Adoption specialists often work with children who have experienced trauma or behavioral issues. An interviewer may ask this question to understand how you would handle a challenging situation. In your answer, try to show that you can remain calm and focused in the face of adversity. Explain that you will use your interpersonal skills to help the child feel comfortable and safe.
Example: “I am very familiar with the legal requirements of adoption. In my previous role as an adoption specialist, I was responsible for ensuring that all paperwork was filled out correctly and submitted on time. I also ensured that all information provided by prospective parents was verified and documented properly. These tasks helped me develop a strong understanding of the legal process involved in adoption.”
I met with both siblings separately to learn more about their relationship. It turned out that they actually got along quite well when they weren’t around each other. I suggested that we separate them into different homes until they were ready to be adopted together. We found two families willing to adopt them separately, and after six months, the older sibling moved back in with the younger one. Both siblings are now happy and healthy and living in their forever homes.”
Adoption specialists are the people who work with pregnant women who are considering placing their children for adoption and with adoptive families who are interested in adopting a child. They provide counseling and support to both the pregnant women and the adoptive families.
Adoption specialists often work with people who are going through a difficult time. The adoption process can be emotionally challenging, and the specialist must help clients navigate this process. Employers ask this question to make sure you have experience working with people in emotional situations. In your answer, share an example of how you helped someone else cope with a similar situation.
We experience sad things in a shelter from time to time, such as receiving an abused animal, or seeing one of the animals die. How do you plan to deal with it emotionally?
Ensure them that you are ready for both good and bad things. The shelter should primarily help animals in distress, animals their owners abandoned. Hence you do not wear pink glasses, and know that many animals will arrive to the shelter in a bad condition.
And though it won’t be a pleasant spectacle, instead of dwelling on it, you prefer to focus on what you can do for the animals to make their life better. You may shed a tear here and there, and say some bad words on an address of a person who did a bad thing to an animal. But then you will simply focus on your job, trying to help each animal get back on track, regain their fitness, and start trusting people again.
What is your availability yo work in our shelter?
Most positions in animal shelters are part time, since most people working there are either still studying, or they have another job, their main source of income. Manager from the shelter will almost always ask about your availability, and you should keep two things on your mind.
First: You should be available for 20 hours a week at least, if you try to get a paid position with the shelter. Volunteers can work even for less than 15 hours, but at the end of the day it is easier for the shelter to have less employees who are more committed to the job than to rotate shifts between 15 different people, each of them working just 8 hours per week.
Second things is flexibility, and willingness to sacrifice something for your work in the shelter. For example, nobody likes to work on Sundays, or public holidays. But animals need to eat, and go for a walk, regardless of the day in the calendar we humans follow. Ensure the people in the shelter that you are willing to take some weekend shifts and holiday shifts, and sacrifice some of your free time activities for the well-being of the animals.