# Transcript

SPEAKER 1
If you're going to give somebody advice about becoming a social worker, what advice would you give them?
SPEAKER 2
Being a social worker is challenging. We're in challenging situations with people. And we have to build rapport with service users and clients where they may not have the same values. They may not have the same attitudes towards life in different situations that we do. So having your own value base, and being able to reflect upon that, and not push your own values onto someone else, and respect their choices and their right to autonomy is really important.
SPEAKER 3
The course is hard. It's hard work. So just if you're entering, that you are aware that you need to pause a lot of personal commitment for the duration of the course. Because it's hard work. I'm finding it hard. And it's hard to balance your life and the study, and the placement, and everything together.
SPEAKER 4
I would say there's a lot of hard work. But it's also very rewarding.
SPEAKER 5
I would say to consider what you think a social worker is and what you think you need to be to be a social worker. Because I think the two, quite often, are different to initial expectations. And that doesn't mean that it has to be-- that doesn't mean that it's wrong. Or because of what you thought a social worker is, it's slightly different from what a social worker actually is means that you shouldn't do social work. But it's just-- there can be a bit of discrepancy in terms of reality and thoughts. Or certainly, there was for me, yeah.