The Volunteer Application Form, Susan J. Ellis and Katherine Noyes Campbell, Proof Positive: Developing Significant Volunteer Recordkeeping Systems, 21st Century Edition, pp. 5-6, Energize, Inc
Researched and produced by Verified Volunteers, offers essential insights on the practices, challenges and concerns of organizations relying on volunteers, with screening tips to help you compare, measure and improve your organization’s volunteer screening program.
Free information center on how to screen volunteer applicants, with reports, white papers, case studies, and how-to checklists for volunteer resources managers, provided by Verified Volunteers, a company that provides background screening services to organizations. Also have a blog.
Excellent overview of the rationale for and steps of effective volunteer screening from Volunteer Canada. Includes The Screening Handbook and "Screening in Faith" PDF for faith communities.
A Tongue-in-Cheek Look at the Trials of Volunteering (animated 3:50 min. video): from tobijohnson.typepad.com, 2011 -- discusson starter on volunteer interviewing
Ask the Unexpected
From Susan J. Ellis, President, Energize, Inc.
One of the wonderful things about interviewing volunteers is that we do not have to probe only formal educational or work experience background. For many types of volunteer assignments, particularly those that match the volunteer with a client, what we are trying to discover is what the person is like in terms of personality, openness to different ideas, or even sense of humor. So we can be creative in what we ask during an interview.
Here is a starter list of interesting questions. Some of them I've always liked, but I also did a Google search on "unusual interviewing questions" and found more. Remember, the idea is to go beyond what an interviewer trying to fill a paid job might want to know.
What did you study in school that you've never had the chance to use/apply?
If you look at volunteering here as an educational experience, what new thing or skill would you like to learn?
What do you have most fun doing?
What has someone done for you in the past that you would like to "pay forward" by doing something for someone else?
If you could wave a magic wand, what things would you change or add around here?
If you had won a lottery of 10 million dollars, how would you spend that money?
If you could choose to meet a person from history, who would it be and why?
What do you think our clients could teach you?
If you could be a super hero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
What current news stories do you think most affect the people we serve?
What would you like to be famous for?
What do you think is the difference between volunteering and working for pay? How could we make your volunteer position distinct from any job you've had?
What adult, other than your parents, had an important influence on you when you were growing up?
What's interesting about you that your resume doesn't identify?
One last idea. Don't consider interviewing a one-time, at-the-start activity. It's easy to cubbyhole volunteers into the assignments we give them on day one. How do we identify volunteers with potential to do more or different things? Perhaps asking one or more of the questions above at periodic intervals, or during an annual review, will result in uncovering buried treasure.
