INTERVIEW PAPER

Interview Paper
SW3010
Oct 1st 2012
Jodi Sviontek ID#3759321

INTERVIEW PAPER

Abstract
My experience of finding and interviewing a person with a BSW and the process that ensued was
both informative and challenging. I understand the need to really see and hear first-hand from
someone who has gone through the schooling that I am currently experiencing and that is in the
profession that I will be in after I finish my education. The interview gave me insight in to the
career; I asked questions that were already established from the syllabus and personal questions
that I inquired. My results were pleasant, it confirmed my overall feeling of the profession and
what I believe is in store for my future as a social worker which made me understand that it is
going to be hard but extremely rewarding. Throughout the interview I felt passionately that being
a social worker is the right profession for me because I really want to be able to reach out and
really help the people that are in need in every way that I can.

INTERVIEW PAPER

Trying to find someone to interview that has their BSW was more of a challenge then I
realized. I tried to think of all of my resources first, I thought of people that I know that is in the
field that might know someone who I do not know that meets the criteria to interview. I first
contacted a friend of mine who received her Masters of social work at Eastern to see if she knew
anyone she said that she would get back to me but never did. A lady that is a therapist that is a
client at the company I work at offered to help me and said she will network around and see if
she either knows anyone or knows someone thats knows someone but she got back to me and
told me she couldnt find anyone with only their Bachelors in Social Work. Next, I contacted
Becky the volunteer coordinator at Vista Maria; an organization for young girls with troubled
backgrounds where I have been volunteering at as a mentor for the last couple years, she told me
she will send a mass email to the faculty to find a candidate. It was getting close to the deadline;
I was starting to worry about not being able to find someone to interview, I had a work day left
to call different organizations to find someone to interview. I work fulltime during the day and I
also have a part time job two days a week so the only time I could call is on my lunch break,
right before I went to lunch on the Friday before the weekend the deadline was due, being that I
have only two days left I received an email from Becky saying that she found someone and she
will get back to me very soon with the details. So relying on Becky, I decided to wait and not call
other organizations because Ive known Becky long enough to know that she is good on her
word and she will get back to me, turned out she did just that. Becky gave me the information for
Kuneka Gilchrist who is a therapist at Vista Maria that has her social work degree at Oakland
University. I was so excited, I contacted Kuneka right away asked her a few questions, heard
back from her promptly and was able to set up the interview within a week. I ended up
surprisingly not making any phone calls because I tried to use my contacts and resources first,

INTERVIEW PAPER

which eventually worked out, though I was very worried getting close to crunch time that I
wasnt going to be able to find someone in time, it was very stressful. My feelings for asking a
stranger for help made me nervous. I dont do very well asking friends for help, so having to ask
someone I dont know, definitely was a challenge, but knowing that it is something that I have to
do in order to complete my assignment, I knew it needed to be done. When my friend never got
back to me after saying she will try to find someone for me to interview, it made me feel sad and
kind of hopeless because I irrationally thought if my friend let me down than why wouldnt
people who didnt know me as well not let me down? Also after turning to the person I knew
through work and knowing she had many resources because of the field she worked in made me
think if someone established and in the field of social work was not be able to find someone then
I really wont be able to connect with someone to interview. Feeling even more hopeless and
stressed I knew giving up obviously wasnt an option, fortunately my last resource came through,
feeling extremely excited that I finally found someone to interview, I was now able to move on
to the next step; the actual interview. During the process I felt rejected by the friend who never
got back to me and I felt nervous that the other people I reached out to would not follow through.
It was hard to rely on someone and to wait without knowing what will happen next. Becoming
aware of the parallel process of how I felt compared to how the consumer might feel (asking for
help and the possibility of not be responded too) I understand how the consumer might feel
hopeless and alone, its hard to rely on others when there is uncertainty of what will follow. The
feelings I had compared to the feelings the consumer might have are similar I believe because of
the possibility of rejection, being let down, and the despair of the unknown.
I Interviewed Kuneka Gilchrist who is a therapist at Vista Maria with a BSW that she
received from Oakland University in 2009, which was actually the first year that Oakland

INTERVIEW PAPER

University became an accredited University in Social Work. Kuneka Gilchrist is a therapist at

Vista Maria she works Monday thru Fridays and sometimes on the weekends depending on her
work load. She is salary based and has 10 clients that she sees minimum once a week for 60
minutes generally more than that because she keeps her door open, she has monthly meetings
with court workers going over court reports, min of two family sessions to get hall passes has to
be completed before finish program or get home passes to go home. Once a week study table
with girls where she goes to school they attend and get the work and does different assignments,
she has an intern does workshops one example is healthy and appropriate relationships does walk
in class to get progress reports and has sit in on classes. Her job is to help the girls with their
conflicts and problems so they can successfully complete the program at vista Maria and either
go home to their families and be successful productive members of society. The clients served
are the young ladies ages 12-17 that are placed in Vista Maria who have trouble backgrounds and
may have experienced many types of abuse or emotional problems they have been placed in the
facility either because of the court system or the family placed them. Some girls have aggression,
anger, sexual trauma

The more they see your invested in their treatment and behaviors the less conflict you
have the more they do better when they feel they have someone paying attention verse someone
who is trying to push paperwork they ca tell the time you spend with them the questions you ask
who works with young girls that have diverse severe emotional problems

INTERVIEW PAPER

References
K.Gilchrist, personal Communication, September 26, 2012