By Ellie Williams Updated June 29, 2018
As a social worker, the way you interview a client can have a profound impact on the quality of the responses you get. For example, if you don't follow up on statements the client makes, you could miss valuable information. Social workers must strive for objectivity and help clients articulate their thoughts without leading them to answer in a particular way.
Open-Ended Questions
Asking yes or no questions means your client likely won't give you the info you need. Open-ended questions encourage clients to open up and give you the information need. If a social worker asks a child, "Do you want to live with your mother?" the child might say yes because she thinks that's what the social worker wants her to say. If you ask someone a question requiring only a "yes" or "no" answer, that's probably all you'll get.
Open-ended questions encourage people to elaborate while maintaining a neutral tone. If a social worker asks that same child "How do you feel about living with your mother?" the child must give specific reasons for her answer. In that case, she may reveal that she prefers living with her mother instead of her father because her mother spends more time with her.
Examples:
"How would you describe your relationship with your dad?"
"What have you tried so far to solve this problem?"
"What do you do when you start feeling anxious?"
"How does this situation make you feel?"
"How does your living situation make you feel?"
"What brought you here today?"
Asking for Clarification
Some of the most revealing replies come from asking for clarification. While a client might initially struggle to express his feelings, with a little prompting he might find the words he's looking for. Clarification responses also produce the kind of specific information social workers need to make a decision about a client's case. Asking for clarification ensures the social worker does not misinterpret the client's answer.
Examples:
"You said you feel sad. Are there certain events that make you feel sad?"
"Can you tell me a little more about that? What makes you feel uncomfortable when you're at your mom's house?"
Making Connections
While you need to be careful not to lead clients into answering a certain way, sometimes you need to help clients see connections that help explain their feelings or behavior. For example, a client may complain of sporadic anxiety attacks and say he doesn't know why they're occurring. The social worker might notice he only suffers these attacks after having a disagreement with his father and can help him make the connection with follow-up questions and comments. This helps the client see there's a pattern to his behavior, which is something that might not have occurred to him.
Example:
"So, you had an anxiety attack in the grocery store after leaving your father's house? Has this happened before?"
Screening for Red Flags
Social workers can use client interviews to identify specific issues requiring immediate intervention. For example, when interviewing the parents of a child with psychological or behavioral issues, a social worker can ask them to describe their child's personality and his strengths and limitations. If the parents use terms such as "aggressive," or refer to their child's "temper tantrums," this could indicate the child's condition is not under control and that the parents need additional assistance. The social worker could also ask the parents to describe their understanding of the child's condition, which could reveal that no one has sufficiently taught them what to expect or how to care for their child.
Example:
"Can you tell me in your own words what your child's condition means?"
FAQs
Active listening and empathy go hand in hand, forming the heart of the social work interview process. These skills allow Social Workers to truly understand and connect with their clients on a deeper level. Reflective Listening: Mirroring the client's feelings and thoughts to show understanding and validation.
How to pass a social worker interview? ›
5 Ways To Ace Your Social Work Job Interview
- Research. Everyone knows they should research the company and position they are getting ready to interview for. ...
- Prepare. ...
- Practice. ...
- Focus on leaving a positive, lasting impression. ...
- You are also interviewing them.
So, give a clear, concise and compelling outline of who you are and what you've achieved. Steer clear of personal details. Instead, focus on the skills and experience that you have that are relevant to the job. A good tactic is to discuss your present, your past, and your future.
How do you answer interview questions techniques? ›
Situation: Describe the situation and when it took place. Task: Explain the task and what was the goal. Action: Provide details about the action you took to attain this. Result: Conclude with the result of your action.
What are the 5 C's of interviewing? ›
These 5 Cs stand for Competency, Character, Communication Skills, Culture Fit and Career Direction. 1. Competency - having the requisite technical skill in performing the task is the key. Detective Tip: giving technical assessment during interview.
What are the 3 C's of interviewing? ›
The three C's are basically confidence, communication and common sense. There is an extremely fine line between confidence and over-confidence. So be sure to understand both well.
What is the STAR method when interviewing? ›
Use the STAR method to answer behavioral questions, like “Can you share a time when…” STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result and is meant to help you structure your answers to those questions.
Are short answers better in interviews? ›
In conclusion, maintaining conciseness and focus in your interview responses is a win-win strategy for both you and the interviewer.
How to answer technical interview questions you don't know? ›
How to answer questions you don't know
- Take your time. ...
- Think aloud. ...
- Admit you're unsure. ...
- Use flexible thinking. ...
- Repeat the question. ...
- Ask follow-up questions. ...
- Offer to come back to the question later. ...
- Acknowledge the question's value.
So as a recap, the four answers that you can give when being asked, what are your greatest weaknesses, are, I focus too much on the details, I've got a hard time saying no sometimes, I've had trouble asking for help in the past, and I have a hard time letting go of a project.
SMART interviewing objectives involve a structured and goal-oriented approach using the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound framework. This ensures well-defined, measurable, realistic, job-relevant goals with a clear time frame for the interview process.
What is the soar method of interviewing? ›
Aside from STAR, there are other techniques that you can use to answer behavioural interview questions. They are called SOAR and CAR. SOAR stands for Situation, Obstacles, Action and Result while CAR means Challenge, Action and Result.
What are the different types of interviews in social work? ›
There are three basis types of Case Work interviews depend on the purposes they serve: Informational or social history interviews. Diagnostic interviews. Therapeutic interviews.
What are the interview methods for social case work? ›
Interviewing Techniques for Caseworkers
caseworker should involve an interpreter for clients with limited language skills as well. During the interview, the caseworker should demonstrate his is listening to the client. The caseworker can repeat some of the client's statement to indicate she is listening.
What are the techniques of interview? ›
Keep the interview conversational, not confrontational
Take the first 5-10 minutes at the start of the interview to build rapport with the candidate. Ask how their day is going, and offer a glass of water before starting. You can also bring up anything you have in common with the candidate.
What are the techniques of motivational interviewing in social work? ›
Motivational Interviewing Skills and Techniques
They do so specifically by engaging the four basic principles of MI: 1) express empathy; 2) develop discrepancy; 3) roll with resistance; and 4) support self-efficacy (Miller and Rollnick, 2002).
