Rejecting volunteers When selecting, and placing a volunteer, one should keep in mind that in quality volunteer management process, volunteers are not easily rejected. Each willing volunteer who satisfies basic conditions for volunteering in the specific position should get a chance to do it. However, giving a position in a volunteer program to an unsuitable or unneeded candidate can harm both the organization and the volunteer. Non-matching placement can cause unwillingness or impossibility of the personnel to work with the volunteer, dissatisfaction of the volunteer and ineffectiveness of the volunteer position. If the potential volunteer is judged as unsuitable for the position during the interview, he or she should be offered another open position within the organization. If the volunteer lacks specific knowledge and skills for the position, but is still willing to try, he or she should be offered on-the-job training and external opportunities to attain needed qualifications. In extreme cases, when the volunteer does not agree with basic organizational mission, aims and the values, the volunteer should be advised to join other organizations that could fit his or her beliefs better.
Selecting and placing long-term volunteers Selection and placement of long-term volunteers can be done in a fashion similar to the selection and placement of local volunteers (described above), having one basic difference in mind – candidates for long-term volunteer positions are usually from another country or region. For this reason, it is more difficult to get to know all the candidates for the 56
position in person and to meet them face-to-face. In addition, there are usually less possible candidates interested in the long-term volunteer position than there are for “local” volunteer positions. Two basic techniques used for selection and placement of long-term volunteers are the application form and the interview. As it difficult to meet the candidates in person, it is important to have an application form which is thorough. This application form serves as a basis for narrowing the selection of candidates, who will be invited to the interview.
Application form for long-term volunteering should consist of following: • personal data • employment status (this is important due to the fact that a person will have to spend few months away from “home” and his or her everyday work) • education (formal and non-formal) • skills, hobbies, interests • language skills • previous volunteer work of the candidate • connection of the candidate to the project (i.e. the volunteer position) • relationship with the sending organisation (this is important, because it is possible to ask the sending organization to interview the volunteer, and to prepare the volunteer once he or she is selected) • future plans of the volunteer after the project (this can show how will the volunteer be able to use the skills, knowledge and experience gained during the project) • in addition, CV and motivational letter should be attached to the application form