What skills should a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker put on a resume?

O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe PageMaker, Client records software, Corel WordPerfect Office Suite, and Database software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Case Manager, Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, and Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 77% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker resume example

A resume for a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker needs to show the work itself: assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Day to day that means work like this: counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse; collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Case Manager
Mental Health Therapist
Social Worker
Therapist
Clinical Social Worker
Clinical Therapist
Clinician
Counselor
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
LCSW
BHCM
LTSS Service Coordinator
LTTS Service Clinician
Addictions Counselor
Alcoholism Worker
Behavioral Case Manager
Behavioral Clinician
Behavioral Health Care Manager

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals.
Interview clients, review records, conduct assessments, or confer with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients.
Supervise or direct other workers who provide services to clients or patients.
Modify treatment plans according to changes in client status.
Assist clients in adhering to treatment plans, such as setting up appointments, arranging for transportation to appointments, or providing support.
Educate clients or community members about mental or physical illness, abuse, medication, or available community resources.
Counsel or aid family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting the client or patient.
Increase social work knowledge by reviewing current literature, conducting social research, or attending seminars, training workshops, or classes.
Refer patient, client, or family to community resources for housing or treatment to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness, following through to ensure service efficacy.
Plan or conduct programs to prevent substance abuse, combat social problems, or improve health or counseling services in community.

13 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Interview clients, review records, conduct assessments, or confer with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe PageMaker
Client records software
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
Database software
Email software
Information presentation software
James Frazier Associates DataStart
Medical condition coding software
Medical procedure coding software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook

26 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Desktop computers
Notebook computers
Personal computers

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Social Perceptiveness
02Active Listening
03Speaking
04Critical Thinking
05Monitoring
06Reading Comprehension
07Complex Problem Solving
08Coordination
09Service Orientation
10Learning Strategies

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Therapy and Counseling
Psychology
English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training
Sociology and Anthropology
Public Safety and Security
Medicine and Dentistry

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

77%Master's Degree
19%Bachelor's Degree
4%Post-Master's Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master's degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker do?: Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Day to day that includes work like counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse and Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
What skills should a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker put on a resume?: O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe PageMaker, Client records software, Corel WordPerfect Office Suite, and Database software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Case Manager, Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, and Therapist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 77% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.