The Student Room Group

Social work interviews

Hi!
I have my university interviews coming up, and the majority require a 'test' or 'exam' beforehand. Has anybody had their interview, and what did the written test consist of? I appreciate any help you can provide.
Reply 1
Hi Keely,

Well done on getting shortlisted for interviews. Not sure if you're applying for undergraduate or postgraduate courses but I have had one interview for an Masters SW course where there was a written assessment part. I was sent an example case study before my verbal interview and needed to discuss what problems arose from the situation and how I would assist the service user if I was working on the case. I only had 45-mins to complete it so it was quite a brief answer (less than a page long), definitely look into reading some of the main acts in social care/current social care news as I managed to write some stuff about that in my answer.

Good luck! :smile:
Reply 2
Hi Indy ,Ive also been asked to complete a 45 minute written test... would it be possible to see an example of the piece you had written? I’m so nervous about this test... I don’t know what to expect! Thanks
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by Janet168
Hi Indy ,Ive also been asked to complete a 45 minute written test... would it be possible to see an example of the piece you had written? I’m so nervous about this test... I don’t know what to expect! Thanks

Hi Janet, we were asked not to share the questions from the uni I applied to :frown:

They are aware 45-mins isn't that long to read/plan/write so it won't be perfect! They're looking at your general writing & analysis skills I guess, to see whether you would be able to write case notes, etc. I would say at least in my case, the example case wasn't tricky to understand at all it pretty much required a lot of common sense so even as I don't have direct experience in the social care sector it was straightforward to come up with ideas. I just read up on current news stories and things like the Mental Health Act, Children Act and I managed to add one of those into my answer so it was definitely helpful.

If it helps, I split my answer into 3 parts (1- my concerns from the case, 2 - how I would assist the SU & family, 3 - mini conclusion). As I said it wasn't that long, less than 500 words in the end.

Best of luck!
Original post by keelyclarke101
Hi!
I have my university interviews coming up, and the majority require a 'test' or 'exam' beforehand. Has anybody had their interview, and what did the written test consist of? I appreciate any help you can provide.

Is it for BA or MA and which unis did you apply to ? best of luck :smile:
Hi there!

Firstly, I wish you the best of luck during your application / interview, and congratulations for getting shortlisted for your course! In my opinion, Social Work courses are one of the hardest to get onto (purely due to all the written tests / exams / interviews beforehand!)

I am a final year Social Work student, and I have just had my first interview for a qualifying post. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful for the position - however I did receive detailed feedback!

When applying to University, I was required to do a group exercise on a case study of a service user, saying amongst the group how we could assist and help provide the support that the service user was requiring at that time. We were all scored on our group performance, and how well we worked together as a collective team. From memory, the groups were split into 7 to 8 people per group. Next, we had a 45 minute written exercise. This was conducted in exam style conditions, and as other users have mentioned above me, centred around the interventions of a family and how to approach them / begin to conduct an assessment. Finally, we had an interview with a practicing social worker and a member of teaching staff, who asked us an array of questions and related it to the 'First Level of the Student Descriptor of the Professional Capabilities Framework' (this document is available on Google if you would like to type it in!) - to assess our values, past experiences, and our reasonings for wanting to become a Social Worker.

When I recently had my interview, the Assessment Centre followed a similar style of formatting.

I wish you the best of luck, and please do keep us updated with how you do!

Kind Regards,

Freddie Mercury Fan. (Freddie _ Mercury.)
Original post by Freddie_Mercury
Hi there!

Firstly, I wish you the best of luck during your application / interview, and congratulations for getting shortlisted for your course! In my opinion, Social Work courses are one of the hardest to get onto (purely due to all the written tests / exams / interviews beforehand!)

I am a final year Social Work student, and I have just had my first interview for a qualifying post. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful for the position - however I did receive detailed feedback!

When applying to University, I was required to do a group exercise on a case study of a service user, saying amongst the group how we could assist and help provide the support that the service user was requiring at that time. We were all scored on our group performance, and how well we worked together as a collective team. From memory, the groups were split into 7 to 8 people per group. Next, we had a 45 minute written exercise. This was conducted in exam style conditions, and as other users have mentioned above me, centred around the interventions of a family and how to approach them / begin to conduct an assessment. Finally, we had an interview with a practicing social worker and a member of teaching staff, who asked us an array of questions and related it to the 'First Level of the Student Descriptor of the Professional Capabilities Framework' (this document is available on Google if you would like to type it in!) - to assess our values, past experiences, and our reasonings for wanting to become a Social Worker.

