SOCIAL WORK PROFESSIONALS AND EMPLOYERS FIND EACH OTHER ONLINE AT SOCIALWORKJOBBANK. COM
SocialWorkJobBank. com, the online career center of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine, has teamed up with JobTarget. com to offer “the most state-of-the-art, easy-to-use job board technology we could find,” says Linda Grobman, a social worker and publisher/editor of the magazine and the site. What’s more, the site has been customized to include details unique to its specialized niche of social work professionals. SocialWorkJobBank offers social work job seekers a specialized listing of jobs, as well as the opportunity to post a confidential résumé that can be searched by employers. It offers employers an affordable place to find qualified, professional social work employees.
(PRWEB) May 9, 2003
Social work may be a relatively new profession at only a little over 100 years old, but it is keeping up with the times when it comes to the newest technology in online recruiting.
SocialWorkJobBank. com, the online career center of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine, has teamed up with JobTarget. com to offer “the most state-of-the-art, easy-to-use job board technology we could find,” says Linda Grobman, a social worker and publisher/editor of the magazine and the site. What’s more, the site has been customized to include details unique to its specialized niche of social work professionals.
“For example, when job seekers complete their resumes, or profiles, on our site,” says Grobman, “they are asked whether their degrees are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, and whether they hold a state social work license.” This kind of detailed, social work-specific information makes SocialWorkJobBank. com a one-of-a-kind resource for social workers who want to market themselves, as well as for employers who are looking for highly qualified social work staff.
The site is an outgrowth of the magazine’s Web site at Socialworker. com. “A few years ago, employers started contacting me about placing their job listings on our site,” says Grobman. “So we started a one-page job listing, to give employers an affordable place to reach qualified candidates.” As the listing grew in popularity, it was expanded to a full-fledged searchable job and resume database in the summer of 2002.
On April 30, 2003, the new JobTarget-powered SocialWorkJobBank was launched. “We wanted SocialWorkJobBank users to have the best experience possible,” says Grobman, “and after an extensive search, JobTarget was the one system that seemed to offer everything a job seeker or employer could ever want in a job board.” In addition to viewing social work job listings, job seekers can post a confidential résumé—employers can view these résumés but only receive the job seekers’ contact information with their approval. There is also a career resource section where visitors can find job search articles, links to related sites, and other helpful tools.
“We are very happy that SocialWorkJobBank. com has joined our network,” says Chuck Sheriff, Director of Sales for JobTarget. com. “The combination of our up-to-date technology with Linda Grobman’s vision of career development for social work professionals will help this particular niche of job seekers to reach new heights in their careers.”
The site is visited approximately 17,000 times per month, and in the first 8 months (from the launch of the original SocialWorkJobBank. com site), over 6,800 job seekers had registered for its services. “There are lots of social workers looking for jobs,” says Grobman. “My goal is to help them find the job of their dreams, and to help employers get qualified, professionally trained social workers in their agencies.”
Grobman goes out of her way to personally help the site’s visitors when they have a question or technical problem. “Thank you so much for your prompt reply...,” Susan, an MSW from New York City, wrote to Grobman. “…a real person answering letters....not just computer generated non helpful responses….”
And the site works. “We found a social worker through this listing and we are very happy to have her on board. We will not hesitate to use this service again in the future,” commented Greg Harper, Administrator at Northern Virginia Wellness Center.
Those are the kinds of stories that keep Grobman going. “The biggest thrill is to hear that someone found a good job match through the site,” she says. “That’s what makes it a success.”
For more information, visit http://www. socialworkjobbank. com (http://www. socialworkjobbank. com) or contact Linda Grobman at linda@socialworkjobbank. com.
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ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORK JOB MARKET
There are 149 graduate schools and 436 undergraduate schools in the U. S. that are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. See http://www. cswe. org (http://www. cswe. org) for further information on accreditation and accredited schools. Social work was the 3rd most searched curriculum on GradSchools. com for January-March 2003. All states and the District of Columbia have licensing, certification, or registration requirements for social workers. The licensing requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. See http://www. aswb. org (http://www. aswb. org) for information on social work licensing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, social workers held about 468,000 jobs in the year 2000, with one third of these in state, county, or municipal government agencies. Social work employment is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through 2010.
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