Earning a degree in human services can lead to a variety of exciting careers
A bachelor’s degree in human services can provide you with the skills to work in large range of fields and job roles. From social work to counseling, you will gain the skills and experience necessary to pursue roles in public outreach organizations.
An online human services degree can give you the technical skills and experiences required to succeed in these roles, as well as offering a cost-effective and flexible study option. Within the human services professions, there are roles to suit many different people, from administrative office-based roles to community outreach, making this a very useful degree that will provide you with transferable skills and foundational knowledge that reaches across many topics.
What is the degree?
The online human services degree is a bachelor’s degree that can prepare you to work in a variety of human service professions. It is taught entirely online, making it perfect for those who have a busy home life and cannot commit to fulltime, in-person study for a number of reasons. You can complete the online human services degree in under 4 years, and there are multiple entry points throughout the year. The tuition fees for online courses are often cheaper than those for in-person courses, and financially aid is also available to help support you while you study. There are plenty of interesting and relevant modules, such as Abnormal Psychology, Racial and Ethnic Relations and Research Design. The combination of topics you will cover, including managerial and administrative, research and scientific, will help you become a well-rounded individual who can work in many different roles and organizations.
Who is it for?
Human services degrees are an interdisciplinary field of study. The common aim is to improve the overall life quality of the populations being served, and to meet the needs of humans by applying your knowledge base. This involves many techniques and methods, as well as prevention and remediation of issues and problems. You could be working on an individual level, or with larger groups and communities, using a combination of social and service techniques, as well as science, to help improve and enhance the quality of life of those you are working with and for. If you are passionate about helping others, on the individual or community level, the online human services degree could be perfect for you. It will give you knowledge of the basics of a huge range of topics, such as psychology and human behavior, sociology and social work, communication and business, and research design and methods. The online human services degree can give the foundational knowledge to help prepare you to work in numerous areas of human service and public outreach, such as social work, counseling, child development, public health, or behavioral management.
This course is taught 100% online, which means you can study from home, and keep up with your other commitments such as family or a job. This makes its an accessible and flexible study option. Furthermore, there are different entry points throughout the year, which means you can begin your studies at a time that works for you. As well as the foundational knowledge you will gain, there are also specific skillsets that benefit the different roles that human service graduates go on to work in, and the online human services degree can help you identify and develop these skills within yourself and aid you in understanding how to apply them to different roles and situations.
One skill that is useful for all human service workers is communication. No matter what your job description or level within an organization, you will be communicating with clients and colleagues, and will have to have brilliant speaking and listening skills. As this is a such a varied industry, you will be working with and talking to many different people, from clients to communities, and will need to understand how to adapt your approaches and communication techniques to the individual or situation. Teamwork also comes into play a lot in human service professions, as you will often be working as part of a larger team. You will need to collaborate, either with clients or colleagues, in order to complete your tasks and projects to a high level.
Organization is another skill that is useful in a lot of these professions. Whether you are working in an office and having to organize documents or interviews or are working in a clinic with multiple clients as a counselor, you will have to have great time management, scheduling, and organizational skills in order to manage your workload and prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed. These are just a couple of general skills that can be applied to many of the roles you may come across. The online human services degree can help you develop these skills, and you can combine them with the technical knowledge you will gain, in order to prepare you to work in the field of human service.
What are the career outcomes?
The online human services degree covers a broad range of topics and industries, and there are many different jobs you can go on to do once you have completed this course. You can also choose to further your education with master’s degrees in the specialized or relevant areas you want to work in. A couple of the career outcomes of an online human services degree include:
Social worker
Social workers act as advocates for those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. There are main tasks, as well as advocacy, is to help people access important resources and to improve the lives of those that they work with. There are various levels and jobs within the social work profession, including attorney, professor, geriatric social worker, and occupational social worker. You could work with individuals, small groups, organizations, larger groups, communities or even on a national level. Social work attracts a wide range of people due to the span of roles from clinical to political.
