Choosing Your Second-Year Field Placement

By S. Jolene Hui, LCSW, NASW-CA Membership Coordinator

Choosing your second-year field placement is not a task to be taken lightly. You’ve just spent your school year in an internship that you probably did not choose. You were thrown into the vast world of social work — either a macro, micro, or mezzo position. You went with the flow. You learned new things. And you feel wiser and more experienced as a social worker. But what’s the next step? How do you go about selecting the placement that will be a perfect fit for your final year before you continue into your career?

First-year placements are typically not up to students. In fact, sometimes they are exactly opposite of what the students have stated as their interests. Schools are looking to help new students expand their horizons before students settle into a position where they are more comfortable. The first year placement is so important because of this. Stepping out of your comfort zone forces new and sometimes eye-opening experiences.

The second-year placement is exciting because you get to choose where you want to interview. You have that academic foundation year behind you, some legitimate master’s level social work experience and hopefully some sense of direction for your post-graduate career. The second year can also be another experimentation for you, but, hopefully, by this point, you have narrowed down your preferences somewhat and will use this placement to continue to glean the skills necessary to make it out in the real world. The most important questions that might be worth asking yourself before going into this process are: What is your vision of life after earning your MSW? Where do you see your career going? What kind of work would be the most satisfying for you?

For those who have a clear path from the start, it may be fairly easy to choose where to interview. For example, if you have a specific niche and you’ve always wanted to work at an inpatient mental facility, in a correctional setting, as a medical social worker, with older adults, etc., there are only so many places you can interview. If you aren’t quite sure where exactly you want to end up post-graduation, choose something that sounds interesting to you — something worth learning more about.

Ask around for opinions on these internships. Who was in those placements before? What were their experiences? Would they recommend the placement to others? Your peers are valuable resources for information.

One of the most important things to consider before choosing where to interview is the type of supervision provided. A professional, knowledgeable, and reliable field instructor is key to your learning. Students differ in their wants and needs for a field instructor so ask what kind of supervisor you’ll be getting. Assess if the style will be right for you and your schooling. The field instructor should always be engaged in the student’s learning process. Assistance from an experienced professional in the field is one of the best things you can be exposed to. You don’t want to spend your year chasing down supervision from a field instructor who is much too busy to provide the guidance you need.

The interview process for your second year placement can sometimes be extremely competitive. And that can actually be a good thing that prepares you for post-graduation job interviews. Treat this interview like you would any other job interview. Take it seriously. Focus. Dress appropriately. Things that may seem like common sense some students truly don’t think about. Interviewing is an important skill to have. Recognize and be able to talk about your strengths. If asked, be able to discuss your weaknesses and how you can improve upon them. Feel free to ask questions about the agency or organization and if you have questions about job responsibilities or supervision. Remember, you are interviewing them as well as they are interviewing you.

Good luck! Before you know it you’ll be writing your last process recording.

1. Jolene Hui, LCSW, is NASW-CA’s membership coordinator and can be reached at jhui@naswca.org.