Free Exam Questions?! Yes, Those Too

SWTP's now putting up a bunch of ethics-based questions--free questions--on their blog. One free question per NASW Code of Ethics section. As of this writing, 1.01 - 1.10 are up. Looks like more are coming at a two-or-three-questions-a-week pace. That adds up to lots of free exam practice. Here's the first set of ethical standards. Start reading ahead, come up with your own questions, post them in comments even!

1.01 Commitment to Clients

1.02 Self-Determination

1.03 Informed Consent

1.04 Competence

1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity

1.06 Conflicts of Interest

1.07 Privacy and Confidentiality: Clients

1.08 Access to Records

1.09 Sexual Relationships

1.10 Physical Contact

1.11 Sexual Harassment

1.12 Derogatory Language

1.13 Payment for Services

1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity

1.15 Interruption of Services

1.16 Termination of Services

Free Study Guide?! Yes, Free Study Guide

You're getting ready to take the ASWB exam. You've gotten together your education, your internship hours. Next up, study materials. You see the price tags. You scream.

Social workers--especially social workers who haven't been out of school for long--don't tend to make giant salaries. So why are exam prep programs priced at $200, $300, $800+ dollars? Why does it cost money to get even the most basic information about what to expect on the exam?

Old answer: Because. New answer: Doesn't.

Check out SWTP's free (free?! free!) Study Guide for the Social Work Licensing Exam. It's a great place to launch your exam studies. The guide, a hefty-for-no-money 23 pages long, will help license-bound social workers get oriented. What's on the exam? How's it work? What are the questions like? Already-in-motion exam preppers will benefit from the guide's study tips, test anxiety help, free practice questions, and resource links.

You're not just getting ready to take the ASWB exam. You're getting ready to PASS it! Save the screams for screams of victory.

Congratulations in advance!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's DSM-5!

Years in the making, years in the dreading, it's finally upon us: it's time for DSM-5. July 1, 2015 will forever live in memory as the day ASWB exams made the switch to the new DSM-5. Yes, there are controversies about the manual and its contents. Some practitioners are avoiding the new tome altogether and using ICD codes instead of DSM ones. For social work licensing exam takers, that's not an option. DSM-5 is here and it's on the exam and it's time to get it learned.

Happily, the web is on the case. Check out this Pinterest page for a raft of free DSM-5 explain-the-different-and-get-you-ready resources. A few favorites:

• This DSM-5 sample questions book, free (in part) on Google Books.
• This collection of additional resources at SocialWork.Career.
• These DSM-5 fact sheets from the APA.

However overwhelming it may seem, trust this: you'll get it learned. Most of the 5 is the same or very similar to it's Roman-numeraled predecessor. The big changes are few and summed up in a single article like this one from PsychCentral.

Fear not. It's big, it's new, but it's really no big deal. Have fun with it and good luck on the exam!

Building Blocks: Pinterest?

If you're prepping for the social work exam on a budget (that's most license-bound people), you need to use every scrap of free help you can get. That's what elevates the hundreds of social work boards on Pinterest from sort-of helpful resource to Building Block (with capital Bs, no less!). Scattered across the Pinternet are lots of wildly helpful charts and such detailing a plethora of exam essentials. Then there are the links to sites including still more valuable (and often free) information. Then there're the Ryan Gosling "Hey, Girl" posts to keep you quickly entertained (no time for TV!). And, additionally, lots of inspirational "Keep Calm and Do Social Work" type of stuff. What's not to like?

Here are some accounts/boards/searches to get started with:

SWTP @ Pinterest; "Social Work Exam" @ Pinterest: ASWB Exam Prep (Group Board) @ Pinterest

Also try searching by the license you're after ("LCSW Exam," "LMSW Exam," and so forth). You'll soon be rolling in concise, visually rich explanations of, say, Erikson's stages. Or Piaget's. Or Freud's. Plus Freud icebergs (the unconscious is below water, get it?), and lots lots lots lots more. Enjoy! And go pass that exam already! You can do it! Good luck!

Helpful sites to help get ready for the social work exam

We're lucky, really. Lucky to have it made it this close to the goal of getting licensed. Lucky that it's not an oral exam anymore. (Ask someone older--that's how they used to do it! Yikes!) Lucky that the internet isn't a baby anymore. It's now a teenager, sometimes unruly, but extremely helpful if you know how to ask.

Here are a few places where social work exam guidance is easy:

Blogs. You're on one. Also check out Pass the ASWB Exam and the blogs listed on the sidebar there. Lots of people working to pass, already having passed, about to pass, all offering wisdom.

Podcasts. You don't always have to be reading and taking practice tests. Listening works too! Start with The Social Work Podcast and go from there.

Magazines. Back to reading now. Take a look at the "Eye on Ethics"' column in Social Work Today--all free, all online, all the kinds of stuff that shows up on the exam.

Wikipedia. A category unto itself. There's nothing like it. Psychology is as good a place as any to begin. The DSM's there. Pretty much everything you need to know is there. Take care--don't get lost!

And you're off!