Social Service Manager Mock Interview
Master 30 Social Service Manager interview questions covering program oversight, crisis intervention, and community partnerships.
Question 8 of 30
Have you ever made the decision to cut a program? What was the reason, and what was the result?
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Shelley Story is a coach and higher education administrator with 25 years of experience. She has designed multi-day, on-site interview processes and has conducted thousands of interviews and mock interviews with college students and recent grads.
This question addresses several overlapping skills you will need as a social service manager: budgeting experience, making decisions (especially ones with which others may disagree), providing a rationale for your decisions, and evaluating the outcomes. In particular, the interviewer may want to know what you considered when deciding to cut the program and any adversity you faced in implementing the cut.
Shelley Story is a coach and higher education administrator with 25 years of experience. She has designed multi-day, on-site interview processes and has conducted thousands of interviews and mock interviews with college students and recent grads.
Don't say, "No, I never have." If you haven't had to cut a program, think of a similar decision you had to make where you prioritized one program's needs over another, perhaps, even if you did not have to cut a program. You could also talk about considerations to cut a program that ended up with a different solution, like reallocating funds from other budget lines.
Shelley Story is a coach and higher education administrator with 25 years of experience. She has designed multi-day, on-site interview processes and has conducted thousands of interviews and mock interviews with college students and recent grads.
"Yes, I had to cut a program designed to assist homeless teens by providing access to a computer lab and technology instruction. The program required significant startup costs and oversight but did not serve enough kids to justify the expense. We eliminated that specific initiative but repurposed the computer lab to serve seniors, grade-school children, and teens at different times of the day."
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