The 8 questions you NEED to know how to answer before your next social work interview
In this blog post, we'll explore the eight questions that every social work candidate needs to be able to answer confidently before stepping into the interview room. These questions go beyond the surface, and instead, you’ll craft stories that showcase your beliefs, experiences, and problem-solving abilities. By understanding the significance of each question and crafting thoughtful responses, you can set yourself apart from the competition and showcase your potential as a dedicated and compassionate social worker.
These are the most common social work interview questions:
Tell us about your experience with crisis and risk
What social work theories do you align with in your work?
Tell us about an ethical dilemma you faced
Tell us about a time you had a disagreement or challenges in a professional setting
What clients do you find challenging to work with?
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a social worker?
Why are you a good fit for this role?
Do you have any questions for us?
After reading this article you are going to know exactly how to answer these common social work interview questions in a compelling way that stands out.
Social work interview question 1: Tell us about your experience with crisis and risk
When it comes to answering interview questions, I want you to start telling stories instead of answering questions. Here’s what I mean:
Answering the question: “In my MSW placement I assessed risk and crisis by asking and assessing whether clients were a danger to themselves or others, and I worked through crises by staying calm and giving clear, short instructions.”
Well - that’s kinda boring. Let’s tell a story instead:
Telling a story: “In my MSW placement a client came into the office and he was very angry and upset about his housing situation. He was shouting, his face was red, and his hands were shaking. My first reaction was shock -and I kind of froze for a few seconds, because I had never been in a situation like that before, and he was a lot bigger than me, and there were kids in the next room.
Then I remembered what I learned in school. I paused, took a deep breath, and the first thing I did was ensure safety. I knew this client pretty well, and as far as I knew he didn’t have a history of violence or anything. Still- I shut the door to the kids' program that was happening in the other room so that they wouldn’t wander out. I know that when people are upset like that it’s important to reduce stimuli and give short, clear instructions. I simply said “Come with me” in a calm voice, and I took him to our conference room. I kept the lights off and intentionally chose a quiet room that was mostly empty.
Although I wasn’t too worried about him hurting me or himself, I chose to sit near the door and I left it open a crack for safety reasons. And honestly, I didn’t say much for the first few minutes. After a bit, he calmed down a lot, and I started asking him more questions about what was going on.
After a few minutes, he was apologetic and back to baseline levels, so we booked and made a plan for our next appointment where we could help him solve his problem. From that experience, I learned how important it is to make decisions based on how well you know the client, and the importance of staying calm in tense situations. If I didn’t know him as well as I did my response might have been different”
See what I mean? Stories. They’re so powerful and SHOW the interviewer your skills instead of just telling them.
Also, when you start thinking in stories it’s SO much easier to answer interview questions than trying to remember buzzwords and checklists.
To do: Develop your answer to this question by coming up with a story or two about a time when you assessed crisis and risk. It could be from a past job, placement, or personal experience. When telling stories be sure to leave out identifying details about clients.
Social work interview question 2: What social work theories do you align with as a social worker?
Interviewers often ask questions about social work theories to test your knowledge and perspective.
Remember:
Don’t answer questions. Tell stories.
Here’s an example of an answer that demonstrates alignment with social work theories:
“When I was in high school always flip-flopped between pursuing teaching and psychology. I always knew I wanted to help people.
My friend's parent had a serious illness that over time left them unable to work by the time we were in high school. While I was growing up I began to see the spiral caused by a lack of resources. Little things turned into big problems. As you know, it’s not easy to raise a family as a single parent on social assistance. Over a few years, I watched my friend's family struggle, through no fault of their own, simply because the available resources weren’t enough.
If the government had better policies in place to support my friend's parent, their situation might have been completely different. The macro-level policies and resources had a negative impact on them. That’s what made me decide to ultimately become a social worker- so that I could advocate for other families in similar situations to that of my friend. I think looking at people in the context of their environment, especially at the macro level, is crucial as a social worker.”
Notice how in this example I didn’t even mention systems theory in my answer? Instead, I applied it!
To do: Start thinking about stories that show your knowledge of social work theories. Interviewers might ask about theories that are aligned with the population they work with, so I would try to think of a couple answers that you can use.
Social work interview question 3: Tell us about an ethical dilemma you faced as a social worker
Hopefully, by now, I’ve convinced you that coming up with some core stories is the best way to answer your social work interview questions.
Not only is it a lot easier for you to prepare because you’re talking about your own experiences rather than textbook answers.
But it’s also so much more interesting for the interviewer!
They don’t want to hear the textbook answer.
They want to get to know you,
They want to know about your critical thinking skills,
And they want to know if you’re a good fit for the role.
When it comes to answering questions about ethics, here’s what I suggest:
Strategy 1: Ethical dilemmas
It might be appropriate to discuss an ethical dilemma you have faced (if you have practice experience) and reference the above values, as well as how you resolved the issue.
Strategy 2: Case study
You could also discuss a possible ethical dilemma if you don’t have an example of your own, and how you would navigate that scenario.
Strategy 3: Value alignment
Maybe you’ll discuss how the values of the profession align with your personal values. (For example, maybe you have a history of advocating for social justice, which you have demonstrated with your experience doing X, which aligns with Value 2: the pursuit of social justice)
To do: Look up the Social Work Code of Ethics and use that to think about some past ethical dilemmas you faced. Talk about the dilemma, the options, what you ended up doing, and why.
