Social Work Field Placement Preparation: Week-One Questions

If you are a social work student starting a field placement, start by clarifying a few things before you begin. Ask what you will be responsible for, who to go to with questions, how the site handles records and private information, and what your program expects from you. This guide gives you a question list to work through before arrival, on the first day, and by the end of the first week. It ends with three short practice reps using fictional people, so you can rehearse the conversations out loud.

Your program's field manual and your site's policies set the actual requirements. Everything below is a set of questions to bring to them. None of it is a rule.

Why ask questions instead of following a checklist

Imagine three placements: shadowing intake calls at a housing nonprofit, attending school team meetings, or reading a hospital's policies before meeting clients. These are illustrative possibilities, not reports from students. Do not assume your placement centers on counseling. The Brockport manual cited below includes organizational and community work among its suggested learning activities.

For this guide, use questions to build a list specific to your placement, and write the answers down. Orientation covers a lot at once, and a written page gives you something to check against later.

Programs also structure the start of placement differently. SUNY Brockport's undergraduate field manual, for example, describes an orientation phase that it says should be brief. Its suggested activities include touring the agency and meeting staff, setting up how the student tells the placement about an absence, reviewing agency policies and manuals, reviewing expectations for supervision, looking at sample records and the agency's documentation procedure, learning agency terminology, setting initial learning assignments, and deciding how the student's placement time will be tracked and signed off. That is one program's sample sequence, and the manual itself presents the examples as suggestions. Your program may organize things another way, so read your own manual first.

Before you arrive

Most of these are logistics, and most can be settled by email with your field instructor or field office. Ask them early so you are not sorting them out in the lobby. If you have not interviewed for the placement yet, start with questions to prepare for a field placement interview.

• Where exactly do I go on the first day, and who will meet me?
• What days and times am I expected, and how do we agree on changes?
• Who do I contact if I am running late, sick, or need to miss a day?
• Are there onboarding steps, trainings, forms, or system accounts that need to be finished before I start?
• What should I bring, and is there a dress expectation for this site?
• Is there a workspace for students, and where can I keep my things?
• How do I raise an accommodation or access need, and should that go through the site, my program, or both?

On the last question: your program likely has its own process for accommodations in field. Ask the field office how it connects with the site rather than assuming one replaces the other.

Do not guess at screening, health, or background requirements from another program's list or a friend's experience. Ask your field office and site what applies to you.

Questions for orientation and the first days

Orientation is when roles get defined. These questions help you learn what you may do, who decides, and where to go when something comes up.

Your role and tasks

• Which tasks will I observe first, and which might I take on myself?
• Who authorizes me to do a task on my own, and does that change over the placement?
• How should I introduce myself to clients and community members here?
• Are there tasks students at this site do not do?

The introduction question matters. Section 3.02(c) of the NASW Code of Ethics says social workers who are educators or field instructors should take reasonable steps so that clients are routinely informed when services are being provided by students. Ask how your site handles that and what wording your field instructor wants you to use. Do not borrow a script from another agency.

Supervision and feedback

• When is supervision scheduled, and how should I prepare for it?
• Do you want an agenda, written reflections, or questions sent ahead of time?
• Who else on staff might I work with or learn from?
• How will you give me feedback between supervision meetings?

The NASW Code's section 3.01 describes responsibilities for people who provide supervision, including setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries and evaluating supervisees in a manner that is fair and respectful. It is background for what supervision is meant to be. Your program and site decide how supervision and evaluation actually work for you.

Where questions go

• If you are unavailable, who do I go to with a question?
• What counts as urgent at this site, and who do I tell right away?
• Is there a safety procedure I should know for this building or for work outside it?
• How do I reach my faculty liaison or field office if something about the placement concerns me?

Documentation and information handling

Before handling any real record, confirm which tasks you may perform, the required training, and who reviews your work. Do not postpone these questions until week's end if you will use records sooner.

• Which record systems, databases, or case management tools will I use or have access to?
• Are there templates or examples of notes I can read?
• Does someone review or approve student documentation before it is final?
• What timelines does the site expect for documentation?
• What may I keep in my own notes for supervision or class, and what must stay inside the agency?
• How should I talk about my work in class assignments while protecting client privacy?

