Volunteer interviews are a chance for volunteers to find out more about the role and for you to get an idea of what they are looking to get out of volunteering, what their skills are and therefore whether a potential volunteer might suitable for the role they have applied for. The most successful volunteer placements are those that most closely match the needs and expectations of the volunteer and organisation’s needs.
Areas which you may wish to cover at interview are:
It is important at all stages of the process to manage the expectations of the volunteer by being clear about not only what a role involves but also what it does not involve. For example: many people apply to be volunteers thinking that they will get a chance to shadow nursing or medical staff which will help them get a place at medical school. If that is not part of a role then you must make it clear as otherwise volunteers will become disillusioned and leave.
In addition, although in the past most VSMs have always described interviews as informal, there is an increasing trend to formalise interviews so that the potential volunteer is clear that they may be turned down at interview as places are limited. Setting this expectation up in advance makes it easier for a VSM to say no to a potential volunteer.
If the applicant has any disabilities it would also be useful to discuss these at interview and to agree the types of roles that would be practical for the applicant to volunteer or if any reasonable adjustments could be made to enable the volunteer to be involved. If an applicant does not wish to discuss their disability, then Occupational Health can advise the VSM as to whether they were suitable for the role based on their health declaration and reasonable adjustments that are possible.
Best practice states that you should have two people present at every interview, but this is not always possible.
It is useful to create a standard interview form, in particular, you should make notes during the interview so that you can refer back to your notes when the volunteer is ready to start and review role options, or if you turn someone away so you are able to refer back to the form and provide reasons, if feedback is requested.
You may wish to save time by conducting group interviews. There are pros and cons to this method as it can speed things up but potential volunteers might be less inclined to ask questions and it is harder to accurately match volunteers with roles when you have not had a chance to get to know them and what they want out of the role.
Some organisations may conduct their interviews using video conferencing technology, this method has been particularly useful during the 2020 Covid_19 pandemic and has enabled voluntary services to continue their recruitment when face to face interviews were not possible. This method can provide more accessible options for some potential volunteers and should be considered
For more information about interview processes please contact your local NAVSM hub group and find out how other VSM’s interview their volunteers
