For this assignment, you are to interview a professional/practitioner in human services (for example, social worker, community outreach worker, direct care counselor, case manager, and other like professionals working in settings such as community or social service agencies, nursing homes, health care services, behavioral clinics, or settings mentioned in our class).
The purpose of the interview is to get an inside perspective at the profession that interest you. The interview will allow you to obtain information about a possible career and to make a more informed career choice. This assignment will provide insight into workplace dynamics, occupational issues, and job reality. The interview may provide you with a potential career-related contact or a future internship. Before selecting someone to interview, you need to decide which occupations in the human services field about which you want to examine in-depth. You may ask your family members or friends if they know anyone currently works in the field. You may contact social service agencies to ask for an interview. When contacting the person you hope to meet, ask to speak with him/her briefly about their careers, as well as their personal experience. Make it clear that you want information and insight into their field of work—not a job. The interview can be conducted in person or phone interview.
Prepare for the interview by developing a set of questions before meeting with the person. The questions should help you learn specific information about job tasks, working conditions, and career preparation. Also, ask questions about their personal experience such as how they see themselves helping others. The following are examples of possible questions. You might not able to ask all of these questions in a single meeting. Choose at least 10 of the following questions that most interest you. Ask follow up questions based on these general questions.
Questions about the job (Sources: Occupational Outlook Quarterly, summer 2010)
What kinds of tasks do you do on a typical day or in a typical week?
What types of tasks do you spend most of your time doing?
What do you like best about this job?
What excites you most about this job?
What are some of the more difficult or frustrating parts of this career?
I really like doing _________. Do you have an opportunity to do that type of work in this career?
What characteristics does a person in this job need to have?
Do you usually work independently or as part of a team?
What types of decisions do you make?
How does your work fit into the mission of the organization?
What types of advancement opportunities are available for an entry-level worker in this career?
I read that _______________is an issue in this occupation. Have you found that to be true?
Is this career changing? How?
Questions about working conditions
What kind of hours do you work?
Is your schedule flexible or set?
Are those hours typical for most jobs in this occupation, or do some types of jobs have different hours?
Does this career include or require travel?
Do you have any health concerns associated with your career? How does this career affect your lifestyle?
Questions about training
How did you prepare for this career?
How did you find this job?
Do you have any advice on how people interested in this career should prepare?
What type of entry-level job offers the most learning opportunities?
Do you know anyone in this career who has my level of education or my type of experience? How did he/she get the job?
Questions about other careers and contacts
Do you know of any similar careers that also use ______ or involve _____?
I know that people in this career specialize in ____ and ____. Do you know of any other specialties?
I think I really like this career. But do you know of similar jobs that do not have this ____characteristic?
Can you suggest anyone else I could ask for information? May I tell them that you have referred me?
After the interview, write a report between 3-5pages long to display the information you collected from the interview as well as the related aspects of the course material/text. The report should be written in an essay format including introduction, content, and conclusion. When you write, incorporate concepts and terms you learned from the class in your report. Simply recording questions and answers is not acceptable.