This document provides instructions for an assignment to research job opportunities in the counselling and community services sector. It outlines 6 steps for students to complete: 1) Search job listings using an online job search engine. 2) Identify in-demand skills/qualities by reviewing job advertisements. Students must identify at least 5 skills. 3) Select one skill to receive further training in and write it down. 4) Research training opportunities for the selected skill and list one option. 5) Based on the job search, identify the highest demand sector for counsellors and community workers. 6) Explain how to develop a professional network, incorporating the use of tools like LinkedIn

1. Take Test: Assignment 1 – Job
Market Research
Test Information
Description Description – Research the current job market in
the counselling and community services sector.
Instructions Instructions – Use the internet to research current
job opportunities available in the counselling and
community sector.
Timeframe - Unlimited
 Step 1 - Access a job search engine, such as seek
or seek volunteer.
 Step 2 - Search for positions available within
Australia in the counselling and community service
sector (do not concern yourself too much with the
location of these jobs).
 Step 3 – Read through the opportunities currently
available.
 Step 4 - Make a list of qualities or skills that appear
to be in demand in these sectors (ie. What
skills/qualities are repeated across multiple job
advertisements?)Ensure that you have identified at
least five skills/qualities.
 Step 5 – Answer the following questions.
Multiple
Attempts
This Test allows multiple attempts.
Force
Completion
QUESTION 1
What qualities/skills have you found to be in demand in the
counselling and community services sector? (Five or more)
Attentiveness’ and Rapport Building Skills (Be warm and
friendly, remember their name, use eye contact –don’t stare,

2. research and role play) Active Listening (paying attention,
nodding, reflecting and paraphrasing, clarifying) Empathy
(the ability to understand and share feelings of another)
Effective questioning (How, What, When, avoid Why as it
can be judgemental) Paraphrasing and summarising
(gaining understanding of scenario) Focusing and
Challenging (reflecting on the counselling skills and process
and immediacy, known as transference and is a part of
being able to understand someone else’s experiences)
Awareness of boundaries including referrals (being aware of
own competence) Working at appropriate pace (Patience,
understanding clients emotions such as anger, fear, shame,
or sadness, self- autonomy, self-care vicarious harm)
QUESTION 2
Select one skill or quality from yourlist that you feel you would
benefit from receiving training or professional development in.
Write the quality or skill below.
Focusing and Challenging (reflecting on the counselling
skills and process and immediacy, known as transference
and is a part of being able to understand someone else’s
experiences)
QUESTION 3
Research the training opportunities available in relation to this
skill or quality. List one opportunity for training in this area.
(https://www.open2study.com/courses/sociology)
Sociology examines individuals in their social contexts and
provides insights into factors such as class, gender and age
shape societies at the individual and institutional levels. This
introductory course introduces you to key concepts and

3. theories used in examination of and for understanding social
action, social institutions, social structure and social change.
QUESTION 4
Provide a brief description (100- 150 words) of what is covered
in the training program you identified in the previous question.
What will I learn?
What is the sociological imagination
How to connect your biography with society
What is social inequality?
How inequality impacts on both the individual and the
society.
The institutions of our society and how they impact the
individual.
The social changes that are happening around us.
This course requires approximately 2 - 4 hours of study per
week, but can vary depending on the student. This includes
watching videos, and taking quizzes and assessments. The
total video time for this course is approximately 4 hours 51
minutes.
Roderick Arthur Guy has successfully passed the course
Sociology
Final score: 80 % Completed assessments Module Score
The Sociological Imagination 90% Inequality in the 21st
century: Local and Global Stratification 90% Social
Structures 80% From the Concrete to the Elastic 60%

