Social work MA

Heyy!

Can anyone give me any tips or let me know what kind of questions they ask at a social work interview? panicking so bad!

Reply 1

powertrip

Hey I've just had a couple interviews for Social Work Masters - don't worry, it's nothing to panic about because everyone is super nice and friendly (which I guess social workers have to be haha)!!

Where are you applying??

The general format of the interviews is a whole day affair - you have a group discussion, a written assignment and then an individual interview.

The group discussion is pretty cool: you get a prompt, usually a case study or a relevant question to social work (like how does the recession affect services, etc) and you just get to chat about it. Try to bring in theories or ground it somehow - make sure you do some research beforehand - so that you're not just rambling. I think this part is to see how well you work as part of a group, so it's not about saying the most or being the loudest - it's more about listening and giving an appropriate response to what other people have said.

The written part is generally the easiest: here you either have to reflect on the discussion you had, i.e. what role you played in it, what you thought the dynamics of the group were, etc. or it'll give you an article from the news and you have to summarise it, discuss strengths/ weaknesses of the article and talk about any biases you thought it may have depicted.

The individual interview is the most nerve-wracking haha - but all the interviewers seem to want to have an informal chat rather than a sit down, one-sided conversation. They're looking to see if you can string a coherent sentence together about social work, have an idea of what it entails and are also aware of any current issues/ problems being faced by social work. All the unis I had interviews for generally gave some hints as to what they were going to ask.

Do some research on WHAT social work is, WHY you want to study social work (also maybe a bit on why you want to do postgrad), skills and values that go along with social work. I also got a question on how I juggle a work/ life balance - so just say something like you have a diary and like to reflect on what's going in your life, or that you have hobbies, etc. which show you will have a life outside the course haha.

Think that should cover it - as cheesy at it sounds, just remember to be yourself! They also said a sense of humour/ being able to relate to people is super important :smile:

and something which made me feel really at ease during the interviews was that one of the lecturers said in the opening chat was: if you've been invited to the interview, unless you massively mess it up, then you already have a place!!! :biggrin:

I have my fingers crossed for you - good luck and let us know how it goes X

Reply 2

fqp_x

Omg thank you so much for replying really means so much! I have an interview for wolverhampton and kent, failed my interview at keele hence why i'm stressingggg! Which uni are you going to? I have luckily passed the written assessments for both unis so just have the individual interview for wolves and a group interview and individual interview for kent. Oh dear i must have massively messed it up at Keele hahahaha xxx

Reply 3

~ Purple Rose ~

PS Reviewer

They will want you to be reflective, and to show that you have the necessary skills for social work. It would be good if you could demonstrate knowledge of some relevant leglislation and of how your experience has helped to prepare you for the career.

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Social work MA

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