25 Social Workers Share Why They Love Social Work!

Social Work Is “Best Job” Because…

“Social work is the greatest job in the world because I’ve gotten to devote my life’s work to justice, education, and human well-being. Social work is creative, evocative, challenging, purposeful work. I have never been bored. I love the flexibility of the profession — so many paths are possible, and I have been on many, including mental health, working with homeless vets, child welfare, and research and teaching. I feel like I am making the world a little bit better through my work — sometimes just for one person, sometimes for many. I feel so lucky to have found this profession.”

— Melanie Sage, Assistant Professor of Social Work, BSW Director at UND

“My favorite part about social work is that it allows me to fall in love over and over every day. Even on the worst days, the ones where I questioned my choice, I come to a session, an interaction with a social worker, and fall in love again. It’s the profession of love.”

— Courtney Kidd, LCSW, PhD Student, Co-Founder and CEO, Social Justice Solutions

“I love the freedom and flexibility being a social worker offers. I can work in a jail, a nursing home, an elementary school, or an office. I can also create a diverse career for myself that includes multiple income streams, from writing books to teaching college classes, and creating online courses. There’s incredible opportunity in social work — opportunities to create positive change.”

— Amy Morin, LCSW, Speaker/Author/Psychotherapist

“The things I love about being a social worker is the ability to be flexible and use your own creativity within the profession. You aren’t narrowed down to one set of group of individuals to work with. There is always variety and excitement in our job. The ability to reach an individual with your special talents is rewarding and at the end of the day you know you have made a difference in someone’s life. Problem solvers, innovators, risk takers, change agents, ‘we are social workers!’”

— @socialworkpad, MSW, M.Ed, and MA.TESL

“What I love most about social work is that when I grow and change the profession allows me to express this in my career no matter where my path leads.”

— Ellen Belluomini, LCSW — Lecturer, Higher Education Consultant, Innovator

It Offers Flexibility/Portability

“The flexibility and portability of a social work degree is invaluable. As a military spouse, it has allowed me to provide services to an underserved population and in a variety of settings. This field supports both specialization while at the same time allowing the skill to work in many diverse settings.”

— Jennifer Taylor, LCSW, RPT — Registered Play Therapist, TF-CBT & EMDR Clinician

“What I love about social work is the versatility it affords me to work with a wide variety of individuals, using a range of approaches. I am privileged to be let into people’s lives as witness not only to their struggles, but also their resilience. Now as a counselor and therapist, my interventions are often informed by social work approaches. Focusing on people’s values and their strengths help them take more responsibility and control over their lives. Seeing people overcome difficulties, make changes and grow beyond what they believed they could is the reason I keep doing this work.”

— Dima Dupéré, MSW, RSW — Psychotherapy Services

You Are a Healer

“I like to bring people hope. I find it rewarding when clients leave my office a little more lighter than when they came in.”

— Steve Whitmore, LMSW — Thriveworks Counseling

“I love the wide variety of ways in which social workers can develop their career, help make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, and make the world a better place. Core values of social justice underpin all our work, and inspiring colleagues abound. Helping others on their healing journey gives my life meaning.”

— Dorlee Michaeli, MBA, LMSW — Psychotherapist, Adjunct Lecturer, Writer

“What I love most about being a social worker is seeing the true power of healing and transformation. Serving multiple populations, I learned this a long time ago: on this path as a healer you get to either plant the seed, water the seed, watch the seed grow, or see the seed bloom — and if you’re lucky enough you get to watch what the storm brings, a plant so strong it can weather anything. I wouldn’t change this role for anything. It truly is it.”

— Mercedes Samudio, LCSW — Parent Coach

You Are a Problem Solver

“As a social worker, I get to work with families who are often in crisis. I consider this a privilege because it means they trust me enough to let me in during their most vulnerable moments. A plan doesn’t always happen, but when a plan comes together, that is the reward of social work.”

