Social Work Interview

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Pages: 7

Earning a degree and continuing to obtain your masters in social work is different than earning a degree in most other fields because the rewards are mostly internal and not financial. Speaking with counselors Lee Ann C Liebst and Dr. Suann Hereford about their respective fields and how they seek to make a difference with those they interact with only solidifies my pursuit to pursue a degree in social work. The very nature of being a counselor at first glance seems extremely broad and far reaching as you interact with different sets of people, ethnicities, races, age groups, and people with different cultural backgrounds. The two individuals I chose to interview for this project were both technically under the same umbrella of academic advising …show more content…
Suann Hereford about her job and what it entails it is abundantly clear there are many similarities and differences. Dr. Hereford has been in the field of counseling for about 27 years and her official title is Academic Counselor for the Division of Science and Health Occupations at Lonestar Kingwood and deals primarily with stress management, time management, and academic advising to students pursuing higher education. Using key techniques such as listening, empathy, and relationship building counselor Liebst and Dr. Hereford both handle students issues that may arise throughout the semester and value the connection they form with those students. When it comes to counseling others I was able to learn a little bit about the difference techniques counselors’ use with different clients and how different approaches used by Dr. Hereford might work well with different students or faculty …show more content…
Working within the community on macro issues like poverty, hurricane disaster recovery, and working with non-profit organizations seems to fit my personality and desire to help people over sitting in an office behind a desk. Learning about some of the challenges social workers and counselors face such as bureaucratic red tape and not being able to help each individual is part of the job description but the internal reward of helping others and making a difference far outweighs the difficulties. One thing that was evident during the interviews with each counselor is the optimistic and outgoing personality they projected when taking questions and their overall genuine nature. In the pursuit of a degree in social work and helping others the qualities of an effective counselor are easy to identify immediately and this interview project has given me a better understanding of the necessary steps in finishing my education and what an average day might look like in assisting