Social Work 2006 Entry Interviews

Hi guys!

Im applying for a social work degree for 06 entry. Wanted to know if anyone could give me any tips on interviews and on the assements. eg what kinda things do they ask, how long does the interview last for (i hate interviews :mad:

) Or just any general advice!

Would appriecate any responses and from people already on the sw course too!

Thanks :wink:

Harriet

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Reply 1

xxAprylxx

Hey Harriet, i have applied to study social work also. Its nice to finally find somebody else on TSR who is!. I cant really give you any advice as such because i have only had one interview so far. They are not as nerve wracking as you might think so dont panic. I had a group interview which lasted for 15 minutes officially infront of the interviewers-there were three of them. I also have an interview 2mrow at sussex which is slightly scary because it is my fave uni but im just gonna go for it because at the end of the day if i dont then i wont get a place. Just remember to maintain eye contact with the interviewer(s) at all times and SMILE!

Reply 2

xbabylovex

Hi, its good to kno im not on my own! How long did your first interview last? what kinda questions do they ask.....im kinda nervous! i dont kno why, i havent got to the interview stage yet! Ive got to do some numeracy and written tests for two of my choices, ive not heard from the others yet.

What i dont understand is, there always saying theres a need for SW's but yet they make it so difficult for you to get on a course. So many stages they make you go through. Is that just me ranting on? or is there some truth in the matter?

Good luck for your interview tomorrow!! i hope it goes well, JUST GO FOR IT!!ive got my fingers crossed for you! let me know how it goes. and thanks for the tips, i shall remember to SMILE :smile:

and keep eye contact.

Harriet x

Reply 3

xxAprylxx

Hey Harriet, the interview at Sussex went well i think.(i hope coz its my fave uni!) There was a group interview then a written exercise and then the individual interview and they asked loads of questions. Questions like what groups in society are portrayed as vulnerable, what qualities can you bring to the course, what theory can you apply to society that is used within social work?.
I dont understand why they make the entry process so hard either!. Its like if you want more social workers then surely you should make it eaiser for us to be accepted to university!. But on the other hand its a profession where you are going to be working with vulnerable people so they need to ensure they find the right students. Just typical that i apply for courses that are hard to get on to. There is therefore truth in the matter and you werent just ranting.lol. So where have you applied to then?

Reply 4

gemmawalker

Hey, I had an interview for social work on the 25th of Jan, was sooo nervous but in the end was ok and I got an offer!!! Got another one on the 15th at hull very very nervous as that’s where wana go!!!. They ask you questions like (well they did to me) …..
· Why do you want to be a social worker
· What attributes do you need to be a social worker
· What jobs does a social worker do
· What will you gain from coming to university

I also got a case study and had to say what I would do in the case. Hope this helps you, and good luck!!!!! Where else have you applied??

Reply 5

xbabylovex

Hi Apryl im happy to hear that your interview went well, i hope you get an offer! Thanks also for the tips on the questions and to you also Gemma. I have applied to all the london uni's
London met
Goldsmiths
Greenwich
East London
South bank
Middlesex (well its not really in London) lol

I have got written assessments for Greenwich on the 23rd Feb. and Middlesex on the 15th Feb. Haven’t heard from the others just a lil postcard from South bank saying they got my application. I really want to get into Greenwich but I hear they have over 900 applicants for 40 spaces! But the way I see it I have just as good chance as anybody else.

I think that some of these uni's forget that we don’t know everything about social work (well not yet anyway lol), and the whole point of us wanting to go to uni is to get trained. Another girl on my course applied to Luton, they refused her application out right. They wrote: due to the high volume of people they get applying, they were unable to offer her a place.
They didn’t even ask her to come for an assessment, or an interview. Fair enough if she didn’t pass the assessment or the interview, but just to say no after looking at her application.......

But i suppose at the same time, your ucas application is really the first stage of the process. That’s the first thing they will look at and they only way to get a glimpse of what you are about......

Thanks again for all your help guys, I really appreciate it, I will keep you posted!