— Sean Erreger, LCSW — Case Manager, Adjunct Instructor, Social Media Evangelist

“I love helping people! If I can’t help them, I try to steer them in the right direction to find the information and resources they need. Age 0–6 is the most important and formative years in a child’s life, and social work is the profession that creates programs to help aid families and protect children from scars that may affect them for the rest of their life.”

— Deona Hooper, MSW — Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Social Work Helper

“The thing that I love most about being a social worker is having the constant opportunity to encourage, empower and to educate individuals. As a social worker, I can walk around a parking lot with an aged woman in efforts to locate her car (pushing the panic button on her key chain), while entertaining three of her grandchildren and no one will think twice about my actions. I love that being a social worker allows me to be something like a Super Girl.”

— Nathalie P. Jones, PhD, MSW — Assistant Professor, Tarleton State University

You Are Making a Difference/the World a Better Place

“I love clearly seeing the interconnectedness of relationships, the environment, and social systems — I truly have a deep appreciation for the complexity of human behavior. I love having skills that I can apply at all levels of practice, in so many different situations. And I love the impact each step I can make toward a better world.”

— Nancy J. Smyth, PhD, LCSW — Dean and Professor, UB School of Social Work

“What I love most about the social work profession is the emphasis on multi-systems level thinking, which we’re encouraged to appreciate. Social workers routinely advocate for others at the community and policy level. You can find us in the streets doing grass roots, consulting, and lobbying on the hill.”

— Nicole Clark, LMSW — Evaluator and Consultant

“Social work is a great profession because we start with where people are at and then we work with, never for, people to imagine where they could be while always working to pursue both justice and opportunity. The ability to aspire towards being both just, accessible, and respecting culture makes Social Work a great career.”

— Mozart Guerrier, MSW — Executive Director of 21 Progress

“I love being part of a profession that is on the right side of progress, whose historical and contemporary contributions make the world a better place. I love that social workers are trained to both comfort grieving parents and introduce legislation that can protect the most marginalized and disenfranchised Americans. I love that social work is a global profession that makes a difference in my neighborhood.”

— Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW — Associate Professor, Host of the Social Work Podcast

“As a psychotherapist I love being a social worker because I am proud to be in a field that values and fights for diversity and civil rights. NASW has often been at the head of the pack leading on LGBT rights, immigration rights, and other issues that people are struggling with right now. You don’t have to fight with NASW to get them to take a position on social justice issues — they are just there and that makes me proud. Social workers understand that civil rights and issues around discrimination are all part of our work in the therapy room.”

— Cathy Hanville, LCSW — Psychotherapist and Private Practice Consultant

“Social work bridges human subjectivities with objective statuses and offers practitioners the privilege of embracing human connection and empowering relationships. Indeed, social workers are psychosocial scientists who combine the insights of psychology, sociology and social policy with the art of human relationships enwrapped with the wisdom of practice to offer the gift of hope, humanity and social justice and equity to another co-traveller in life’s journey of discovery and growth. I cannot think of any other profession that does the same.”

— Claudia Megele — Head of Service & Principal Social Worker at Wiltshire Council

“What I love most about social work has probably changed over the years. What I most love about social work now is the fact that it’s a profession that values the dignity and worth of all people. The values embraced by the social work profession are values that I really consider to be human values. The profession allows us to put these values into action in various ways to promote social justice and help people on an individual and societal level. I also really love the great people I meet through being a social worker!”

— Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW — Publisher/Editor, The New Social Worker magazine

“I love so many things about being a social worker. I love the opportunity to help people choose to change their lives. I love the fact that my social work colleagues share similar values and beliefs to my own. I love knowing that those who choose to become social workers do so with the shared purpose of helping others and making a difference. I certainly love being a social worker because it allowed me to recognize the need to create Financial Social Work and to be able to help all social workers and their clients to increase their financial wellbeing.”