4. QUESTION 5
From the job search that you have conducted,what sector do
counsellors and community service workers appear to be in the
highest demand (eg. aged-care, education,youth work etc.)?
(http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0
Main+Features30Sep+2011#7)
In 2010-11, there were an average half a million people
(513,000), or 4.5% of all employed people, working in
community service industries. Workers in the Residential
Care Services industry comprised the largest group
(204,000 people), followed closely by the Other Social
Assistance Services industry (193,000). The Child Care
Services industry was smaller, employing 116,000 people.
QUESTION 6
Roles within the counselling and community service sectors
often require workers to develop and maintain a network of
professionals that can be accessed as part of case planning and
collaboration.
Explain in detail how you would develop a professional network
(it may be useful to incorporate the use of social media, such as
linked–in into yourexplanation) (approx.200 words)
Essentially you are networking in CSO, by seeking advice
from others. The benefits of networking, creates an increase
in efficiency and effectiveness. Personally being able to
extricate on the intelligence of the other members of your
CSO, the level of productivity in your current job will improve
dramatically. As the intelligence of information emanates
around the CSO's through formal and informal networks of
people within them. Also the achievement levels of

5. individuals and departments rise on this advice/information.
It is generally reported the vacancy within the CSO are
generally mainly filled by word of mouth than public
advertising. So the advantages are pretty clear cut whether
internal or external networks do generate best work
practices, and can open up future opportunities and it’s
always a question of give and take. Just look, learn, listen
there is always a rainbow in every sky, occurrences are
occurring with every breathe we take. So by helping other's
we also really helping ourselves, in trust and confidence we
can all become valued, respected recipients of your
networks and CSO’s.
Networking with other services is important to develop
working relationships with service providers. It also helps
services to identify common issues and any gaps or
possible duplication in services Networks may be informal
on a worker-to-worker basis or formal through participation
in regular interagency forums. Interagency protocols will
cover the referral processes between services and will vary
from service to service. To ensure effective referrals it is
important to develop these protocols with each of the
services you work with. Equally important, you need to
develop the protocols you would like services to follow when
they refer clients to you.
"We didn't all come over on the same ship, but we're all
in the same boat. "Or "The ability to express an idea is
well-nigh as important as the idea itself." [Bernard
Baruch, American financier and statesman.]
QUESTION 7
Your professional network will depend on the area and sector in
which you work. Imagine you are starting in a job as an intake

6. worker for a local community centre.In this role, you are the
first point of contact for people in crisis (intake workers record
basic details and steer potential clients in the right direction).
a) Research the services available in yourarea.
b) Create an inventory that includes, at least 6, professionals (job
title, name and contact details) that you would like to have to
call upon for clients in need.
(For the purposes of this assessment, you do not have to
contact the professionals that you are listing in your network).
(https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/general.aspx?id=1358)
4. Take action
Be ready to take action when required.
 Evacuation centres
 Sandbagging
Moreton Bay Regional Council acknowledges Emergency
ManagementAustralia, Public Service Business Agency, Bureau of
Meteorology, State Emergency Service and Red Cross Australia for
the information provided within this site.
How can I help?
Volunteer
Volunteering in a disaster event can be a great way to help your
community.
Donate
For businesses and corporate organisations wanting to assist
communities impacted by disaster, GIVIT will ensure your
donation directly addresses urgent community need. Please
visit www.givit.org.au or emailinfo@givit.org.au to pledge your
donation or offer of assistance.
For individuals wanting to donate money, items or services, and
to see what is urgently needed in the disaster affected

7. communities, please visit www.givit.org.au. All money donated
will be used to purchase items locally.
Translated materials
For translated fact sheets, Australian Sign Language (Auslan)
videos and ethnic radio stations, see translated materials.
Localdisaster managementplan
Council has a responsibility to plan and prepare for disasters, to
coordinate the immediate response to an event and to help the
community get back on its feet after an event has occurred.
View Council's Local Disaster Management Plan.
Further information
Key agencies with further information about how to be prepared
for disasters:
 Action Rescue
 Australian Emergency Management
 Australian Red Cross
 Bureau of Meteorology
 Department Agriculture & Fisheries
 Emergency Management Queensland
 Energex
 Green Cross Australia
 Queensland Disaster Management
 Queensland Fire and Emergency Service
 Queensland Police Service
 Queensland State Emergency Service
 Rural Fire Service
 Volunteering Queensland
http://www.redcliffe.unitingchurch.org.au/Redcliffe_Uniting_
Church/Staff.html
You can contact the Church Office by calling: 07 3283 4066
Or you can like us on Facebook...
Click here for Facebook