Counselor
Working as a counselor is another incredibly varied career. There are many types of counselor, such as clinical, family, mental health, school or grief counselors. Many of these roles require further education and licensing, but an online human services degree can give you a good foundational knowledge of the skills and experiences necessary for these jobs. If you are passionate about helping others, becoming a counselor could be the perfect career option for you. Counselors are great communicators, can work in a team and are incredibly empathetic, with a desire to help people.
Probation officer
The role of a probation officer is to supervise individuals who are on probation, serving community and prison sentences and to help the individuals stay away from crime. In most states, a human services degree should allow you to apply to be a probation officer, and it is likely that you will undertake further training and certification, which can be sponsored by the federal or state government.
Human Resources Assistant
The HR assistant is an important role within a company or organization. Responsibilities include helping the HR manager with interviews, payroll, benefits, talent management, training, administrative tasks and organizing and filing paperwork. This is usually an office-based role with normal working hours, which can be a positive or a negative depending on your lifestyle and other commitments.
Nonprofit Program Coordinator
If you are interested in working administrative or management roles, working as a nonprofit program coordinator could be a great entry point to help you advance up the career ladder. You will be planning, fundraising, budgeting programs that are designed to meet the community’s needs and requirements. The programs you organize and develop with be in alignment with the aims and mission of the nonprofit you are working for and you will likely be involved from the inception to the completion of the program.
Why should you study online?
Online learning has plenty of benefits, and the online human services degree is no exception. There are many challenges that come with learning from home, such as having to manage your time and distractions, and not having a tutor there to oversee your work. Despite this, overcoming these challenges can allow you the opportunity to develop important personal skills that will help you excel in the workplace and stand out in a pool of applicants.
Cost
Being a student and completing a bachelor’s degree can be incredibly expensive. Costs such as accommodation, travel, food, tuition fees and educational materials can make further education financially unviable for many people, causing them to stop pursuing their dream career. With an online human services degree, the entire course can be completed at home, so there is no need to travel or look for alternative accommodation on or near a campus. Furthermore, the tuition fees are often cheaper for online courses, and you may be eligible for further financial support from the institution you are studying with. The ability to work alongside completing you studies also means you can continue to earn money whilst you gain your online human services degree.
Location
Your local colleges or universities may not offer you the courses you want or need to study in order to achieve your dream job. This means you may have to study something else, which can waste time and money, or not study at all. With an online human services degree, you will study entirely from home, which means you can access the course and education from wherever you are. This is very beneficial as it can make the education more accessible. Furthermore, learning from home gives you more control over your learning environment, helping you develop methods and techniques that work well for you. This is a valuable skill, as it makes you independent and helps develop your creative and problem-solving skills, which are very useful in the workplace.
Skills
Soft skills are a set of personal, non-technical skills that are incredibly transferable, and are looked upon favorably by employers. They include communication, teamwork, problem solving, conflict resolution and self-motivation. Many of these skills are vital in the professions that an online human service degree can prepare you to work in. You may be developing these skills when learning online, without evening realizing it. For example, you will have to be incredibly organized in order complete your studies alongside your other commitments, giving the correct amount of attention and detail to both. This is similar to the way in which social workers or counselors will have multiple clients and cases at the same time and have to treat each one with the same level of professionalism and care.
Flexibility
As this course can be studied completely online, it makes it very flexible. You can also begin your studies when the time is right for you, with multiple entry points throughout the year. Flexible learning helps you fit your life and job around the degree, meaning you don’t have to drop everything to go away and study. An online human services degree can help you achieve your qualification at a pace that works for you, with less pressure than in intense, in-person course. Some people do not function well in a pressurized environment such as a classroom or lecture theater, as it can be intimidating or overwhelming. This can lead to you not enjoying or fully understanding your studies. The ability to have more control over your learning experience can help you enjoy it more, take in the information and go over any areas in which you need more assistance.
Studying an online human services degree can help you becoming a knowledgeable and productive individual who is ready to undertake further training in various areas, or who is prepared go straight into the appropriate roles. It is an incredibly diverse course that spans a broad range of topics from the scientific to the managerial. This means you have a lot of foundation knowledge in these areas, and will be able to identify where you thrive, meaning you can have a greater idea of the kinds of careers that would work best for you.
Leave a Reply