Whatever your site's rules are, keep real client details out of personal apps and general AI tools, including practice tools like SeatTime. That includes notes, recordings, transcripts, and "lightly disguised" cases. If you want to rehearse writing notes, use wholly invented material, as in documentation basics for counseling and social work students.

Printable first-week question list

Print this or copy it into your own notes. Leave the last two columns blank until you have an answer. The "Who told me" column helps when two people give you different answers.

At the end of the week, read the last row again. Bring anything still blank to your next supervision meeting.

Three fictional conversation reps

These short reps let you practice saying three things you will probably need early: who you are, what you do not understand yet, and what was agreed. Every person below is invented. Say each line out loud, then try the redo.

Rep 1: Introducing your role

You are a student at a fictional community resource center. A fictional visitor, Lena, has come in to ask about a utility assistance program. Your field instructor has asked you to greet visitors and gather basic information.

Lena: "Hi, are you the one who can help with the bill thing?"

Possible response: "Hi, I'm Sam. I'm a social work student here this semester, working with the staff. I can start by hearing what's going on with the bill and then connect you with the right person."

What this wording emphasizes: your name, your student role, and what you can and cannot do in the next few minutes. What to check next: whether this matches how your site actually wants students to introduce themselves. Kadushin and Kadushin's The Social Work Interview includes a chapter on the introductory phase of an interview, if you want background reading.

Rep 2: Asking for clarification

Your fictional field instructor, Dana, has asked you to "follow up with the Ortiz family on the forms." You are not sure what "follow up" means here.

Possible response: "Before I call, I want to make sure I do this the way you need. Should I check whether they received the forms, help them fill them out, or just schedule a time for them to come in? And should I write a note afterward?"

What this wording emphasizes: you name the specific part you are unsure about and offer options, instead of saying "I'm confused." What to check next: whether you asked about documentation, and whether you know who to tell if the call raises something you are not prepared for.

Rep 3: Summarizing an agreed next step

Back with Lena. For this invented rep, your field instructor has confirmed that you may prepare an application, and Lena has agreed to bring last month's bill and ID on Thursday and call the front desk if that changes. These are fictional facts, not requirements for any real assistance program. Before she leaves, summarize only that agreement.

Possible response: "So, to make sure I have this right: you'll bring last month's bill and your ID on Thursday, and I'll have the application ready with my field instructor. If Thursday stops working, you'll call the front desk. Did I miss anything?"

What this wording emphasizes: who does what, by when, and a check that you heard correctly. What to check next: whether you promised anything you are not authorized to promise.

Redo prompt: Run rep 3 again, but this time Lena says, "Actually, I can't come Thursday, and I'm not sure I have last month's bill." Change only your summary. Keep the who-does-what structure, and do not promise a new date or outcome without checking with your field instructor first.

For a longer practice sequence on opening, exploring, and checking back with a fictional client, see social work client interviewing practice.

Where SeatTime fits

These reps work with a classmate, and they also work alone, out loud. If you want another option, SeatTime is a text-only practice tool for adult learners (graduate students and early-career practitioners): you can rehearse a conversation with a fictional AI client and then read feedback that is AI-generated and can be wrong. It's optional practice outside your program and doesn't count toward any program, placement, or licensing requirement. Bring your real questions to your field instructor and faculty liaison.

Sources

• SUNY Brockport Department of Social Work (n.d., accessed 2026), Undergraduate Field Manual — official program page; "Preparation for Field Instruction" and "Phase I: Orientation" sections read. Used as one program's example of orientation activities, not a national requirement.
• National Association of Social Workers (2021 revision), Code of Ethics: Ethical Responsibilities in Practice Settings — official text; sections 3.01 (supervision and consultation) and 3.02(c) (clients informed when students provide services), cited as ethical context, not agency policy.
• Kadushin and Kadushin (2013), The Social Work Interview, fifth edition — publisher page and table of contents only; cited as background reading on the introductory phase of an interview.

Frequently asked questions