Volunteer interviews are often a crucial step in the volunteer recruitment process. It is here that you can really get a sense of a person and their suitability for your organisation. However, conducting volunteer interviews is different to paid role interviews! Whether the potential for volunteer impact is small or big, volunteer interviews must be thoughtful and selective. 

Interviewer Responsibilities

As an interviewer, it is your responsibility to lay the groundwork for a productive volunteer interview. Volunteer interviews are usually more informal than interviews for paid roles and are conducted for the purpose of getting to know the candidate as opposed to checking credentials. If necessary skills or requirements are entered in TeamKinetic, only suitable candidates will be invited to interview. 

Remember that interviews are a two-way process. First, briefly outline the volunteer role and your organisation. This helps to put the interviewee at ease and affirms the focus of your discussion. Candidates should be given the opportunity to ask questions of their own in response to the information you have provided. A keen interest in the role and your organisation is always a positive!

Potential Questions

The informal nature of volunteer interviews can make it more difficult to select and sort volunteers. Having some core questions that structure the interview will make it easier to identify your chosen volunteer/s. Here are some question categories and examples to guide you when conducting volunteer interviews:

Personal

  • What motivates you? 
  • Do you prefer working independently or collaboratively?
  • What do you like to do in your free time?

General

  • Do you have any personal connection to our organisation?
  • What attracted you most to this volunteering opportunity?
  • What other volunteering experience do you have, if any?

Situational

  • What would you do if you were faced with an unhappy patient/customer/etc?
  • If you felt that someone in your team was behaving inappropriately, what would you do?
  • Describe a volunteering situation that would require you to be empathetic.

Volunteer Selection

Use your checklist of core questions for each interview to ‘score’ interviewees. In combination with your personal impression and wider discussions that took place, a scoring system in response to specific questions ensures your interview process is fair. More broad observations you can make include:

Interviewee Green Flags

  • Confident responses
  • Referring to examples in their answers
  • Genuine personality
  • Admitting weaknesses
  • Knowledge of the organisation

Interviewee Red Flags

  • Vague responses
  • Unclear intentions
  • Not prioritising values
  • Lack of knowledge about the organisation

Interview Tips for Volunteers

Make sure that you have an understanding of the organisation that you wish to volunteer for. Knowing the purpose of the organisation will guide you towards being the best volunteer you can be! 

Your interviewer wants to know that you will enjoy your role. Therefore, demonstrating enthusiasm for a voluntary position is particularly important. Your enjoyment and sense of purpose will be your primary motivators.

Ask questions! When researching the organisation, take note of the things that you would like to hear more about. Equally, feel free to ask any questions when the interviewer describes the role and organisation. This will show that you are interested and proactive.

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:

Twitter       Facebook       LinkedIn       YouTube       Instagram       Podcast

 

Have you enjoyed using TeamKinetic? If you could leave us a review on Capterra, we’d really appreciate it! We’ll even send you a little thank you.