Assignment

Conduct a face-to-face interview with a human service professional, at an agency or school near you. You must conduct the interview using the 34 questions found below. Using these questions will produce more than enough material to write your paper but you are also free to add others. You will have to condense it down and write a narrative description of the individual and the information you gathered.

Write a 3-4 page (no more, no less) APA style paper that will include only two parts: the title page and the 3-4 page body of the paper (No Abstract), you may include a reference page if needed.

The body of the paper should be a professional narrative description that provides the reader with a complete description of the individual, their setting and the work that they engage in. The paper should include the following information weaved together in to a concise and clear narrative

1. The information you obtained from the interview, including the individual, setting, and work.

2. A reflection on how the interview influenced your thoughts about the field, how it fit or did not fit with your expectations regarding the profession, and how it did or did not impact your career goals.

3. What you learned about the human services profession that you did not know before conducting the interview.

4. A description of the area of human services you think you might be interested in.

5. Ways in which you think you could contribute to the human service profession

6. Any other reflections you may have had in regards to the interview.

Guidelines for Interview of a Helping Professional

1. What is the name of the person you interviewed and where does he/she work?

2. What is the agency or school's address?

3. What is the number of total staff at the agency/school?

4. What are the number and type of administrative staff?

5. What are the approximate salaries of administrative staff?

6. What are the numbers of "direct service" personnel (human serviceprofessionals who work with clients)?

7. What are the types of direct service personnel (e.g. mental health aides, therapists, supervisors, program coordinators, group leaders, family counselors, etc.)?

8. What are the degrees held by direct service personnel?

9. What are the approximate salaries of direct service personnel?

10. What are the number and type of support staff (e.g. secretaries, clerical staff, etc.)?

11. Is this a private or public agency?

12. Where does the agency/school get its funding?

13. Does the agency/school have a policy and practices statement (a written statement that explains the functions of the agency/school and the roles of the staff)?

14. Who are the clients of this agency/school?

15. How does the agency/school obtain its clients?

16. What happens when a client initially contacts this agency/school?

17. Is there a process where clients' problems are diagnosed, clients' needs are assessed, goals are established, referrals are made, and follow-up is accomplished? Where are clients typically referred?

18. How do clients pay? How much is charged for each session?

19. What type of counseling and/or assistance takes place at this agency/school (e.g. individual, group, family, etc.)?

20. How long are typical counseling/interviewing sessions?

21. What kind of paperwork is necessary for the direct service individuals to complete on clients?

22. How many hours, days, weeks, months, or years would a typical client spend at this agency/school? How many counseling sessions would he/she be able to have?

23. How is the typical client terminated?

24. How does the agency/school evaluate itself?

25. Is there a staff development effort that takes place at the agency/school (in-house workshops, guest speakers, monetary support for conferences education, etc.)?

26. How does the agency/school deal with ethical and legal concerns relatedto issues such as confidentiality, child abuse, and clients threatening to harm themselves or others?

27. Does the policy and practices statement of the agency/school match what is actually going on?

28. What recent trends have affected the ways in which the human service professional does his/her work?

29. What future trends does the human service professional foresee?

30. How does the human service professional feel about his/her job?

31. Why did this type of work interest him/her and how did s/heget their job?

32. What does s/helike most about their job? What does s/he like least?

33. What is a typical day like?

34. Does s/hework individuallyor predominately in a group or team?