Reflection On Social Work Interview

I have often exaggerated the workplace and lifestyle of a social worker. After meeting with a fellow social worker, I am now able to understand their busy lifestyle. A social worker has to consider the struggles clients have experienced and hear their narratives. At the same time, these social workers need to keep their life in order in a professional and healthy way. A social worker I had the chance to meet, has endured four years of training at Thompson Rivers University: he received a bachelor degree off social work with a child welfare specialization, and two practicums, as well as regular training introduced by the government; that broadened his understanding on domestic violence, child welfare, and interview training. He stated six particular duties: provide child safety, child welfare, family care, community development, assisting individuals and being a go-to person to fellow clients (personal communication, January 27, 2016).

As part of our preparation for placement, we were required to make a role play on a given scenario in pairs. Each of us had to play the role of the social work student and the service user. We chose to use Miss Allen’s scenario, because we both had experience of working the adults. In preparation for this task, we met twice to clarify our roles and discussed the scenario as we understood it. We also discussed how we were going to assess Miss Allen, and what help we would offer her. The preparation was an important part of our task because it challenged us to think of the interview within its widest context, taking into account the particular needs of Miss Allen, agency policy and procedure and ourselves as student social

The social worker in this story had many different responsibilities and roles while working in the ER at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His responsibilities include having to put the puzzle pieces together of who the victim is as they are being treated. This is often a taunting task because the staff is in a rush. The Social worker has to find clues like driver listens or anything else that will allow them to better understand who they are working with. Her responsibilities don't stop there. He was also responsible for working with the victims family to ensure that they were informed and comfortable.

Initially, I was worried about covering everything that was required in terms of client information in the interview. I thought that it would take too long, and that I wouldn’t be able to have a conversation with the client, and instead I would just be asking questions one by one. As the interview proceeded, and I focused on using open and closed questions, I realized that the session would go quite smoothly. Alex was really willing to discuss her medical and psychological background, and made it clear that why she was meeting with a case manager. I found it easy to initiate the session, and was able to ease into discussion about her concerns and objectives.

For this assignment, I decided to interview my aunt because she has been a social worker for about thirty years, and has a lot of experience. She attended Dominican college in Orangeburg, New York where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then went to graduate school at Montclair State in New Jersey where she received her master’s in psychology. After this, she decided to go back to school for her MSW, which she received from SUNY Albany. Since she graduated, the only profession she has worked in is social work, and she is now a licensed clinical social worker. She loves what she does and is glad that she made the decision to become a social worker.

With a strong interest in child welfare, there was no question that my interview with a social worker would involve someone who is involved in this area of practice. I did a small amount of internet research and discovered the All Nations Coordinated Response Network (ANCR) in Winnipeg. I discovered that within the Child and Family Services system this agency is generally the first point of contact. With an interest in front line work, I decided to make contact with this agency in hopes of scheduling an interview. I made a phone call to ANCR and spoke to a receptionist with the agency about what I was looking to accomplish. I was more specific than I had originally planned and requested a recent graduate for the interview if possible.

Before beginning the Master of Social Work program at Laurier I figured I had a strong understanding of what social work was. However, I quickly learned that I had only scratched the surface. I knew oppression existed, but I never understood the depth of it. I now know that I was afraid of it. It was easy for me to stay silent, because it was such a comfortable position to be in. Doing nothing meant I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This was influenced by the privilege I had.

This was a very eye opening class for me. Coming from a mental health counselling background I have to admit it is a major difference in how social workers operate versus therapist. In this essay I will reflected on how this social work class has genuinely affected me, my strengths and weaknesses, and what I have taken away from this class. I always gain a great deal of satisfaction from helping others. I remember from middle school on through adulthood I was the go to person. If a person had an issue or needed to talk. I was the voice of reasoning. I was the one able to grab hold of certain resources if someone was in need

Interview paper with a Counselor (Rebecca Alexander), and a Social Worker (Mina McVeigh). This interview is for Mrs. Scott’s online class.

(After beginning the interview and gathering information I decided to switch up my questions, and narrow them down to be more specific to her personally from what I had in my oral proposal)

When you are friends with someone who you are attempting to have a serious/detailed conversation with about things friends do not normally talk about, it sometimes can affect the outcome of what is trying to be achieved. So, I asked Krystal to talk to me like she normally would, as a friend and not an interviewer. And instead of asking her a series of new questions, I decided to ask her previous questions that I had already asked prior from earlier meetings that the two of us had engaged in, about her career.

During the mock social work interview process I have discovered a lot of interesting facts about the process, myself, and the differences between how the interviewer and the interviewee experience the interview. The opportunity was unexpectedly very informative and has shown me how I want to grow as an interviewer for my clients as well as myself.

Social workers provide professional support and wide variety of services to people who have social difficulties, and are trained to address human needs. They can work in different settings and can specialize in working with people, groups and communities, at all stages of life, from young children to older adults. The role of a social worker varies depending on what setting they are working in, like a hospital or a school.

Captain Rob Geis agreed to be interviewed and share his experiences with the next generation of Social Workers. Native to Ohio, he graduated High School in 1979, he continued his education at Ohio State University from 1982-1986, completing his Masters in Social Work. For the past 24 years, he has served as a Social Worker in the United States Army. In his current position he is responsible for the Department of Social Work Services. Previous positions have included: two assignments as a Division Social Worker, Medical Inpatient Social Worker, Chief of Social Work, Division Chief of Mental Health, Clinical Director of Army Substance Abuse Program, Combat Operation Stress Control Commander, and General Staff

In this reflection essay, I will demonstrate my learning experience in this counseling session. I will talk about my strength, weakness, verbal, nonverbal expression, including improvements needed to become more efficient in the social work profession. I will also speak about a learning tool called process recording in Social work profession. This process recording was done with the help, with my fantastic Daughter Kendra Shelton as the client and my incredible husband Michael McVay as Video Recorder /producer.