Field Placement
The in's and out's of Social Work Field Placement
Updated September 2024
Ok, you've hit that point in your degree and need to get ready for Field Placement. Whether you're a BSW or MSW student, we've put some basic information together that we feel will be helpful, and hopefully ease you into the process.
Firstly, what is Placement?
Field education is important to social work education. It is a required component of all undergraduate and postgraduate social work programs in Australia and a compulsory element of your studies outlined by the AASW.
Field placements are organised learning experiences in which a student is put in an agency or community to work on specific activities under the supervision of a social worker, and the Flinders field education staff.
The material offered here is intended to help students in navigating what's involved in the field education placement process, and hopefully make it a little easier for you to achieve a successful and gratifying placement experience.
Basically, we've tried to provide you with the basics and what you need leading up to, and whilst you are on placement.
From the FUSWA Team, good luck and enjoy the experience!
Work Integrated Learning Support (WIL) – Social Work
CEPSW WIL Office: (08) 8201 5410
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Education Building, Level 4, Room 4.69
GPO Box 2100 | Adelaide | South Australia | 5001
Pre-Placement Steps
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
Step 4.
Step 5.
Step 6.
Step 7.
Grants & Scholarships
Prerequisites
Topics You Need
Before placement, you need to have completed all prerequisite topics. To check what topics are required, we recommend reaching out to a College of Education, Psychology and Social Work (CEPSW) administrative officer and let them prepare a topic study plan for you.
students.flinders.edu.au/cepsw/contacts
(08) 8201 7800
Level 4, Room 469, Education Building
Bedford Park, SA 5042
-
Working with Children Check
-
Aged Care Sector Check
The WIL Support Team will initiate these checks on your behalf. DHS will then email you - follow the instructions in the email to complete the process. Upload evidence of your clearance to InPlace.
DHS Screening and background checks
Screening Unit checks overview and details
-
Safe Environments Certificate
Child Safe Environments training is to be organised by you. It is mandatory that you take training in order to understand your obligatory notification requirements while dealing with children and young people. The National Guidelines for Child Safe Organisations are in accordance with this.
We strongly recommend gathering a group of your fellow peers to organise this training, as this may provide you a group booking discount.
FUSWA may organise this training via a third party provider, but is dependent upon time constraints and training provider availability.
Safe Environments Training in detail and where you can book training
-
RRHAN-EC
(school based placement)
Complete the Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect: Fundamentals Course and upload a copy of the completion certificate to InPlace.
The course type is self-directed, online and provides essential knowledge set when working in schools.
Running time: 2 hours and is FREE.
Fundamentals course: Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care
-
State-based Working with Children Clearance
(all interstate placements)
Different states and territories have their own clearances required for working with children. Please refer to instructions from the WIL Support Team if you don’t already have a clearance relevant to your placement location.
More info from SA Gov site
Please ref to relevant state for detailed information
-
State-based Mandatory Reporting
(all interstate placements)
Different states and territories have their own mandatory reporting requirements. Please refer to instructions from the WIL Support Team if you don’t already have a clearance relevant to your placement location.
Mandatory Reporting Guide
-
All Other Checks
-
Aged Care
-
SA Health
-
NDIS
-
COVID-19 Vaccination
Please refer to your Social Work – Pre-Placement Checklist provided by email from the Placement Team.
It is your responsibility to be aware of what checks you require. If you have any questions, please refer them to the WIL Support Team. They are there to help you!
Social Work Placement Requirements
Flinders Website
Visit the Flinders University Social Work Placements webpage. This contains detailed information for all students going on Field Placement. This is your go to page for your questions, links & detailed requirements.
Preparation for your placement experience
Pre-Placement Checklist
Placement Document
To assist you with the pre-placement process, the Pre-Placement Checklist will be emailed out from the Placement Team. This document contains the following information:
-
How to update your Student Information on InPlace.
-
How to complete your Compliance Requirements for Placement, and
-
How to prepare for your Placement Interview.
Essential pre-placement checks
Compliance Checks
Mandatory for Placement
Here's the list of mandatory compliance checks you need for Field Placement. But please check your email from the Placement Team ensure you have the most recent information and what checks are required!
