Any interview with a volunteer is a two way process, an opportunity for both parties to find out more. In most instances it will differ from interviews for paid posts in that you will not be selecting from a number of people to fill one vacancy. This needs to be clear to potential volunteers. If it is clearly a selection process and not all volunteers will be taken on by the organisation, people should be made aware of this at the outset.
The interview can be structured and organised without being unnecessarily formal. The beginning of the interview can be used to remind people of the purpose of the meeting, check that you have people’s personal details correctly recorded. The interview will then be dual purpose you will need to tell the potential volunteer about your organisation and answer any of their questions so that they can decide if they are interested in you. You will also need to ask the volunteer about themselves and what they have to offer so you can decide if you are interested in taking them on.
You may want to tell them about:
- The organisation and the role of volunteers
- The user group
- Training and support offered
- Your expectations of volunteers (including a brief outline of policies that impact on volunteers)
- Time commitment (frequency and duration)
- Resources available to volunteers
You may want them to tell you:
- What they like about the idea of volunteering with this particular agency or doing this type of work
- What they hope to gain from volunteering
- Relevant skills, interests and experience
- Understanding of relevant issues or user groups
- Time availability
- Resources they will need (induction loop, reimbursement of care costs, support from outside the organisation)
- Names of potential referees
If recording information from the interview it is important that you record only factual information and not opinion and that you assure the interviewee that what they say will remain confidential.
At the end of the discussion both you and the volunteer together should be in a position to agree whether you want to proceed further. If you are not certain that the volunteer has the skills or experience to carry out the role you will need to explain this, making it clear that your assessment is based on the requirements of the role description and person specification (do think carefully about whether the role description can be adapted if the volunteer has some of the necessary attributes). Occasionally you may feel that you want to talk to a colleague or trustee, or feel that it may be useful for the volunteer to meet an established volunteer before proceeding. A 'trial period' may also be useful for both parties. This is perfectly reasonable but it is important to be open with potential volunteers about what you are suggesting and why.
At the end of the interview you should be in a position to:
- Check whether the volunteer has any further questions or information to give you
- Check that they have the necessary information to take away
- Agree what will happen next and when you expect to be in touch again
