INTERVIEW
Guidelines for Interview of a Helping Professional
1. What is the name of the person you interviewed and where does he/she work?
2. What is the agency or school’s address?
3. What is the number of total staff at the agency/school?
4. What are the number and type of administrative staff?
5. What are the approximate salaries of administrative staff?
6. What are the numbers of “direct service” personnel (human service professionals who work with clients)?
7. What are the types of direct service personnel (e.g. mental health aides, therapists, supervisors, program coordinators, group leaders, family counselors, etc.)?
8. What are the degrees held by direct service personnel?
9. What are the approximate salaries of direct service personnel?
10. What are the number and type of support staff (e.g. secretaries, clerical staff, etc.)?
11. Is this a private or public agency?
12. Where does the agency/school get its funding?
13. Does the agency/school have a policy and practices statement (a written statement that explains the functions of the agency/school and the roles of the staff)?
14. Who are the clients of this agency/school?
15. How does the agency/school obtain its clients?
16. What happens when a client initially contacts this agency/school?
17. Is there a process where clients’ problems are diagnosed, clients’ needs are assessed, goals are established, referrals are made, and follow-up is accomplished? Where are clients typically referred?
18. How do clients pay? How much is charged for each session?
19. What type of counseling and/or assistance takes place at this agency/school (e.g. individual, group, family, etc.)?
20. How long are typical counseling/interviewing sessions?
21. What kind of paperwork is necessary for the direct service individuals to complete on clients?
22. How many hours, days, weeks, months, or years would a typical client spend at this agency/school? How many counseling sessions would he/she be able to have?
23. How is the typical client terminated?
24. How does the agency/school evaluate itself?
25. Is there a staff development effort that takes place at the agency/school (in-house workshops, guest speakers, monetary support for conferences education, etc.)?
26. How does the agency/school deal with ethical and legal concerns related to issues such as confidentiality, child abuse, and clients threatening to harm themselves or others?
27. Does the policy and practices statement of the agency/school match what is actually going on?
28. What recent trends have affected the ways in which
the human service professional does his/her work?
29. What future trends does the human service professional foresee?
30. How does the human service professional feel about his/her job?
31. Why did this type of work interest him/her and how did s/he get their job?
32. What does s/he like most about their job? What does s/he like least?
33. What is a typical day like?
34. Does s/he work individually or predominately in a group or team?