Running head: BSW INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE

BSW Interview Experience

Giselle Riker
Student ID Number: 004300610
Wayne State University

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Authors Note: This paper was prepared for SW 3010 Section 001 taught by Professor Chad
Allee, and submitted on October 9, 2013.
Social work has been an appealing career to me ever since I was a junior in high school. I
declared the major as a freshman in college and have to stuck to it since then, even though I have
transferred schools and faced a lack of encouragement from several of my family members.
Everyone always tells me how a career in social work is low-paying, emotionally taxing,
potentially dangerous, and overall more trouble than it is worth. But to me, social work has
always seemed like an extremely rewarding and challenging career where I could picture myself
actually making a difference in society. I have heard both ends of the spectrum from people who
actually work in the field: some love it, some hate it, and they all have their own personal
reasons for feeling that way. This assignment gave me the opportunity to delve deeper into those
reasons. I was to conduct an interview in which I would explore one persons BSW career
including their background, current job, feelings about the profession and more. This was my
chance to get a closer look at a social work career in action so I can begin to get an
understanding of my what my life may be like one day once I fully enter the field.
Section One
When we first went over this assignment in class, I knew it was going to be a difficult
task to find a stranger with a BSW to interview because a vast majority of social workers obtain
their MSW. Even so, I tried not to worry too much about it because I knew I had a few social
work contacts that could potentially help me out. The first person I spoke to was my aunt Ellen,
who was formerly employed at The Guidance Center of southeast Michigan, and still continues
to volunteer there on a weekly basis. I explained the assignment to her, and she said she would
look around for an employee who fit the description and then get back to me. About a week later

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Ellen told me she spoke with a case manager named Verdina and informed her of my assignment.
Verdina clearly told Ellen that she would be more than happy to help me out, and I was free to
contact her.
The first couple times I called, her voicemail box was full so I could not leave a message
with my contact information. Within the next two days, I tried again and this time was able to
leave a message introducing myself and my situation, but after a day passed, I still had heard no
response. At this point, I had probably called her over ten times all at different time periods of
the day. I know she had to have checked her phone at some point that week and hear my
messages, especially because she knew to be expecting a call from me. I decided to call Ellen
and ask if she had heard anything from Verdina, or if she was going to see Verdina anytime soon
at the office so she could ask her if she had received any of my calls. I know I should have kept
calling Verdina on my own, but I was just so fed up with the situation I decided to try this
alternative method to reach her. Unfortunately, Ellen would not be going to the Guidance Center
for a few weeks, which meant she would not be seeing Verdina either. She was just as confused
as me as to why Verdina wouldnt call me back, but she told me to kept trying. So I did what any
normal, irritated twenty year old girl would do... I gave up on this Verdina character.
Not all hope was lost after a conversation with my boyfriends sister revealed that she
might have a coworker with a BSW. But with the way things had been going, I cant say I was
surprised when a few days later she told me that the coworker was actually a MSW. Looking
back I wish I would have handled things differently and contacted more agencies and people, but
around this time I got into a car accident, so I had a countless number of other things to take care
of on top of this assignment and I was not sure how to prioritize everything. I was frustrated and
overwhelmed, and I was starting to feel like I was running out of time to find someone. When it

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comes down to it, I should never have taken Verdinas lack of response personally. She is a case
manager so obviously she is a very busy person, and she most likely had too many prior
commitments and not enough time to set up my interview. This is totally understandable and
logical, and if I had known for sure that this was the case, I would have felt a lot less deterred. I
think the same kind of feelings could apply when it comes to consumers in need of social
services. It can be very daunting to reach out to a stranger for help, and if one doesnt receive the
response they want the first time, the individual may assume that is how everyone is going to
respond, so why keep trying? This type of mentality can only cause consumers to sink deeper
into their problems. Even though I did somewhat feel this way, I was not about to entirely give
up and risk my grade. Thankfully, things worked out just in time.
Section Two
After getting the appropriate professor approval, I ended up interviewing my boyfriends
sister Kelsey Ralls. She graduated from Michigan State University with her BSW in 2011. After
graduation, she did not get a job in the field right away nor did she start applying to grad school.
Instead, she spent two years as a campus ministry intern with Cru (formerly Campus Crusades
for Christ) at MSU. Currently Kelsey is employed with Volunteers of America (VOA) as a
Veteran Employment Specialist. At this position, she works with veterans in the Detroit area that
are unemployed and homeless, or at the risk of being homeless, and basically she does all that
she can to help them find jobs. She meets with clients regularly, evaluates their skills and
interests, and then works to help them navigate the job market and ultimately land a job (ideally
one that matches their skills and interests). This is where the micro level interventions occur,
including but not limited to things like practicing interview skills, building a rsum, and
connecting clients with job skill training opportunities. It sounds simple, but veterans are a