8. Paul Clark - Chief of Sinners
Paul was called here in 2012 with a mandate to breathe life
into our congregation with a particular focus on families and
children. This is happening with our congregation growing
by 40% since that time.
Paul comes with lots of experience in youth and children's
ministry as a puppeteer and children's author [Car Park
Parables]. He has written over 15 books with 35,000 copies
in print. Oh, and you might have heard his At the
Top spots on radio across Australia.
Paul is married to Becky and they have two children in local
schools. He served in Nth Qld before coming to Redcliffe.
General Support Services & Counselling
Redcliffe Community Association
Redcliffe Neighbourhood Centre Association
Lamington Drive, Redcliffe QLD 4020 (07) 3480 8700
Website Email
About Us
The Redcliffe Community Association offers information and
referral, legal services, emergency relief, support services
for families and older persons, a personal enrichment
program (for people recovering from mental illness),
services for women affected by domestic violence, young
people at risk, and brief assistance.

9. Corner of Anzac Ave and Oxley Aves
Redcliffe QLD Australia 4020
07 3283 8769
info@redcliffeyouthspace.org
ALLEN
Checkpoint Project Coordinator
Perks of the job: Allen really LOVES the Youth
Space! Crazy loves it! He loves the staff, he loves the
young people and he loves the work!
Interesting fact about Allen? He’s an avid musician and
singer who has been in a number of bands, and he does a
lot of volunteer work with young people outside of his work
at the Youth Space. He is addicted to comics, wants to get
a Green Lantern tattoo, and used to be a Youth Chaplain!
How long has he worked at the Youth Space? Since mid
2009.
Blue Care Redcliffe Community Care Services : Blue Care
www.bluecare.org.au › Centre Search
Street Address: 42 Percy Street Redcliffe, QLD 4020.
Mailing Address: PO Box 428.Redcliffe, QLD 4020. Phone:
1300 258 322. Fax: 07 3889 4223. Email ...
Redcliffe Community Bus for Disabled or Aged Inc
www.redcliffecommunitybus.org.au/
The Redcliffe Community Bus for Disabled or Aged Inc is
a not-for-profit ... and Qld Department of Communities,
Child Safety and Community Care Services ...

10. North Coast region - Child Safety Services, Department of
...
www.communities.qld.gov.au › ... › Child safety service
centres
Nov 19, 2014 - Department of Communities, Child Safety
and Disability Services ....Redcliffe Child
Safety Service Centre. Address: Work59 High Street ...
Community Services & Development jobs in Redcliffe QLD
...
https://au.jora.com/cat/community-services-
development/Redcliffe-QLD
Jobs 1 - 10 of 478 - View 478 Community Services &
Development jobs in RedcliffeQLD at Jora AU (formerly
Jobseeker), create free email alerts and never miss ...
Redcliffe - TAFE Queensland Brisbane
tafebrisbane.edu.au/about-us/locations/redcliffe/
The Redcliffe campus offers a relaxed, learning
environment within easy walking distance of
the Redcliffe business area and the
... Customer service hours.
Moreton Bay Regional Community Legal Service Inc.
www.qails.org.au/01_directory/details.asp?ID=32
Moreton Bay Regional Community LegalService provides
legal services at the ...service with registrations being
taken from 6:30pm to 7:30p.m at the Redcliffe ...
Redcliffe & Bayside Herald online
quest.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx?cid=8669
Redcliffe & Bayside Herald -
QuestCommunity eNewspapers. ... Our servicegives Redc
liffe & Bayside Herald the flexibility to follow readers
wherever they ...