Essential pre-placement checks
-
National Police Check Application
Provide a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC) Check. Must include ‘Unsupervised Contact with Vulnerable Groups’ and be located in Aged/Health Care Sector.
-
Are you working or volunteering with children? (tick)
-
Will you have contact with Vulnerable Groups? (tick)
-
Check Type - Individual Concession (IC) (tick)
-
Reason for Check - (IMPORTANT TO WRITE)
UNI PLACEMENT - UNSUP VULN GRPS
SAPOL Check - Application Example ONLY
-
Placement Guides
-
CEPSW Work Integrated Learning
Rural, interstate and workplace-based placement guides.
Community development placements.
Residential aged care placements.
SA Health placements.
School-based placements.
Placement Sessions
-
by the WIL Team
-
by the FUSWA Team
Keep an eye on your emails for the WIL Support Team information session they run. This provides excellent information on your placement requirements.
FUSWA try to provide Placement Sessions each semester, but these are subject to Council Member and Academic Staff availability.
If you miss a session, check our past recordings from the FUSWA Placement Sessions we've run. Be mindful that things change, and these sessions are for historical context. We recommend attending current sessions.
FUSWA YoutTube Channel
InPlace Student Portal
Personal Details
Document Uploads
Student Information Required for Placement
Information required for EPSW - Social Work Compulsory Compliance - for All Students.
-
To access InPlace, log into your Okta Dashboard and select the InPlace icon. (If the InPlace Placement System is missing from your Dashboard, you may need to contact Flinders IDS on 08 8201 2345.)
-
Once you have logged into InPlace, select your FAN in the top right corner of the homepage and then select ‘My Details’. [Staff & Students]
-
Scroll down the page to locate the section ‘EPSW Social Work Student Information’. This is the section you need to update by
-
Complete all relevant drop downs to ensure your details are up to date, including areas of interest.
-
Upload ALL documents into this portal before the deadline outlined in the email from the Placements Team.
The WIL Support Team will check and approve valid compliance items or reject wrong ones via InPlace. Students can resubmit the right compliance item, and comments are supplied to explain why it was denied. Please check your InPlace on a regular basis for any compliance that may have been denied. You will be unable to begin placement until you have met the compliance standards.
Student Placement Portal
Compliance Checks
Based on Preferences
List of additional compliance checks based on your Placement preferences. Please check your email from the Placement Team ensure you have the most recent information and what checks you need to do!
Now that you have all the pre-placement steps taken care of and uploaded everything you need into InPlace, what's next?
"Your Placement Interview"
Here's what we suggest and some information provided to students by the WILL Team to help you increase your chances and maximize your potential.
Placement Interview
The basics of what you need to know
In Summary
Before the match becomes official, all social work students who have been matched to an agency by the WIL Support Team will be expected to attend an interview. The WIL Support Team will send you an email with match details and guidance on how to confirm your interview with your host agency.
The WIL Support Team will help and support you through everything.
Your Resume
A resume is a document that a person creates and uses to demonstrate their history, abilities, and accomplishments. It reflects your personality and is based on years of experience. Keep it to 1-2 pages in general and only use the most recent experience you have, say the last 2 to 5 years. In the interview you can expand.
Some good examples can be found on -
@ FLO or Seek.com and Indeed.com
Email Signature
An email signature is a block of text at the end of an email which includes professional contact details.
What to Include in an Email Signature
-
First and Last Name.
-
Affiliation Info (such as "Social Work Student" and "Flinders University")
-
Email address and mobile number.
-
Social Profile Icons.
-
Awards and Certificates.
Introduction Email
To write an introductory email that gets a good reaction, be genuine, straightforward, and engaging. A good introductory email should be clear, concise and free of grammatical errors. Confirm what you need to bring to the interview. Don't go into too much detail about yourself. Follow up with a phone call if you haven't received a response in 3-4 working days.
