How to Interview a Prospective Volunteer
Thousands of organizations and charities welcome volunteers to join their ranks. In fact, some groups rely almost completely on volunteers to carry out their objectives.
As hungry as your organization might be for those helpers, it is still essential that a prospective volunteer be interviewed in much the same way that you might interview a paid employee.
In addition to finding out what kind of service the individual can best bring to your organization, you will also be looking for red flags that signal whether or not that potential volunteer would be a good fit.
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Instructions
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How to Interview a Prospective Volunteer
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Begin by inviting the prospective volunteer to share some general information about himself. For example, you might ask where he lives (to find out if he is part of your community), what his educational background consists of, what kind of work he does, what his hobbies are (all of these to find out what kinds of volunteer work he might be suited for.
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Ask why she has chosen your particular organization. It is important to know whether the potential volunteer has some experience with your cause, whether she chose your organization because of the age group involved, or whether there is some other compelling reason.
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Explain what kinds of services your organization asks its volunteers to provide. Discuss with the potential volunteer which of the services interests him, as well as which do not.
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Talk about what kinds of hours volunteers put in, as well as which days (or even seasons) work is performed and ask if the volunteer would be willing to commit to a schedule or if he would prefer to simply come in and help out for special events. Explain where the volunteer work would take place and ask if transportation to this place (or places) would present a problem.
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Request several references. In addition to names and phone numbers, ask the volunteer who these people are and what each of them can tell you about what qualifications the potential volunteer might have to volunteer for your organization.
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Advise the individual of any required training which would take place before the actual volunteering would begin. Assess the potential volunteer's reaction to information about training.
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Use role play for any position which would involve interaction with others. For example, you might stage such scenarios as a toddler having a tantrum, an adult with mental retardation having difficulty understanding a direction, or an older person refusing to be transported in a wheelchair in order to see what kind of people skills the applicant has from how he or she plays the part of the volunteer.
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Tips & Warnings
Tips: Always check references asking people to call you when they have time to chat for a short time.
Warning: You may want to do a background check on potential volunteers; some states require this step when the volunteer will be working with children.
