summer internship. Taking a couple of hours out of your day to volunteer at a local shelter, food bank, or school will expose you to direct service work and build connections that may lead to a future paid job. Many schools have classes or programs for students interested in this type of work as well. If your position involves interfacing directly with clients一which most direct service jobs do一experience communicating and working with others will give you a huge advantage in the job search.

  2. Roots in the community: Service-based organizations prefer workers to be invested in the communities in which they work. Especially if you don’t currently live there, try to highlight your ties to that community and why you want to do this work specifically there. This is a place where having volunteer experience or personal ties to the community can be helpful. If you really do want to explore a new area and are not sure about a long-term commitment, the fellowship/service year path is likely best for you.

  3. Service industry experience: Part of direct service work is navigating tense situations. You may have to be part of de-escalating a conflict or communicating difficult information to clients. Your employer will want to know you will be able to handle these situations, and experience in the service industry demonstrates an ability to interface with difficult people. Any other people-based experience like organizing can also be helpful to highlight in a cover letter/resume.

  4. Bi-Lingual (Spanish in particular): Language skills are incredibly valued in direct service work, and in some communities required. If you are in a position to do so, make sure to hone your language skills and highlight them in an application.

Additional resources

OVC TTAC (Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center) Provides training free of charge to become a certified Victim Advocate through a 40 hour course. Look for this training and more here.

WHAT'S THE UPSIDE?

If you want to pursue a career in social justice, doing a direct service job is the best way to make an impact and help vulnerable populations. Moreover, you will gain invaluable skills and experience from the people you work with and for. Especially if you do not have personal experience with the issues you want to work on behalf of, you can become a better advocate in the future if you have spent time on the ground doing the hard work. In the meantime, you will build incredible relationships, and gain a true understanding of how systems affect people on the ground.

Next three steps

  1. Decide which path into direct service you want to take and be aware of timelines for fellowship and masters program applications so that you don’t miss them!

  2. Research the population you want to work with (students, families, people experiencing homelessness), and start working with a local service provider.

  3. Update your resume and cover letters to reflect the skills that are directly applicable to service work. (See above)

Last updated: July 2021

Second Day
Previous

Housing (read time: 20 min)

Next

Development + Fundraising (read time: 14 min)