11. NOTES
15 Traits of Top-Tier Support Departments
1. They Bring the Right Tools to the Job
There is just no substitute for knowing your customers. The
right support tools make it easy. You’d be surprised at the
number of meaningful conversations you can have when
you no longer have to stumble around in the dark.
It’s frustrating to be on the receiving end of support when
the team isn’t outfitted correctly. I watched such a scenario
unfold a while back with brand new software I was using.
Like many growing companies, they falsely believed that
Gmail was “okay for now.”
Unfortunately for me, the conversation played in the same
vein as the following:
Why pester when you can delight?
You risk ruining your first impression when you treat your
customers like Comcast treats people calling in: “Can we
have your personal information, account information, blood
sample, and deepest fear?”
With Help Scout, you can avoid this situation entirely
through using features like built-in customer profiles.
There is a reason why tools like Gmail fail for customer
support.
2. They Master Clear Communication
Excellence in anything increases your potential in
everything. There are few positions for which this applies
more than support—clarity in communication is paramount
because it affects everything you do.

12. Styling affects communication. Tone affects communication.
Common mistakes to be made are using passive-
aggressive language (“Actually…”) or confusing customers
with slang, colloquialisms, or technical jargon.
Here’s another: which one of the following statements do
you think is more appropriate?
You are being transferred. Your call is very important to us.
Hey Jane, I’m going to introduce you to our customer
success specialist who will be better able to answer your
question!
Easy. One is a trite platitude that people are sick of hearing.
The other explains to customers why the transfer is to their
benefit. Wording makes all the difference.
3. They Speak as Customers Do
Chase Clemons of Basecamp makes this point with gusto in
A Brief Guide to Sending Better Support Emails, but the
quick takeaway is that your customers want conversations,
not “correspondence.” You’re not talking with the Queen of
England.
Consider the following disappointing example (names have
been removed from this real email):
The customer is literally treated like a number. The overly
formal tone creates the feeling that a letter is being written
to a 16th century nobleman—is this an “inquiry” or a
conversation with a real person?
Be friendly, personable, and casual. A follow-up email like
this works better:

13. 4. They Always Use Positive Language
Positive language is a great way to avoid accidental
conflicts sprung from miscommunication. While the change
is subtle, the effects are drastic.
Say one of your products is backordered for a month and
you need to relay this information to a customer
immediately. Consider the following responses:
Negative language: "I can't get you that product until next
month. It is back-ordered and unavailable at this time."
Positive language: "That product will be available next
month. I can place the order for you right now and make
sure that it is sent to you as soon as it reaches our
warehouse!"
Redirecting the conversation from negative to positive
places focus on the proposed solution. When the outcome
takes center stage, it reduces the odds that customers will
be upset.
5. They Give Credence to Complaints
Harsh words are not always indicative of insight, and
complaining customers are not always a sign that something
is wrong. Be that as it may, sometimes great feedback is
buried within the vitriol—give credence to every message.
To stay consistent in tone and process, use the CARP
method:
Control the situation.
Acknowledge the dilemma.
Refocus the conversation.

14. Problem-solve so the customer leaves happy.
Receiving the same complaint repeatedly is the beginning of
a narrative. This shouldn’t dictate what to do next, but it will
begin to reveal what requires your attention.
5. They Avoid Breakneck Speeds
"What builds a stronger tie to Arby's may not be
whether a customer receives a sandwich in less than
three minutes,” says Gallup researcher William J.
McEwen. “Speed won't compensate for a cold,
tasteless sandwich or for rude and incompetent
service." Make sure your service isn't leaving a bad
taste in customers' mouths, either.
Take time to ensure first-contact resolution becomes a
priority. There is nothing customers appreciate more than
getting helpful advice the first time around.
6. They Know How to Close
The ability to close improves every single interaction. This is
not closing a sale, it’s closing the conversation with a
customer.
Leaving an issue unresolved creates unnecessary
problems. Data suggests as little as ~4% of dissatisfied
customers will ever speak up. Not everyone will
communicate what is bothering them—often because you
haven’t communicated that you care.
Your willingness to correctly close a conversation shows the
customer three important things:
You care about getting it right.
You're willing to keep going until you get it right.

