Human Services Career Paper

The human service professional is central to the help process. They have the training to meet different human needs through an approach that utilizes special skills and knowledge. In doing so, the human services professional aims at both prevention and cure. The overall aim of human service professionals is to improve the general quality of human life. They strive to ensure that the community functions effectively. Therefore, human service professionals spend much time solving other people’s problems in a professional way. They do this by listening to their clients’ problems, helping the clients understand their problems and advising on the appropriate solutions to the problems in every unique situation.

A career in social work or human services is similar in the duties and type of work environment. Both of these positions require a desire to help others in many ways. Human Services Assistants may help clients with special needs obtain the services that will help them to develop and improve their situation. Social workers are considered human services workers, only they typically perform more hands-on duties with clients (BLS, 2012a). A career in social and human services is a rewarding choice for those who have a strong desire to help others in need and who have a strong sense of community.

In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. A Human Service professional has, in its hands, the responsibilities in the life of the clients and families they meet. The tremendous and arduous responsibilities they take on include, but are not limited to, the well-being and care of people and their communities. Such roles can be helping others manage the care of a family member, assisting individuals experiencing problems with family relations and conflicts, dealing with changes that come with growing old, aiding those suffering mental illness and or those individuals struggling with addictions. Briefly

Human services professionals are those who facilitate and empower those in society who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs both emotionally, mentally, and physically. Human services professionals work with diverse cultures in many different settings to provide prevention, education, and resources for individuals, families, groups and communities. Some of the populations served are, children and families, adolescents, and the homeless. To support groups in crisis human services professionals must be committed, patient, possess listening skills, and have an ability to be empathetic without reducing one’s ability to be empowered (Martin, 2011).

In order for me to complete this career assessment paper, I initially took an Interest Inventory survey. Upon completing this process, it revealed that my personality profile score was (I, C, A). These three letters represented my strengths and interests in determining which career field would best suit me.

The theoretical career development framework that I chose to assist in Catherine’s career counseling process is Donald Super’s counseling theory. I decided to chose this particular career development framework because I thought it would be the most effective and appropriate to use with the client. The client is thirty-seven years of age and is dealing with a lot on her plate. Equally important, people grow and change throughout their lives and this theory respects that.

The career in which I am pursuing is Human Service Bachelor Degree, the reason why I am pursuing this career is because of the passion I have for helping people reach their full potential when crossing my path. There was many people who help me along the way throughout my entire life, so I feel it only right to give back. Now before I started attending Saint Leo University my career major switch twice .I was thinking about a career in the hospital such as the HealthCare Management then I went on thinking I don’t just want a degree where I am stuck in one career field. I will like a degree where I can move around throughout my community. According to the national human service.org the social and economic characteristic human service is a professionally

Human service professional’s main focus is to successfully deliver and to meet human needs. As a professional for human services, an individual must have knowledge and commitment to delivering the highest quality level of services to their client or client’s issues to improve their client’s quality of living. Human services have several of roles depending on their professions. Some roles may include learning to build relationships with clients, finding the right resources for clients, additional training and technology skills. In addition to several of roles, as a human service professional, it is very important to practice the ethical responsibilities that come within human services when dealing with clients on daily basis.

A human service professional, plays a major role in society, working side-by-side with various professionals, and assumes a wide range of roles to assist individuals, groups, organizations and communities. Although human service professionals do not necessarily do in depth and psychotherapy, they are well-equipped to facilitate client change and growth typically by working directly or indirectly with clients around concrete tasks, objectives, and goals. A counselor, broker, advocate, case manager, community planner and behavior specialists are just few of the roles of a human service professional. (Lincoln University)

for someone who is not able or not yet able to deal with issues in a healthy way.

In my work with the Department of Social Services, I have the opportunity to work with people

Human Services is the practice of assisting needy and less fortunate individuals with meeting their basic needs in life. “The Human Services profession is one which promotes improved service delivery systems by addressing not only the quality of direct services, but also by seeking to improve accessibility, accountability, and coordination among professionals and agencies in service delivery” (Martin, 2007)

The range of problems facing human service clients is multi-faceted. No one person has just one problem, and there are plenty of clients to go around (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). I believe this point is well articulated by Neil Headman, assistant professor of human services at the University of Illinois at Springfield (2011), who stated “It does not matter who your client is, everyone needs help” (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011).

At the beginning of the year looking for classes to take Human Services stood out to me. Although not really knowing the meaning of human services, I believed it was about helping people and that’s something I have always been very passionate about. I am always the friend who is giving advice and hearing out my friends’ dilemmas and situations. The definition of Human services in our book is: a phrase that is often used to group activities that focus on helping people live better lives. In a vague way, the human services include formal systems such as government welfare programs, education, mental retardation services, mental health organizations, child care programs, physical health care establishments, and the correctional services of the legal justice system. The definition of a human service worker is: Anyone who is trained or educated in helping activities. A person who does not have traditional professional academic credentials but who, through experience, training, or education, provides helping services. When this project of interviewing a human service worker and learning in depth how they do their job, and how they help others it was something that I was pretty excited about. The process on how I found the human service corporation I would interview was pretty difficult since all of the ones I was interested at first were taken. Going through the process to schedule my first interview was not as hard as I sought it to be.

The Human Service field is an interdisciplinary profession that focuses on ways to improve social problems and the quality of life for families and communities that may have been or are currently being faced with oppression. Human Service professionals generally work with individuals in efforts to help get their needs met. The title of a Human Service professional could fall under a number of different careers. Although human services and social work may seem to be classified as the same kind of job because both consist of working to help others. However, human services and social work independently of one another, yet still in a manner addressing the needs of the people they serve. Human Services professionals generally work more with community issues in a community setting for the most part, while social workers usually work directly with clients supporting their independent needs. Psychology is another discipline that can fall under the Human Services umbrella. This is because a person whom chooses to work in the field of Psychology studies to understand human behavior, their ability to make decisions, as well as their ability to cope; which can also be characteristics of a human service professional, as they are trained professionals that provide support during stressful times.