Harriet

x

x

Reply 6

xxAprylxx

Hey Harriet,
Hopefully i will get an offer. I will say i found the sussex interview a lot more gruelling than the southampton interview i had. Its true what you said about us not knowing that much about social work. The majority of people at the interviews i went to who had been to other interviews said that the universities are expecting a lot from us in terms of what we understand about the requirements of social workers and so forth.
I know the waitings the hard part from the uni's-whether we have an interview or not whether we have been offered a place or not. Im still waiting to hear from sheffield uni as to whether i have an interview there or not :confused:

Anyway do keep me posted as you said and goodluck with your applications :yy:

Reply 7

xbabylovex

Hey!

Had my written assessment at Middlesex uni, it went ok, (i think) i will know in 2 weeks if i have passed or not! (wish me luck) if i do, then grilling time at the interview! I have another assessment tomorrow for Greenwich uni. Im fed up already with this whole entry process to uni, and im not even quarter of the way through yet! lol

How are your interviews going Apryl? Any good news of offers yet? i still got ma fingers crossed for you.

Keep me posted! :wink:

Reply 8

xxAprylxx

Hey Harriet,
I wish you loads of luck for Middlesex uni!.
Ive had some really good news recently, i passed the reading and the sussex interviews and have conditional offers from both and also i heard from sheffield and i have an interview there on the 28th of this month-so its all systems go which is really good.
I have my fingers crossed for you too, and try not to get too fed up with the uni process, just think come september we will be at uni and this long process will be a distant memory (it had better be anyway)
xx

Reply 9

xbabylovex

WELL DONE!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! :smile:

Im really happy for you! Which offer are you going to take up, or your not to sure yet? I had another written assessment for Greenwich uni today, i thought it went ok, but i will have to wait and see . I got some good news that i passed the middlesex written test and have got an interview next month. I have another interview for Goldsmith next month (3 in 1, interview written assessment and group work thing). And another written assessment at London Met nxt week. Its all systems go... lol

It true what you said, come september we would have forgotten about all of this and all the worry! lol

Im really pleased for you! You knock em dead in the next interview, then places that you dont want you can throw back in the uni's face lol ( they are now not good enough for you lol) :biggrin:

keep me posted!! Good luck :yy:

Reply 10

xxAprylxx

Thanks Harriet for the encouragement. Its good to finally have somebody to chat to about the social work courses becuse i only know one person so far who is applying for social work also-thats not on TSR either. It doesnt seem to be a very popular choice on TSR but there does seem to be a lot of applicants per place for the universities i have applied to. I suppose not every body uses TSR though thinking about it.lol.
My first choice is sussex as i like the structure of the course better there and also the campus itself and surrounding area is really nice. I also like the fact the placements will be in the second and third years and not in all three years-i think this will give me a chance to get used to university life and living away from home rather than going straight out on placement. I dont know yet what to put as my insurance choice. Its hard to choose because you worry so hard and work so hard to pass all of the interviews and then you have to throw the offers back in their faces-like you said.lol. It seems harsh but i know its gotta be done. Im nervous about the sheffield interview because its just a straight forward interview with three people, so its all eyes on me.lol
Good news too for you and middlesex, Goldsmiths and London met-its nice to see everything coming together now.
Il chat soon.xx

Reply 11

xbabylovex

Hi!
I know what you mean, about not alot of people doing social work on TSR! i must spread the word about and get everyone on here! lol Have you had your interview at Sheffield yet? Or you still waiting for it? (Sorry couldnt remember) lol Its the cold weather its getting to me, It is sooooo cold!

I had my written assessment yesterday for london Met uni. Now its time to sit here waiting for the result! Thank God this uni will let me kno quite quickly hopfully in about a week, unlike Greenwich uni (3 weeks)!

I know what you mean about the structure of the course, i like the idea to of not having to have placement in the first year, gives you a chance to settle in and get used to uni life, and the whole adjustment of living away from home. (Shame that all the uni's i picked dont think so lol)
Before i had the test at Lon Met they gave us a little talk about placements and the whole outline of the course and stuff and how placements will happen in every year.

