Human Services Leadership Interview

you

are responsible for conducting an informational interview with a professional who currently holds a leadership position in the Human Service field.  Human Services is a very broad field, and interviewees may be selected from a large number of potential organizations.  You may have already identified a professional that you want to speak with for this assignment.  If not, please use the links below to find more information on Human Services organization directories.

United Way of the Lowcountry (Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head, and Jasper)

http://uwlowcountry.org/community-directory/

The Community Directory is a free, online database of information about local health and human service resources.  You can browse through the directory by service category or search for the agency or program name by using the advanced search feature.  The National United Way website is also a resource for locating health and human services organizations in other localities and states.

Beaufort County Human Services Alliance

http://www.bcgov.net/departments/Community-Services/human-services-alliance/human-services-alliance-homepage.php

Membership is comprised of any individual organization in Beaufort County that is committed to improving the quality of life for all residents.  The Alliance distributes a county-wide weekly e-mail outlining Alliance updates, community resources, trainings, and other opportunities.

This assignment is due on October 10, so you need to schedule your interview as soon as possible.  When preparing your written summary, please do not feel the need to write each question and answer verbatim.  Instead, provide a synopsis of the interview experience.  Highlight what you learned about the Human Services field from your interviewee.  What was confirmed, and what was different than you expected?  Did your career goals change as a result of the interview?  The summary should read like a reflection paper.

In order to assist you in developing  your interview questions, you may find the video below useful.  Remember, you are focusing on the general topic of leadership with a more specific focus on leadership in a Human Services context.  Use your textbook as a guide for specific questions about how an organization is structured, how planning processes are conducted, how budgets are developed, how services are evaluated, what information management systems are utilized, etc.