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unique and challenging population to work with because they almost always have barriers to
employment such as physical or mental disabilities, substance abuse problems, criminal history,
etc., and it is Kelseys job to address these personal barriers and help clients overcome them.
Kelseys clients are men and women ranging from ages 24 to 65 with at least 24 hours
active military service. As for who can receive her services, Kelsey is actually not limited to just
the veterans staying with VOA as part of the transitional housing program (which is in the same
building as her office). She is also expected to do outreach to veterans in the community on a
micro and mezzo level. For example, she will be leading a weekly job club at the John Dingell
Hospital, which is essentially a skills workshop open to any veterans focusing on the job search.
Within the group she will be able to find clients for her individualized employment services
through VOA. I think its great that her position is so flexible: she is not locked into exclusively
doing work with VOA, but still receives her salary from them even though she also works
closely with the Veterans Administration, Salvation Army, and other local non-profits servicing
veterans. Its almost as if she is providing her a private and independent service but her work is
based and funded out of VOA.
Although Kelsey is still new at her job, and she is aware that she still has much to learn,
she feels that she has made a good amount of progress as a social worker in the short time she
has been with VOA. Her education has definitely given her several tools she utilizes in her day to
day work with clients, so its good for me to see that I really should be retaining what Im
learning now so Ill be prepared when I have to apply it in my future workplace. Kelsey also
feels that the skills she picked up on in her internship with Cru have really come in handy at
VOA. For example, her main responsibility as an intern at Cru was to raise support for the
mission to help college students connect with Jesus, which involved a lot of networking and

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communication skills, which are core aspects of her job as an employment specialist at VOA. I
really respect Kelseys confidence towards her work even though she is still very new at the
position, and I think shell go very far if she keeps her good attitude.
When I asked Kelsey to give me her own personal evaluation of VOA, she almost didnt
know where to start. Nationally, VOA has been active for over 100 years, and the focus is on a
wide range of service goals which vary by state. Nationally, VOA operates on a macro level by
advocating for legislation related to the populations they serve. Michigans chapter of VOA
focuses more on service while directly involving the community and spreading awareness, which
could also be considered macro interventions. VOA MI offers a few different social welfare
services, but veteran services is one of their main priorities. Lansing is where VOA is most active
and they are considered the biggest provider of veteran services in that area. The Detroit housing
program that Kelsey works with only opened two years ago, but they have already built a very
good reputation throughout the community. The shelter itself is of good size and well
maintained, and the case managers working there are very skilled and have been successful at
establishing bonds with the veterans in the program. Not to mention VOAs Detroit employment
program has an 80% success rate. Overall, Kelsey seems to think that VOA is an effective
organization that is successful at achieving their goals and providing quality services.
Section 3 / Conclusion
I really enjoyed conducting this interview with Kelsey. She was more than willing to help
me out and accommodate me into her work schedule, and she gave me very comprehensive
answers that made the interview feel much more like a genuine conversation rather than an
awkward set of cut and dried questions and answers, which is often what interviews can turn out
to be. I was able to interview several professional social workers during my high school

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internship at Starfish Family Services, but none of those meetings were as intimate and edifying
as this one with Kelsey. I also was lucky to be able to interview someone working with an
agency dedicated to veteran services since it is such a growing area within social work right now.
I feel like I now have a better understanding of the great need for veteran services, and how
challenging it can be to assist them in getting back into independent, civilian living. From my
understanding, VOA is an exceptional organization and Im very impressed that they have been
active for so long but continue to grow and adapt to changing social welfare needs across the
country. Getting a real look inside a young professionals social work career has really improved
my attitude about my own career in the future. I greatly admire Kelsey as an individual and as a
social worker. I think she has a real gift when it comes to communication and empathy, and I
really hope that I can be as successful and positive as she has been so far in the working world.