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4 minute read

February 4, 2025

Social Services: Industry-Specific Interview Questions and Career Outlook

Keen to join the social service industry? Here’s everything you need to know here.

Social Services Industry-Specific Interview Questions and Career Outlook

We spoke to Khai Xin Tan, Senior Executive Search Consultant for Human Resource & Office Professionals at Adecco Singapore, about current hiring trends and industry-specific interview questions. She shares her wisdom here.

Can you share on the current hiring trends for your industry of expertise? What are employers looking for, what’s the industry outlook, and what are the skills they are prizing?

The social services sector has been growing steadily from more than 15,000 professions in 2019 to more than 20,000 social service professionals in 2022.

The National Council of Social Service (NCSS) has launched a new Transformation Sustainability Scheme (TSS) that will support social service agencies (SSA) to strengthen their organisational capabilities to attract and retain talent in the sector.

More than $100 million from the Community Capability Trust is allocated to strengthen the organisational capabilities of the sector over the next three years, in key areas of people practices, volunteer management, and innovation & digitalisation.

Singapore’s evolving demographics will bring increased complexity to social issues, driving a higher demand for social services.

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Social service professionals will need to adopt transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, collaborating across organisational boundaries to effectively analyse and address challenges while maintaining quality outcomes for clients.

Additionally, with advancements in technology introducing new skills and competencies, it is crucial for these professionals to continuously upskill to stay relevant.

They need to understand and address the impact of technology on people’s lives while leveraging these advancements to empower clients and enhance service delivery.

By doing so, they can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Below is the summary of the four key trends impacting the social service sector as well as the skills that will grow in demand to meet the emerging needs.

Emerging Trends

  • More integrated service delivery — As social issues become more complex and varied, social service professionals will need to collaborate and coordinate better across sectors, organisations and professions, to provide well rounded care to their clients.
  • Technology disruption — Advancements in technology to aid service delivery, and new and unique social issues that arise from increased technology consumption require professionals to change the way they work and to acquire new skills.
  • Shifting demographics — Changes in family structures and an ageing population present new stresses and challenges which families and individuals will have to overcome.
  • Analysis for deeper insight — Increasing potential to use research and data to inform and improve service design and delivery.

Skills in demand

  • Change management
  • Collaborative practices across disciplines and sectors
  • Social service program development, implementation and evaluation
  • Practice supervision
  • Research data analysis
  • Research data collection and management
  • Research design
  • Research into professional practice translation
  • Risk management
  • Trends evaluation and application

What are some of the industry-specific questions that tend to be asked during interviews in your industry, and how are they best answered?

Social Service Professionals support individuals in need across five service areas:

  1. Children & youth
  2. Disabilities & special needs
  3. Families
  4. Mental health
  5. Seniors

To fare well in this industry, the employers are looking for the following attributes:

  • Analytical – How well one can examine information to make evidence-informed decisions.
  • Client centric – To demonstrate strong sense of commitment towards improving the lives of those whom they serve.
  • Collaborative – Social services professionals works with a wide range of partners and stakeholders, and one area is to show how one work well with others to achieve common goals and outcomes.
  • Compassionate – To demonstrate empathy and care for others.
  • Resilient – How have you exercise adaptability and show perseverance to overcome challenges in this industry.

To stand out in the market, candidates should complement the mentioned attributes by sharing personal experiences that demonstrate how they have applied these qualities in real-life situations. Alternatively, they can illustrate how they would effectively handle specific scenarios, drawing from past experiences. This approach highlights their practical skills and competitiveness.

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Are there any technical or skill tests (written, hands-on or project) that could be accompanied with an interview has part of the hiring process for any roles in your industry? What are they usually like, and what is the best way to approach them?

Different organisations usually have different requirements during an interview process. Most of them would present a scenario-based question/case study where the interviewee would be given time to prepare and present their understanding, and the steps/measures taken to handle the given scenario.

This approach helps organisations evaluate an individual’s problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and decision-making processes. It also allows the interviewer to gauge how well the candidate can approach real-world challenges, communicate their ideas, and align with the company’s values and expectations.

There is no right or wrong answer to these scenarios. The primary goal is to understand the candidate’s thought process, creativity, and ability to adapt to complex situations, all of which are crucial to thriving in the workplace.

This article was done in collaboration with Adecco.

 

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