— Reeta Wolfsohn, CMSW — Center for Financial Social Work

“It’s hard to quantify what social work means to me. It is often misunderstood because the role can be so broad — from work in child and adult protection, disabilities and mental health, community work, international development work and more. Fundamentally, what makes social work different from other professions is the value base which underpins the work we do. It has given me a purpose, a profession and a sense of belonging within the community of inspiring and dynamic people who have trodden the paths before me and continue to alongside me.”

— @ermintrude2 — U.K. Social Worker

Legacy/Love My Colleagues

“What I love most about being a social worker is working with other social workers and, as a social work teacher, growing the next generation of social workers. Social workers are some of the most caring, devoted, hard-working, passionate, woke, and FUNNY people I know!”

— Karen Zgoda, MSW, LCSW — Instructor, Researcher, Editor

“What I love best about being a social worker is that my goal is to make a difference. I do this by working with others to make a positive change in their lives, which changes the lives of people they know, and then others, creating a ripple effect of equity, dignity and respect. I have had the privilege of being a social worker for 20+ years and I have seen the next generation of social workers take up the charge to continue making that difference in the lives of others.”

— Laurel Iverson Hitchcock, PhD, LICSW, PIP — Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham

“There are numerous things I love about being a social worker, but the top of my list is my colleagues. It is rare to encounter a person who has dedicated his or her life to the aid of others, how much more rare is it to be able to work in a profession full of them on a daily basis. My colleagues continue to inspire me daily and it is with them that I have, for the first time in my life, found a place where I feel I will always belong.”

— Matthew Cohen, MSW — CEO, Social Justice Solutions

Frequently Asked Questions About Why Social Workers Love Social Work

Is social work a fulfilling career?

Social work consistently ranks among the most meaningful careers available. In our survey of 25 licensed social workers, fulfillment came up repeatedly, not as a vague feeling, but tied to specific experiences: watching a client leave a session feeling lighter, helping a family access resources that change a child’s trajectory, or mentoring the next generation of practitioners. The field offers something rare: the ability to see the direct impact of your work on real people’s lives, often in the same day you show up to do it.

Why do people choose social work as a career?

People are drawn to social work for many reasons, but the most common ones are a desire to help others, a commitment to social justice, and an interest in a career that offers both variety and meaning. Social work is also one of the few professions that actively grows with you; practitioners can move between clinical work, community organizing, policy, education, and international development over the course of a career, without ever leaving the field. For many, the decision to become a social worker is less a career choice than a recognition of who they already are.

What do social workers find most rewarding about their work?

When we asked 25 social workers what they love most about their work, several themes emerged consistently. The most frequently cited rewards were: the ability to witness and support client growth and resilience; the versatility of a career that never feels static; the strength of the social work community and the quality of colleagues in the field; and the sense of purpose that comes from working within a social justice framework. Many practitioners also described the reward of bringing hope,  the simple but powerful experience of a client leaving a session feeling more capable than when they arrived.

Is social work a good career for someone who wants to make a difference?

Yes, and it’s worth being specific about what “making a difference” looks like in practice. Social workers make a difference at the individual level through direct clinical work and case management. They make a difference at the community level through outreach, advocacy, and program development. And they make a difference at the systems level through policy work, research, and education. What makes social work distinctive is that all of these paths share the same value base,  a commitment to justice, equity, and human dignity,  regardless of the setting or population you work with.

What are the challenges of loving social work?

Loving social work doesn’t mean the work is easy. Many practitioners experience compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and the frustration of systemic barriers that limit what they can offer clients. Burnout is a real risk, particularly in under-resourced settings. What sustains social workers through those challenges,  according to the professionals we interviewed,  is a combination of strong collegial relationships, a clear sense of personal values, and the ability to find meaning even in small moments of connection or progress. Loving social work, for most practitioners, is an active and ongoing choice, not a permanent state.

What Do You Love About Social Work?

The 25 voices above represent just a fraction of the social work profession. Whether you’re a student, a seasoned practitioner, or someone considering social work as a career path,  we’d love to hear from you. Share what you love most about social work in the comments below.