So have u decided if you are going to move out into halls or you gonna find your own place? ohh all the independance!! lol

you mentioned an insurance choice? i didnt know that we could have one. I thought that once you were offered a place and you accepted that you had to go to that uni?

(gonna hav a moan now) lol
I dont know if it is just the london universities, but i find that you have to go through many stages to get a place, (written assessment, maths test, group interview, then personal interview etc) some friends of mine that have applied to uni's outside london have not been asked to to do written asssesments and have been asked to come for a interview straight away.
I guess that are just making sure that they get the best of the best, but how bloody annoying!! lol

Got that off ma chest now.... lol

Chat soon

Hariet x

:smile:

Reply 12

xxAprylxx

Hey, about the insurance choice thing-you have applied to six uni's im guessing like myself. Well, once you have heard from all six choices you then make a firm choice (the place you really want to go to), and an insurance choice (basically your second choice, where you go if you dont get the grades or for any other reason).
I had the sheffield interview last week and am now waiting for a reply. Im checking ucas track now up to four times a day which makes me a complete freak but once ive heard form them then i can finally accept or reject offers.
For the first year i am going to live in halls and then hopefully il move into a place with friends for the second and third years of study-or stay in halls if they have the places-unlikely.
I agree the waiting is a complete pain in the arse but the waiting will be over soon.x

Reply 13

xxAprylxx

By the way once you have made your firm and insurance choice you then reject the other universities

Reply 14

hemc

Hi I am a first year social work student so any questions just ask. I am really enjoying it btw!

Reply 15

xxAprylxx

Hey hemc!,
where are you studying?, how is life as a social work student?
Apryl

Reply 16

JC911

Hi

Another first year social work student here too. Studying at sussex.

JC

Reply 17

xxAprylxx

Hey JC, can you please give me an honest opinion on your course at sussex university. Sussex is to be my firm choice so i would really appreciate what you have to say with regards to the course and the general area. I have visited sussex three times now and have really liked the look of sussex. Has the course lived up to your expectations?, what accommodation are you in and also can you tell me how many contact hours you have with lecturers/teaching,
Thanks in advance,
Apryl

Reply 18

JC911

Hi Apryl

Ive found the course here fine. The advantage of being at Sussex is that as a joint taught course you get two lots of resources including library books (you still end up fighting for books at assignment time but I think this happens everywhere).
The probs that occur are nationwide to the course ie getting the placements you want in the 2nd and 3rd year and quite a heavy workload.
The tutors are friendly and helpful. Despite much of what is going on at sussex re contact hours, access to tutors etc, none of this affects us. And the student support for the department is great (im bias I sit on the committee). No seriously it is very good.
As a mature student i live in one of the park houses - proper halls, not a house. The first term was a bit lively, but it has really settled down now. Again the same you would find anywhere. The accomodation on and off campus is fine. You just have to remember the more you pay on rent, the less you have to live on come the end of term, so you have to look at your priorities. I think my rents average - I really couldn't afford the extra to live in Lewes Court.

Hope this is useful

JC

Reply 19

Cez

Heya,

I'm also a social work student, up at York Uni. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask! I'm really enjoying the course; everyone's really friendly and I start my placement in two weeks time, aghh! I live in halls, the contact time with lecturers really varies by term here; our first term we had about 9 hours a week, now it's about 13 but next year it's mostly 6-10 hours a week. Our placement is 75 days this time, but again the time of year when you do your first placement is different from uni to uni. Some don't do placements till the 2nd year.

One of the reasons why the interviews are hard (agh i hated them!) is because there is a shortage of social workers, so there's a bursary for lots of students to study social work, and a boom in applications. I've heard that most unis are stupidly oversubscribed for social work places, I heard from a few people that York interviews about 500 people for the 26 spaces here. So well done to you guys who already have places, you must have impressed your interviewers! Yeah just ask any questions if you have them, I don't mind

Ceri