Preparing For The Interview
A good interview plays a role in gaining placement and is great practice for when you are job seeking. The WIL Support Team have a wealth of information to help you to succeed. If you are not successful in the first interview, don't freak out! The process is not over and you will get another chance of placing with a different agency. It just means your placement start date is pushed out.
A Little Research Helps
Researching the Agency helps you understand what skills, knowledge and personal attributes they might be looking for, and questions they may ask.
Make a note of any standout information.
-
Visit their website to discover their mission, values, clients, model of service delivery, etc
-
Jump onto their social media accounts to view recent news like Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Know Your Story
"Tell me about yourself?"
"Why did you decide to do social work?"
They appear to be easy questions, but are they? These might be the questions that cause you to fail the interview if you are unprepared. Make a table with four categories and a list of details and scenarios for each area that may be relevant to the placement host and experience you are interviewing for.
What To Wear
Wear an appropriate outfit. You won't be expected to wear formal work attire, but make sure you look clean, and neat. Clean, neutral slacks or pants, dress shirts, and jackets are safe choices. Don't go in wearing t-shits with slogans or images that could be deemed inappropriate. Ripped jeans, shorts or thongs (flip flops) are never advised. To ease your nerves, wear something you comfortable on the day.
Where Are You Going?
Being late to an interview is a really bad way to start off. Be it in person, or online. Know where you are going and how best to get there, either using public transport or your own car. We recommend arriving up 10 - 15 minutes early because this gives you time to relax and gather your thoughts. It gives you time to chat to Agency staff, providing you some good questions to ask during the interview.
First Impressions Count
How to make a great first impression in an interview?
Attitude! Having really positive attitude is a must. How you look and act can matter as much as your knowledge, your education, skills, experience and ideas.
Genuine - Be your authentic self.
Be Nervous - don't try and hide it, just be honest and upfront about how you feel.
Language - if you feel its a barrier, say so. People will tend to accommodate you.
How to Answer Questions
There are generally 4 main types of interview questions you'll get -
-
Behavioural: 'Tell us a time...'
-
Situational: 'What would you do if...'
-
Case study: 'Your client presents with...'
-
Technical/Skill: referring to tools, knowledge, industry specific details
For behavioural questions the STAR (@ FLO) response is a great guide on how to formulate your responses.
Questions to ask? (hint)
Asking questions about the interviewers own experience at the organization can help you build rapport and gain direct feedback about what it's like to work there. They may also offer a more detailed view of the people you will be working with and the environment. Be prepared for personal questions and the all important, "Why do you want to be a SW?" & "Why do you want to be here?".
What to do after the Interview
It's great to send some love, so email the Agency and thank them for their time soon after your interview. It shows that you are keen and keeps you top of mind.
Another great hint is to follow up with the Agency a few days later by telephone. This gives you the chance to ask how you went, what things could have been better, and what things they liked. Good for personal development.
Unsuccessful Interview?
If you're not successful, don't freak out!
Every effort will be made to match you with a different agency. The ability to rematch will be determined by a variety of factors like reasons why you weren't successful, timings in the placement process, and availability of placements.
It's not the end of your journey, just a slight bump in the road.
Contact the WIL Support Team.
Social Work Careers Pack
FLO provides a great range of information to assist you through the process. To find valuable resources, visit the resources -
Where to Find Help
Don't be scared to look for help. The WIL Support Team provides all students assistance in their Placement.
Social Work Placements:
swplacements@flinders.edu.au
Phone: 08 8201 5410
Careers and Employability Service
Phone: 08 8201 2832
Email: careers@flinders.edu.au
You are now on Field Placement - Congratulations!
Bet you're wondering what to expect right?
Here's some insight into what you will be required to do whilst on your Placement and what resources are available to you.
Field Placement
STUDENT FIELD PLACEMENTS
We have provided some downloadable PDF information to assist students, however to access the full Work Integrated Learning (WIL) directly related to the course you're studying, click on the link below.
This will direct you to the Preparation Information for your placement experience page located on Flinders.
To Contact Your WIL Placement Team -
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Location: Education Building Front Office (Level 4, Room 4.69)
Phone: 8201 5410
Email: cepsw.placements@flinders.edu.au
