SW Interview Questions Flashcards
Tell us about yourself professionally (background, experiences) and personally.
Hello, I hope you are all well! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to interview for—————-, my name is Markie. I grew up in a very rural town about 30 minutes south of Champaign, IL called Arcola. I have been living in Champaign for about 5 years now finishing school at the University of Illinois. During my senior year of undergrad, I interned for a local agency called the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission as an CIH and rent assistance intake worker. I was then hired on full-time upon graduation as a housing advocate where I worked very closely with families who were involved with DCFS and needed support for stable housing, among a bunch of other things. Now I am working only part-time, on the weekends, helping out with the emergency rent assistance covid relief team. At the regional planning commission I have loved learning and working with wonderful social workers and service providers in our community to advocate for those facing housing crises. I stayed in the area to complete my Master of Social Work degree where I have had the opportunity to intern with the Rantoul City School district during the 2020-2021 school year. Completing an internship during COVID has been no joke, but I have learned so many valuable lessons on equity, resilience, trauma, and so much more throughout my time here. In between my internship with Rantoul and my weekends at the Regional Planning Commission, I also do some subbing in my hometown. Next up for me is just finding a district to call home. :)
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
I was 1 of ~14 students at the U of I to receive a two year grant titled “Project TI-3”. It is a joint initiative between the Illinois School of Social Work and College of Education. The goal of the project has been to advance specialized knowledge and skills required to support social emotional development of young children through trauma-informed evidence-based interventions for children ages birth to five with delays or disabilities and their families.
What made you decide on a career in social work?
Since I was a child, I always felt fulfilled when I was able to help others. When I was in high school, my sister started to foster children (and she’s also a school social worker herself) so I think that’s what introduced me to social work initially…I also remember asking my mom at a very young age what kind of job I would need to have to be able to work with kids in the foster care system. Going into college I always had my major set as social work…I went in as a freshman thinking this is what I wanted to do, but I don’t think it was until I was a junior in undergrad when I started taking actual Social Work and Psych classes that I was 100% convinced I was in the right field. Brenda Lindsey, one of my professors at U of I had a huge influence on me ultimately deciding on the concentration of schools.
Tell us about your internship. What did this look like for you? Were you mostly remote or in-person? Any experience with tiered supports? Did you have the opportunity to be involved in the IEP/BIP processes?
I completed the majority of my internship in person, however things still did not look like a typical year. There were a couple of times where we went back and forth with remote learning. I did have some experience with tiered supports, but I don’t believe our district was following the process as they would normally because we had a lot more students who were struggling with engagement and so forth. I worked with a group of 5th graders for tier 2 supports. They had it really rough the 2 years prior to 5th grade, and 5th grade was becoming kind of rocky for them too, so the principal asked if the 2 social workers, the psychologist, and myself as the intern could divide the grade into groups and meet with them on a weekly basis just kind of as a check in. We called it the “Lunch Bunch”. We used conscious discipline in place of PBIS or RtI, and honestly I loved it, I thought it was a great program.
I also had a lot of opportunities with the IEP process, but not so much BIP.
What is at least one thing you’ve learned this school year that will make you a stronger social worker next year?
Building relationships is super important. It is nice to know who your go-to people are and to feel like you are a part of a collaborative team.
One thing I’ve learned this school year is that self-care is super important. Throughout undergrad and grad school this has always been a topic of focus. We would talk about it on a weekly basis, but until you’re in the field you don’t realize how much you really need to put it into practice. I need to be my best self in order to put in the most effort for my students and work.
Another thing I learned, though, is how important documentation is. I’ve always been a really organized person, and at my job with the regional planning commission case notes were required and they were huge sticklers on how well we wrote our notes…during my internship, there were multiple instances where I was asked to recall or reflect on something that was said or done with a student months prior and I wouldn’t have remembered without my notes.
When working in the social work setting, tell us about a learning experience that made you grow or shows an example of personal resilience–something that perhaps didn’t go as well as you had planned.
I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to risk breaking confidentiality, but during my internship I was asked to have some very tough conversations regarding a professional who was working one of the children I see and boundaries that were being crossed between the two. This taught me to always trust your gut if it is telling you something is wrong and if it is as serious as you believe it to be to make sure administration is aware about the situation too. I am so glad I was able to have a conversation with my administrator, because it turns out she had no idea what was going on and that this was something way above my control. Sometimes it can be intimidating to speak up about something you see or hear, especially if the person is older than you, a veteran in the building, etc…but it is part of our duty to make sure our students are safe.
Among the people you’ve worked with, who do you admire the most and why?
1000% the students and their families. They are amazing, resilient individuals. They are constantly teaching me and impressing me with how much they can overcome. That’s why we do what we do, right? We’re in it for our students.
If hired, what would be some of the first things on your “to do” list?
Some of the first things on my “to do” list would be to establish relationships with the staff in the building, get to know my community and the agencies our district works with, and to also conduct some sort of needs assessment survey for parents, students, staff, or others to fill out at the very beginning of the school year. I conducted a needs assessment for my school in my internship and found it very helpful.
What has been your biggest success with a student?
I am thinking about a particular student who I advocated for time and time again throughout the school year. She needed a lot of extra support due to things going on in her home life, and I was able to match her with those needed services. I had to be persistent, (which in the past has been hard for me) but it was so worth all the effort. By the third quarter, this student really started to engage in school and had a total shift in her learning. I was so proud of her.
As a social worker at our school, what do you hope to achieve in your first year?
I would really like to establish my role in the district so that I am able to start out with a really strong foundation. I would also like to join as many teams/ groups as possible so that I become a person that others can trust and rely on. Building strong relationships with everyone is my top priority.
Describe your strengths as a Social Worker.
Some strengths I possess as a social worker are being flexible and adaptable to different environments, being a problem solver by gathering the necessary information to make a sound decision, and using a trauma focused approach to understand why people act the way they do.
Why are you interested in a position at ____________?
What initially drew me to LaGrange School District was the community. I love that there seems to be a strong connection between the families and their schools because that is something I grew up with and really appreciated. Having parent and community support is huge and sets our students up for future success. I also really loved learning about the history of your school and the reason it got it’s name, that story is so unique and sweet. The size of the Middle School is also approximate to the size of the school I worked in at my internship. The theme of “we make a difference” told me that this was a place I wanted to work for too.
Describe some areas that you would like to improve upon as a Social Worker.
Although I feel like I have a baseline and know enough to be able complete the demands of my job, I would like to learn more about SPED law, as this year during my internship things were constantly changing with law because of the covid-19 pandemic. I would like to have just an overall confidence with the work I do.
Describe your experiences with various age groups of school age students. Which age group do you prefer and why?
Early Intervention and PreK
Elementary
Jr. High
High School – I love, love, love having ‘adult’ conversations with students! My students have commented that they enjoy me because I don’t treat them like a child and that I’m real with them. Talking with students about everyday life always reminds me of all the great stuff are capable of. High school is a crazy time in their lives where they are determining who they are and who they want to be and I get to help shape that.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Where I wish to see myself 5 years from now is settled in and finding my place in a school district I love. Hopefully, I will have obtained my LCSW too! If I’m lucky, maybe moving to the suburbs of Chicago will find me love and I can start a family so I can shape kids of my own too! I’ve always wanted to foster, too.
