How do you go about fostering healthy communication and social skills?
As a Youth Worker, you are a leader and influencer of healthy communication and social skills. Often, the youth with whom you work will have limited positive mentors, and so it's up to you to provide a positive example.
Your interactions with the youth will set a critical standard. A leader and influencer in communication, you need to choose your words wisely and be mindful of your own personal and professional growth in the area of communication.
Take the time to discuss your approach when it comes to improving your communication style. The interviewer wants to feel confident that you will serve as an excellent example for the youth in their program.
"I have a good education, I have a diploma in Counselling, and a great deal of on-the-job training, and exposure working with talented people. This encouraged a lot of self-reflection. I learned in school how to conduct myself with clients. I have learned how to communicate openly and with healthy boundaries."
"It has taken practice and study to hone my communication and social skills. Having an openness with colleagues and the people I respect taught me how to conduct myself in different situations. I found valuable and engaging mentor in the field of my youth and social work, and gained many valuable communication tools from them. They were instrumental in steering my communication approach, and our conversations taught me healthy non0-defensive communication and social skills, including active listening, taking an empathetic approach, mirroring, and adapting."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Lead by example, do things politely and communicate clearly and slowly with youth and understand things from their background. It differs from person to person in communication.
Rachelle's Feedback
You make a great point when it comes to leading by example! Good answer.
"I promote healthy communication and social skills through leading by example. I am polite and communicate clearly with the youth of various backgrounds."
Anonymous Answer
By showing respect and communicating clearly. I also find that asking people more experienced than I am can help guide me in the right direction. There may be times where I am unsure on which approach to take, so I would ask someone more experienced than me, or maybe a few people, and then go from there. I learned from three years in customer service different approaches to take depending on the attitudes and personalities of the customers, to ensure that I can offer the best service and remain respectful.
Stephanie's Feedback
In the "Revised Answer" section, I have suggested a slightly revised response.
For me, healthy communication skills grow from being in a supportive environment, where respectful communication is valued and modeled. I've personally found it helpful to check in with people more experienced than me, as they can often lead me in the right direction. During my three years in customer service, I learned a lot about different communication approaches to take, depending on the attitudes and personalities of the customers. This ensured that I was able to offer the best service while remaining respectful.
Anonymous Answer
I think I grow healthy communication and social skills by observing and interacting with those who are excellent in this area. For example, I learned many ways from my last supervisor at my practicum site. Though people say communication is a skill but I learned from her it is an attitude to believe in co-workers and respect their choices. Moreover, she taught me to welcome others at first encountering them so that people can be more open to communicating. I believe that it is important social skills.
Another way to grow is by writing a reflective journal in order to evaluate relationships with young persons and other close relationships. It helps me to think through and plan for the next meeting.
Stephanie's Feedback
Great response--the specific example of your last supervisor is a really nice touch. It's clear that you've given careful thought to the ways in which you can show up and communicate most effectively with others.
Anonymous Answer
I give my time to find mutual interest and understanding between myself and others, I use proactive listening to hear what people are communicating to me and then relay this information back to them to show that I'm paying that person my full attention. I take time out of my day to check in on others, to see how their coping with life and also offer any help or assistance if I can.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! It sounds like you take the time to check in on others and actively listen to what's going on in their lives. The interviewer will be happy to hear this. Other things that you can mention that you do to improve your communication and social skills include paying attention to your body language, thinking before you speak, and being respectful, compassionate, and polite to others. Also, if you can provide an example of a time when you exhibited healthy communication and social skills in a work situation, don't hesitate to include that as well. Great job!
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