Phone interview for social services job

December 25, 2017 8:07 PM

I've read the previous posts on phone interviews, but I'd like to know the actual job requirements.

I found an official document on line for my state and it was 100 pages long. Can anyone summarize the job description for an Adult Protective Worker, and therefore, what kind of questions would be asked of me?

posted by intrepid_simpleton to Work & Money (3 answers total)

I think I can do that, yeah, though there may be variation from state to state.

A worker for Adult Protective Services generally is responsible for investigating claims of elder and dependent adult abuse. I assume elder is 65+ everywhere but you might want to find a definition of dependent adult. Generally speaking, again, it's people who can't take care of their own needs for reasons of disability.

APS is probably going to involve home visits if it's a line worker job, so if you have experience in that, be ready to talk about it, and if not, maybe be ready to talk about why you're comfortable with it*. I'm sure they'll also ask if you have experience working with older adults or people with disabilities. They might ask about experience working with people who are difficult to communicate with and how you've done that or would do it. They might give you a scenario. Actually I just googled and found some examples of that with some ideas for responses. Depending on how APS works where you are, they might ask a little about your experience doing casework/connecting people with services. If you don't have that, you might think of an example of how your previous work experience involved wrangling with logistics.

This being a social work job, you may also just be asked questions that apply broadly to the field, like how do you factor in clients' cultural differences. (This being a job interview, I'd imagine you'll also get stupid formulaic shit about "describe a time you have had conflict in the workplace and how you managed it." These questions are meaningless but you can google up standard answers for them, and you're not really asking about general interview stuff here so I'll shut up now.)

By all means don't slog through a 100-page document. That seems absurd, and the job is not going to be that complicated. There are complicated areas that you'll need to know a little bit of eventually on the job like how conservatorship works, but I'd be surprised if they asked you that for an entry-level job.

Hope this helps.

*if you are. Home visit jobs are a particular thing and some people like 'em and some people don't.
posted by Smearcase at 8:27 AM on December 26, 2017

When I think of APS, I think investigator, so going out into the homes, doing assessments, assessing for cognitive abilities, and investigating for abuse.

There are auxiliary roles that include service linkage, and phone related roles of taking initial reports

So, 1) you will be going into people's homes
2) you will be dealing with lots of self neglect due to impared cognitive function
3) you will be working with law enforcement regarding cases of elder abuse which can be physical, sexual, financial or neglect

Our APS (IL)handles those over 18 with disabilities as well, so not just seniors.

So you will be given cases and an amount of time for initial contact. You will be reviewing medical evidence, or financial evidence. You will be completing cognitive assessments.
You will be speaking with family if there is any. You will be expected to testify in court cases as nessisary.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:49 AM on December 26, 2017

The new vogue in social service/human services interviews is to give scenarios and ask the person how they would respond. This being an APS job, you might be asked how you would conduct yourself if you walked into a home and saw a certain scenario (signs of self-neglect or medication mismanagement for example), or what you would say if someone asked you who had reported them to APS, etc. They might ask you to give them a walk-through of how you would conduct an interview or a home visit.

However. Usually a phone interview is going to be more of a pre-screening than an actual interview and will include a description of the position, adequate time for you to ask questions about the responsibilities, etc. When I have done phone interviews, I was generally trying to make sure that the person was at least theoretically a fit for the job, and that they understood the job description thoroughly, before I wasted my time or theirs on a longer interview.
posted by assenav at 10:27 AM on December 27, 2017