15. The customer is the one who determines what “right” is.
“Is there anything else I can do for you today? I’m happy to
help!” Always look for small opportunities like this.
Make sure you and your team always get to a place where,
“Yes, I’m all set!” rings loud and clear.
7. They Save Time and Retain Delight
Inbox zero needn’t be a zero-sum game. Delighting users is
impossible when the team’s morale is being crushed under
the weight of a cluttered inbox.
Keep it simple, sunshine. Since basic, common questions
are where your keystrokes go to waste, start by addressing
them with scalable templates.
Saved replies are valuable to a support department because
the whole team builds on them. Set guidelines for identifying
common questions and when a saved reply can and should
be created.
The more you add, the more useful your saved reply
collection becomes.
8. They Help Customers Help Themselves
Great customer support should always be available, even
when you aren’t.
When done right, self-service is personal at scale. View your
help content as a top-tier reply from your support team
made public for all to see and benefit from. Screenshots,
videos, styling and more ensure your frequently asked
questions will get frequently loved answers.

16. While impressive efforts like VHX’s documentation will take
you some time, the journey of a thousand miles begins with
a single step, and the journey to a useful knowledge base
starts with your first article.
Help Scout Docs makes it easy. A few clicks auto-magically
creates a logically organized help portal made to look as
beautiful and usable as your own product.
9. They Make Use of Strategic Automation
“Filtering” can sound worrisome in the realm of customer
support, but it more accurately serves as direction.
Customers receive the best support possible when they are
sent to the right place the first time around.
With Workflows, you can trigger automatic filtering through
subject line keywords. This offers a number of advantages:
 Make iterative improvements. Want to keep response
times down to ~6 hours? Set up a Workflow to remind
the appropriate user(s) so that messages don’t sit and
collect dust.
 Highlight opportunities to ‘Wow!’ By setting up a
folder and a Workflow for a keyword like “Refund” in the
subject line, you’ll add a streamlined way to salvage
potentially lost customers. Special conversations
(“Upgrading,” “Canceling my account”) let you provide
superb support at key crossroads.
 Better manage VIP customers. It’s helpful to filter
enterprise or long-term customers to their own folders
to ensure timely responses. They may have different
needs; set them up for success by getting them out of
the main inbox.
Meaningful automation helps create more meaningful
conversations. Best to use it wisely.

17. 10. They Are Carefully Data-Driven
Why rely on “It feels like we spend a lot of time on this
issue…” when reporting can easily eliminate the
guesswork?
This is actually an important, often-overlooked issue in
support. Too much focus is given to the frequency of issues
over the average handle time for each.
Rather, that is your world before support metrics. Your world
after is clicking the “Time Tracking” tag and gaining
immediate access to data that tells you how many emails
you receive about the feature, as well as how long it takes
your team to handle the conversations
Although great data cannot guarantee good decision-
making, it’s better than flying blind. The right data will help
you keep your team in the loop. “Here’s how we did this
week” becomes easy and valuable. Satisfaction Ratings top
it off by allowing you to see where support interactions went
really well (or very wrong). Both are learning opportunities.
Better learning results in meaningful improvements. Being
able to see through the haze of a thousand of emails is
illuminating, and an important step in getting there is not
relying solely on your gut.
11. They Give Thanks in the Real World
We’ve entered a world where retention matters in business
more than ever, but web businesses seem happy to avoid
interacting with customers.
They aren’t pageviews—they’re people. How would you feel
if a deli owner asked you to join their message board just to
talk about how the cold cuts tasted?

