Undergraduate

We advise taking the prerequisite introductory courses and gain volunteer or paid experience working in social service agencies or organizations to determine if the social work profession is right for you.

The “Introduction to Social Welfare” and “Introduction to Social Work Practice” courses help you explore whether or not social work is the right profession for you before you make the commitment to a social work degree program. They also enable the School to see if you have an aptitude for our courses.

You may want to learn more about the BC Association of Social Workers, BC’s professional association for social workers, and the BC College of Social Workers, the regulatory body for social work practice in BC.

In general, social workers require the following knowledge, skills and attributes to be effective:

• excellent interpersonal, listening, and communication skills
• interest in people
• emotional stability, maturity, patience, and energy
• independence, resourcefulness, responsibility, and ethical values
• capacity to work well in small groups and collaborative environments
• creative and innovative problem solving skills
• understanding of one’s social location, beliefs and values
• sensitivity to the beliefs and values of others
• awareness of community, national, and international issues that affect how people live their lives
• desire to make a difference