1. What were your motives for helping this person?
Recently the company I work for went through a reorganization of their departments. As a result, there were staff changes that affected an entire department. I had developed a working relationship with one of the people affected by this change, and I offered my assistance to update her resume. I felt empathy for what she was experiencing, and I also went through the same change in 2017. It was a tough time for me. I just wanted to help and offer my support.
2. Did you benefit from this relationship in any way? How?
The gratification I received was that I allowed her to land interviews for positions I knew will prove to be personally and financially rewarding to her career path.
3. What was your role in the helping relationship? In what way do you think you helped this person? Looking back, is there anything that you might have done differently?
As a helper, my role was to write a compelling resume that highlights her transferrable skills, qualifications, and accomplishments to supercharge her career. When she shared her resume with me, it was dated and did not capture her true potential as a candidate. When I gave her resume an overhaul, it showed a clear picture of her professional self and boosted her confidence to interview for a supervisory position. Looking back, I would not change anything. She was very pleased with the revisions.
4. Was there anything that this person did, said, or believed that you did not agree with? How did you react?
When I was conducting the initial intake interview, she mentioned that she was not interested in applying to any positions within the company that required her to talk to our members over the phone. I had to respect her decision because she is an expert in her life, but I did disagree with her decision because I felt that she was limiting her options to remain employed with the company.
5. Did you learn anything from this relationship?
I learned not to let my personal opinion change my decision to help her. I did have an open and honest conversation with her to gain a better understanding of why she made the decision not to apply to all of the positions available. The use of the helping skills listed in chapter one, attending, listening, and questioning, help structured our expectations and managed our emotions.