18. Time to bring the personal touch back to the real world.
Consider this handwritten note that Jawbone sent to a new
UP customer:
A single picture that was retweeted 150+ times—that’s an
immense amount of goodwill “paid for” with a simple thank
you.
What other 5-minute task creates as much ROI as that? You
won’t have time to hand-write every customer, but if there is
one activity that should never get lost in the shuffle of
building a business, it’s thanking your customers.
12. They Encourage Unique Opportunities
Memorable experiences spring from the unexpected. When
your team feels stifled by red tape, remember these words
from Paul Graham: “An obstacle upstream propagates
downstream.” If you make ideas hard to implement, your
team will stop offering them.
Frugal wows are the answer, says Bain consultant Fred
Reich. Take the opportunity to guide the support team away
from throwing money at the problem, and instead pour
thought and effort into it.
According to Rob Markey, disappointment strikes when
companies try to “empower” their team the wrong way:
We know of one retail bank that gave their call center
representatives the edict to delight customers and
permission to waive up to $150 in fees for any customer
without seeking any additional authorization.
The result? Customer satisfaction rose a little, but fee
revenue declined.

19. A lot.
When a customer is looking for nothing other than free stuff,
they aren’t a good fit for your business in the first place.
13. They Get Everyone on the Same Page
Running support without a playbook can feel as chaotic as a
pee-wee football game.
Consider the time lost manually answering frequently asked
questions. The same principle applies to explanations to
your staff on the back-end. Encourage autonomy and
eliminate confusion by creating unity through clarity.
How?
Use a support lexicon. “Is it okay to say this?” Support
should always feel welcome to ask, but you can eliminate
excessive questioning through a support lexicon, a
handbook on how to talk to customers. Focus on the dos
and don’ts of tone and language, and outline the style of
customer service you admire.
Address common objections. A while back I had a
prospective customer make a “scale objection” to Help
Scout. Could we handle 50 users? I knew some of our
customers had over 400 unique users and replied as such,
but I felt my answer would have been better with additional
information. The next week, our support team made a
customer objections doc, addressing things like competitor
objections (“How are you different from ____?”) and pricing
objections.
Outline your processes. When is it appropriate to write a
piece of help content? Is it okay to set up a new Workflow
without asking management? How should we document

20. bugs and errors? Every support department will have these
questions, and to best address them, give guidelines that
allow for autonomy but that don’t leave people lost without a
map.
14. They Take a Whole Company Approach
I’ll let our friend Mathias Meyer handle this one, from a
previously published essay on our blog:
“When everyone in the company is involved in customer
support, it changes the support dynamic significantly.
Knowledge of issues, bugs, and features is much more
widespread throughout the team.
Why is that beneficial?
Because everyone should be feeling the customer’s pain.
With developers in particular, there's a common question
that arises when the entire company is encouraged to be
involved in customer support.
Shouldn'tdevelopers be writing code, shipping new
features, and fixing bugs? After all, they're an expensive
resource, and their time is much better spent improving the
product rather than talking to customers, right?
But how will developers know best what kinds of problems
their code solves and creates? The same is true for missing
features. While product roadmaps handed down by
management are useful tools, asking customers directly
what kinds of problems they're having is incredibly powerful
in determining new features.”
So simple that it shouldn’t be forgotten, yet it often is: talk to
your customers. Put your whole team on support.

21. 15. They Invest in Great People
The quality of your customer support will never exceed the
quality of the people providing it.
If you plan on out-supporting the competition, plan on
investing heavily in a team that can deliver.
Leadership has one main objective from which they should
never stray: Hire who you trust and trust who you hire.
Support can either be nothing more than a means to an end,
or it can be a dynamic aspect of your entire business.
Engaging customers and helping them get the most out of
your product will give them a reason to tell others why they
love your company. Cultivate these traits, and I guarantee
you’ll be on your way to world-class support.