What is your experience with direct client support?
The interviewer wants to know how you interact with clients. It's important to demonstrate that you remember being on the front lines and can relate to and effectively supervise your team, who will provide more direct client support, especially if you are interviewing for a role that is mostly supervisory or managerial.
Don't say how happy you are to have risen to a level where you don't have to interact directly with clients anymore. Even as a manager, you're likely to be asked to work with clients from time to time, and more importantly, your attitude will be reflected by your team.
"Working directly with clients made up the majority of my professional efforts for the first ten years of my career as a social worker. It's the heart of the work, and it's where the real benefits can be observed up close. But I've also come to value mentoring and guiding a team of social workers so that, although I'm not interacting as often with the beneficiaries of the work, I have a much broader view of the impact made by my whole team."
