Social Work

The Preamble to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers states: The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession's focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.

Assess for sincerity

► Ability and willingness to be honest about areas that need work or that the person wants to become more proficient

► Of concern would be the interviewee who does not feel additional education is necessary

► Speak to supervisor

► Communicate regarding unfinished tasks

► Develop action plan to address unfinished areas

► Ask for help!

► Advance directives

► Responsible parties

► Diagnoses and impact on mood/behavior

► Discharge planning issues or placement issues if for long term care

► Issues from the hospital such as mood or behavior challenges

► Review of nursing assessments, especially fall, pain and elopement risks - ensure care plans are started

► Identify areas that the social worker can contribute to an interdisciplinary approach to care plans

► Therapy evaluations to get information on the prior level of functioning and goals

► Hobbies/interests

► Family, friends, social supports

► Leave work at work

► Know limits

► Maintain a sense-of-humor

► Talk to supervisor if feeling stressed or overwhelmed

► Exercise and eat a balanced diet

► Get enough sleep

► Someone who exudes confidence but not arrogance

► Someone comfortable jumping into new environments but also

► willing to ask for help

► Skills - be specific

► Training - be specific

► Experience - be specific

► Personality, personal goals, passion - describe

Must demonstrate ability to learn from mistakes and to use the knowledge positively.

► Interviewee must be able to describe a complicated situation and demonstrate skill and critical thinking in achieving resolution.

Ability to listen to other peoples' points-of-view and use reflective statements, i.e. "What I hear you saying is…" or "It's important to you that…"

► Start with very general discussion and ask her what she knows about her medical condition or why she is in the facility

► Determine if she needs more information or to have information repeated and then facilitate getting the information to her

► Involve other members of the IDT as necessary, i.e. physician, nurse

► Use active listening techniques

► Initiate or update the care plan with social work interventions such as 1:1 visits to allow resident to share feelings r/t diagnosis and prognosis

► Communication is vital to a successful facility

► Must be comfortable speaking up in a group, being assertive even if the group does not agree with the content, i.e. room change conflicts, patient discharge decisions

► What is your opinion about young generation?

► What do you consider as good topics to talk to old people about?

► How would you get closer to our target group, as a human being?

► If a client does not understand even a simple language you use, what would you do?

► Are you prepared to make home visits?

► Are you prepared to work overtime?

► Here is a problem we have. Prepare a solution and describe it to me. You have ten minutes for preparation?

► What do you consider to be your major successes and accomplishments in your last job? Who did help you the most to achieve it?

► What was your biggest failure in social work so far?

► Think of an aggressive/angry client from the past. How did you deal with the situation?

► Think about conflict situation form your last job. How did you solve the conflict?

► Describe a situation when you did something more than expected from you as a social worker?

► There are always cases we can do nothing about. Describe me such a case from your experience. What have you tried before giving up?

► What do you hope to accomplish as a social worker?

► Our agency serves XYZ population. What interests you about serving this population?

► How do you feel about supervision? What type of supervision do you prefer?

► How do you balance your work and personal life?

► What types of clients do you find the most difficult to work with? Why?

► Family agencies

► Children's aid societies

► Hospitals

► Mental health settings

► Addiction treatment facilities

► Correctional facilities

► Schools

► Seniors' services

► Grassroots social action organizations

► Government offices

► Social planning councils

► Employee assistance programs.

Social workers are found in many settings, including private practice, mental health, health, schools, community agencies, public welfare, agency administration, legislative services and policy and planning. Social work's approach is unique among the helping professions because it focuses on people's problems in the context of their social environment. Social workers believe that people are influenced by the strengths and weaknesses of those around them - in their families, communities, workplaces, and organizations.

► Why do you want to work on this position?

► What do you hope to accomplish as a social worker?

► Why did you decided for this specific filed of social work and not for another one?

► Why should we hire you for this position?

► What characterize a good social worker from your point of view?

► What do you consider your strengths and your weaknesses as a social worker?

Social workers provide a variety of services, including:

► Individual, family and couple assessment and counselling

► Psychotherapy

► Mediation/alternate dispute resolution

► Custody/access assessments

► Employee assistance programs (EAPs)

► Adoptions

► Career/employment counselling and placement

► Vocational assessments/rehabilitation

► Stress management

► Counselling for eating disorders

► Grief, loss and trauma counselling

► Addictions counselling

► Mental capacity assessment

People from all age groups and all walks of life consult social workers. Social workers provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups, communities and corporations.