Community Relations and Social Services Careers | Social / Human Services Manager

Social / Human Services Manager

Career Area: Community and Social Services

Occupation Group: Human Services

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical Social / Human Services Manager earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $48,546

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $50,532

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Works with and advocates for clients, including children and adults, that have health, mental health or poverty related problems. Runs programs for social service or human services organizations. Meets with community members to assess needs; plans and monitors the effectiveness of programs. Represents service organizations in the community.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

LocationGrowth
North Carolina1298+17.4%
Nationwide55192+13%

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every Social / Human Services Manager is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

  • Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
  • Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
  • Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
  • Organizational Skills: Experience with a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-ordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain objectives.
  • Building Effective Relationships: Building relationships is about your ability to identify and initiate working relationships and to develop and maintain them in a way that is of mutual benefit to both yourself and the other party. Good relationships are the key to getting things done and are essential when your success is dependent on others.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

  • Social Services: Social services are a range of public services provided by government, private, and non-profit organizations.
  • Case Management: Medical case management is a collaborative process that facilitates recommended treatment plans to assure the appropriate medical care is provided to disabled, ill or injured individuals.
  • Staff Management: Working experience with the management of subordinates in an organization.
  • Budgeting: Experience planning how the financial resources of a business or department are to be allocated during the next business period.
  • Scheduling: Working experience making schedules, which are basic time-management tools, consisting of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place withing an organization.

Distinguishing Skills

Any Social / Human Services Manager that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

  • Developmental Disabilities: Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions that are due to mental or physical impairments.
  • Child Care: Child care or childcare, child minding, daycare, or preschool is the caring for and supervision of a child or children, usually from age six weeks to age thirteen.
  • Crisis Intervention: Crisis intervention is an immediate and short-term psychological care aimed at assisting individuals in a crisis situation to restore equilibrium to their biopsychosocial functioning and to minimize the potential for long-term psychological trauma.
  • Behavioral Health: Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of mental illness.
  • Discharge Planning:

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Experience Required%
0 to 2 years54%
3 to 5 years37%
6 to 8 years5%

Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.

Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

  • Social Services Director
  • Program Supervisor
  • Assistant Director
  • Director Of Social Services
  • Case Manager

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