If interviews scare you, it probably means that you are not prepared for them.
Have a look at the following set of interview questions and answers to help you along:
Peer Counselor Interview Questions and Answers
What encouraged you to work in a peer counseling role?
I have seen that mental health illnesses are not considered problems for the masses, many often dismissing them, or not accepting the fact that they have an issue. But for the person who is going through them, the struggle is real. This led me to want to assist people with mental health issues so that they too can have a chance to live life in a wholesome manner, and as they deserve.
In the role of a peer counselor, what duties have you performed?
Over the last 6 years that I have worked in a peer counselor capacity, I have been actively handling a wide variety of tasks, such as interviewing clients, conferring with families to determine backgrounds, looking through client-specific information to determine their issues, creating and implementing plans to meet the individual needs of each client, providing symptom management assistance, and monitoring their conditions.
In your opinion, what skills do you feel one needs to work as a successful peer counselor?
Working as a peer counselor is not everyone’s ballgame. One has to possess the ability to reach out to people suffering from different types of mental illnesses. Apart from this, it is imperative to be empathetic with your clients’ situations and possess the ability to create the right type of mental health plans to help them. Moreover, one has to be patient and possess the capability to handle emergency interventions if and when they occur.
What has been your most challenging case so far?
I was once assigned a 14-year-old girl who was suffering from depression because of her dysfunctional family. On the surface, everything seemed to be normal, as the family showed no signs of being dysfunctional at all, but from what the child said, it was obvious that something was not right. It took all I had to find out that the parents were drug addicts and would abuse their daughter when in a state of stupor. It was quite challenging to get her out of that house, provide her with the right counseling, and rehabilitate her in a foster home.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the lowest being 1, where do you rate your counseling abilities?
I would give myself a realistic 7, as there is always a lot to learn.
And where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I am hoping to work as a child counselor within the next five years, for which I am working very hard right now.