Job Responsibilities
Spend as much times as needed with clients for emotional support
(Usually 2-4 hours during shift)
Answer the crisis call line and assist people with his/her crisis
(1-2 hours of shift)
Information and referrals to other community services (1 hour of
shift)
Attend training seminars/watch/read domestic violence information
to better educate myself (3 hours of shift)
Document any significant conversations between a client and myself
(1 hour if needed)
Document any time spent (at least 40-50% of shift) on an
activity/chore that pertains to the center (1 hour)
Fill out stats sheets. These sheets involve all the cities we
deal with and the different needs addressed. When we assist
someone we record the city, how the person contacted us, and how
we helped them (emotionally, information and referral, emergency
food basket, etc.)
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Job Requirements
The educational requirements for this position was at least a
2-year degree in human services or a similar field and continuing
education towards a 4-yr degree.
The hiring procedure was lengthy, involving two interviews and a
series of questions determining how well a person can handle a
person's crisis and how a person would offer emotional support.
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Uppers
Helping people on a daily basis and having an opportunity to touch people's
lives.
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Downers
The clients who take advantage of me or walk all over the center.
We have had clients disappear from the shelter without any
reasoning, steal things, and/or just take advantage of the food we
have to offer, money, etc. It hurts when you are trying to help
people and they just take advantage of your help.
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Lifestyle
Work hours usually consist of evening and weekends. If working part-time this
can be anywhere from 8-25 hours. During the week someone is available for 40
hours in the evenings. A normal shift during the week is usually 4pm - 12:30am.
Weekends are either 8am - 4pm and 4pm - 11pm.
Dress code is casual. You can wear jeans and a t-shirt if you would like as
long as you aren't attending court with a client. If for some reason you would
have to accompany a client to court you would have to dress appropriately.
Usually every two months or so we have team building events where we all get
together and discuss certain aspects of our lives so we can all get to know each
other better. We also have holiday functions as well.
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Compensation
For someone that is working on the weekend, the pay is generally
$8.00 an hour, which for the amount of work that you do I would
say this is fair. A person that is regular staff (working during
the week) generally makes $10-$15 an hour. If you are full-time
you do have excellent benefits. Generally we also get small
bonuses around Christmas time as well.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Make sure you are empathetic towards others. It is one of the
most important qualities you need for this job. If you are
interested in being a case manager or social worker, this is a
great starting position to gain some experience towards those
other positions.
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