With rapid societal changes and rising social challenges, the demand for professional social workers has increased tremendously. It has been projected that about 100 new entrants are needed annually over the next 5 years.

To meet the industry’s demands for Social Workers, WDA has partnered UniSIM and National Council of Social Service (NCSS) to offer a Place & Train Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) to train job seekers and turn them into qualified Social Workers to alleviate the manpower shortage in the sector.

Social workers are employed in organisations like hospitals, family service centres, special education schools, youth centres and sheltered homes. They play diverse roles - in direct practice, in administrative, management and policy planning positions. Social work is a niche but versatile job that offers one a challenging and fulfilling career.

A new fully qualified social worker can potentially draw a starting salary ranging from $2,400 to $2,900.

This is a Place-and-Train programme. Trainees under this PCP must be accepted into UniSIM’s course and obtained confirmed employment before commencing training.

Individuals interested in this PCP should apply directly to participating employers by 08 May 2010. The list of participating employers can be found in Table 1.

Table 1: List of Participating Employers (updated as of 05 May 2010)

Individuals are to indicate their application as a "PCP application" and submit their resumes in their application to the employers. As vacancies are limited, individuals are advised to send in their applications early.

Applicants who have been selected="true" by an employer will be notified to submit an application for UniSIM’s Accelerated Bachelor of Social Work by early June 2010. UniSIM must receive the application by 11 June 2010. UniSIM will screen applicants for suitability and fulfillment of course pre-requisites.

^*Commitment by trainee to work with your sponsoring employer after completing the training.
^{^}A non-refundable application fee of $32.10 will be charged when you apply to UniSIM, regardless of your application outcome.

No Course Fees is payable by the trainee as this is a Place-and-Train PCP. Hiring employers will receive 90% course fee subsidy and a monthly stipend of 80%, up to a cap of $1,600, for each trainee for the duration of the training. The funding is provided by WDA under the national Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR).