Focus on giving a heartfelt response. Suppose you say that you want to help people as a social worker, which is a generic response. Instead, a better answer would be that as a social worker, you want to abolish hunger in the community and will do so by providing education and warm food to all who need it.

You want to avoid answering that you hope to accomplish something unachievable. For example, you may want to work with the homeless population and help as many as you can with placement in low-income housing. That is an achievable goal. But, if you say that you hope to accomplish placing 40,000 homeless people in permanent housing, that is a little unrealistic. The interviewer wants to know that you understand you cannot 'save' everyone and have measurable goals.

"What I hope to accomplish as a social worker is to help those with disabilities find gainful employment and housing where they can live independently. I believe it is essential for everyone to be able to live on their own and have a job where they can make their own money. It gives people hope and a sense of independence and purpose, which is so important in society."