Social work interview question 4: Tell us about a time you had a disagreement or challenges in a professional setting
A word of advice when it comes to answering this question: don’t ever say that you’ve never had a challenge with a coworker or never disagreed with a supervisor.
They’re looking for you to talk about your advocacy skills, your critical thinking skills, and your ability to effectively work in teams.
You gotta give ‘em something.
Here’s what I usually say:
“When I was in school I had a lot of group projects. I used to get super frustrated because I felt like I always did the majority of the work.
Then I had one group project where, instead of dividing work equally, we focused on capitalizing on everyone’s strengths. I’m a really good researcher, so I put the content of the project together. I hate public speaking, but luckily my other group member didn’t mind it. He wasn’t a strong researcher, so it was a win-win for us to divide the work that way. And because we focused on our strengths, we got an excellent grade on the project.
Was the work divided equally? Not at all! I spent two weeks researching and putting things together, and my groupmate pretty much showed up in front of the class and spoke for 30 minutes.
Even though I did most of the work that time, I was still really happy that I didn’t have to present. That’s when I learned that it’s not about dividing work equally, but instead focusing on people’s strengths. There have been other times where I’ve done less work than my teammates because the project wasn’t in my zone of genius, so I allowed my team members to take the lead, and it usually works out better that way.”
Ya’ll – interviewers loooove when I share that story because not only does it show my teamwork and leadership skills, but I even sneak in some social work theory there!
It might take some time and reflection to think of some stories you can share. You might even have to do a couple of interviews before they start rolling off the tongue naturally. When it comes to social work interviews, practice makes perfect.
Social work interview question 5: What clients do you find challenging to work with?
I’m not going to lie- I always HATED questions about what clients I find challenging to work with.
I always felt like it was a trick question – and that I was going to give the wrong answer.
If you feel the same way here’s a super tactful approach:
Tell a story about an ethical challenge or when you had to set a boundary with a client.
Here’s an example:
“When I got my first job out of school, I had a client who constantly said inappropriate things about my body during meetings. It made me very uncomfortable. I had to learn pretty quickly to set boundaries with that client. I do find it hard when clients say inappropriate things to me, and I sometimes feel bad setting boundaries and shutting it down. However, I know that it happens – and instead of shutting down or even referring the client to someone else because of my discomfort isn’t always best for the client. The vast majority of the time when I set that boundary with clients it was never a problem again.”
When answering questions about clients you find challenging to work with, talk about what YOU struggle with as a social worker, and how you overcame and mitigated your discomfort.
Social work interview question 6: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a social worker?
When it comes to strengths, I recommend picking out 2-3 and thinking of examples where you demonstrated those skills.
(Bonus points if one of your strengths is also a skill listed in the job description)
When it comes to weaknesses, DON’T HUMBLE BRAG!
“I work too hard” or “I’m a perfectionist” (*eyeroll*)
As social workers, we need to be constantly self-reflecting in our practice.
I might talk about how in the past I struggled not to take my work home with me and let the events of the day impact my work. Or vice versa. Maybe I sometimes struggle to separate my home life and my work life. So, as a social worker, I work on that by setting clear boundaries and creating rituals to help me change my frame of mind as I move between work and my personal life by doing things like changing out of my work clothes.
When it comes to weaknesses, talk about something from the perspective of a social worker, and don’t forget to talk about how you’re working on it! As social workers, we know that we aren’t perfect, so instead of pretending we are, we need to be aware of our biases and challenges to grow.
Social work interview question 7: Why are you a good fit for this role?
When it comes to answering this question, speak as if you’re talking to a friend or a peer about how excited you are about the role.
Really, what would you say? Focus on how excited you are and why you think you’d be a good fit.
I would also take a look at the job description and make sure that what they’re looking for matches what you can offer.
Social work interview question 8: Do you have any questions for us?
Make sure that before you go into the interview you understand as much about the role, the agency, and the mission of the organization as possible.
Then, in your interview, ask questions that fill in the gaps.
What would a day in the role look like?
What should I expect?
What’s the company culture like?
How is this role funded?
What do you like about working here?
Be conversational! These are your potential new supervisors and coworkers, so you want to get a feel for what you’re signing up for and get all of your questions answered too.
Storytelling is key when answering social work interview questions
Watch this 15 minute training on how to answer the most common social work interview questions. ^
I hope I have you convinced that telling stories is the best way to answer social work interview questions.
The best part is, your stories can be told to answer different questions. The story you developed about the clients you struggle with could totally fit into a question about ethics, areas of weakness, or even conflict.
Once you connect with your own professional stories you’ll barely even need to “study” for interviews.
If you played along and came up with some core stories to answer these questions, you’re pretty much going to be prepared for any social work interview. They might ask questions in a slightly different way (or throw in the odd curveball), but you’ll be able to tailor these stories to the vast majority of questions that they ask.
Next steps for your social work job search:
If you want to learn more about crafting your social work resume and cover letter – head here.
Resume and interview prep for social workers
Visit MSW Helper for free workbooks, resume guides and services for social workers on the job hunt
Happy interviewing!
Michelle