When I recently had my interview, the Assessment Centre followed a similar style of formatting.

I wish you the best of luck, and please do keep us updated with how you do!

Kind Regards,

Freddie Mercury Fan. (Freddie _ Mercury.)

I messaged you Freddie :smile:
Original post by maliboo99
I messaged you Freddie :smile:

Hi there, Mailboo99. :smile:

Thank you for your message! Unfortunately, having just joined TSR, I am unable to send PM's just yet - so I will reply on here, instead. Can I ask if you are applying to a Social Work University Course, or for a Qualifying Position?

In relation to the feedback I received on my first Qualifying Post, they stated that overall I was a good candidate, however I just needed to talk a little more in depth about my experiences! :smile: - However, rejection is redirection and the amazing thing about Social Work is that there will always be jobs / positions that we can do into that relate directly / indirectly to Social Work as it is a broad degree and encompasses a lot of transferable skills! If you would like to follow my journey into (hopefully) securing a graduate position - you are more than welcome to follow my blog! :smile: Please try not to worry, as I think with COVID everyone feels a little uncertain at the moment, which is completely natural! - We will find graduate positions, I am sure of it! If you would like to talk further (which would be lovely!) please do reply via PM! I am able to read messages and once I am able to reply directly, I will do so! :smile:

Kind Regards,

Freddie Mercury Fan. (Freddie _ Mercury.)
Scenarios
Original post by Freddie_Mercury
Hi there, Mailboo99. :smile:

Thank you for your message! Unfortunately, having just joined TSR, I am unable to send PM's just yet - so I will reply on here, instead. Can I ask if you are applying to a Social Work University Course, or for a Qualifying Position?

In relation to the feedback I received on my first Qualifying Post, they stated that overall I was a good candidate, however I just needed to talk a little more in depth about my experiences! :smile: - However, rejection is redirection and the amazing thing about Social Work is that there will always be jobs / positions that we can do into that relate directly / indirectly to Social Work as it is a broad degree and encompasses a lot of transferable skills! If you would like to follow my journey into (hopefully) securing a graduate position - you are more than welcome to follow my blog! :smile: Please try not to worry, as I think with COVID everyone feels a little uncertain at the moment, which is completely natural! - We will find graduate positions, I am sure of it! If you would like to talk further (which would be lovely!) please do reply via PM! I am able to read messages and once I am able to reply directly, I will do so! :smile:

Kind Regards,

Freddie Mercury Fan. (Freddie _ Mercury.)


That’s so kind of you Freddie , messaged you
Original post by IndyL97
Hi Janet, we were asked not to share the questions from the uni I applied to :frown:

They are aware 45-mins isn't that long to read/plan/write so it won't be perfect! They're looking at your general writing & analysis skills I guess, to see whether you would be able to write case notes, etc. I would say at least in my case, the example case wasn't tricky to understand at all it pretty much required a lot of common sense so even as I don't have direct experience in the social care sector it was straightforward to come up with ideas. I just read up on current news stories and things like the Mental Health Act, Children Act and I managed to add one of those into my answer so it was definitely helpful.

If it helps, I split my answer into 3 parts (1- my concerns from the case, 2 - how I would assist the SU & family, 3 - mini conclusion). As I said it wasn't that long, less than 500 words in the end.

Best of luck!

Hi Indy,

Thank you for the great advice, and mentioning how you split your answer... I have one last question did you include any references, or did you not have enough time for that. Did you set it out as a mini essay?

Thank you
Reply 11
No problem, I hope it will be helpful for you.

I didn't even think to reference actually as I was so worried about finishing in the time frame! I guess it would be a good idea to do so if you mentioned any specific books, articles or theories. It was sort of a mini essay in that I laid it out in paragraphs and did a very short intro/conclusion but that was more so it was just clearer for the interviewers to read than anything.

Quick Reply

Latest