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Social Worker
Social Worker profiles score highest on Helping and Law-Abiding. This page covers what the work involves, what the trait profile looks like, what it pays, and where the fit tends to break.
- Median pay
- $59,550per year, U.S. BLS 2025
- Entry education
- Bachelor's degreetypical for the occupation
SOURCE · O*NET 21-1021.00 and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures are national and vary widely by state and setting.
What the work involves
Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. May assist parents, arrange adoptions, and find foster homes for abandoned or abused children. In schools, they address such problems as teenage pregnancy, misbehavior, and truancy. May also advise teachers.
Skills rated most important
Work context
O*NET importance and frequency ratings, 0–100.
The trait profile
Where Social Worker profiles sit on the eleven Haliscope traits, derived from O*NET’s published interest and work-style data.
Who it fits, and who it doesn’t
Strong signals
- High Harmonizing. Measures your focus on group cohesion and interpersonal peace. High scorers build consensus, facilitate cooperation, and prioritize team harmony.
- High Law-Abiding. Measures your commitment to ethics, rules, and fairness. High scorers value honesty, follow procedures, and prefer environments with clear moral guidelines.
- Low Helping. Measures your orientation toward supporting and serving others. High scorers find fulfillment in teaching, counseling, and contributing to others' success.
- Low Exploring. Measures your openness to new experiences and curiosity about the unknown. High scorers seek novelty, enjoy experimentation, and value the journey itself.
- Low Analyzing. Measures your drive to understand systems and solve problems. High scorers are knowledge-seeking, strategic thinkers who enjoy investigating and finding solutions.
Friction points
- Low Harmonizing. Measures your focus on group cohesion and interpersonal peace. High scorers build consensus, facilitate cooperation, and prioritize team harmony.
- Low Law-Abiding. Measures your commitment to ethics, rules, and fairness. High scorers value honesty, follow procedures, and prefer environments with clear moral guidelines.
- High Helping. Measures your orientation toward supporting and serving others. High scorers find fulfillment in teaching, counseling, and contributing to others' success.
These are what the occupation’s profile says, not a hiring criterion. Haliscope is not validated for hiring or screening, and none of these is disqualifying — they are where a fit most often breaks.
Getting in
Entry education: Bachelor's degree.
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
O*NET Job Zone descriptions, U.S. Department of Labor.
Exposure to AI
How much of this work AI can already do, and how much AI tools help the people doing it, is scored task by task in the AI Risk Index.
Related occupations
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