Volunteer Coordinator

Volunteer coordinator’s have to play important roles in a team or group. Your ability in setting relationships with other team members should be appeared in your interview answers and you should mention your contribution into the success of the team.

What motivates you and why have you chosen this career path? Employers want to know if you will be able to deal with the less than glamorous side – whether that’s long hours or a huge workload – and that you won’t lose interest when the going gets tough. We all need to pay the bills but why have you decided on an event planning career specifically?

Seemingly innocent and of course you need to grasp this opportunity to highlight your strengths and showcase your portfolio. At the same time don’t forget one important aspect – giving credit to others. While you may have managed or planned a successful event, chances are you didn’t do it alone so they are looking for you to acknowledge teamwork and give credit where it’s due, while also highlighting your own skillset.

The interviewer wants to hear about a positive experience you have had with leadership. Think about a time when you led a group either in the work environment or on a business class assignment when you were really proud of the outcome! Start off by giving the interviewer a high-level overview of what you were leading, and share that you enjoyed the experience. Discuss the positive outcome that the group had, and explain that you would gladly lead again!

Another tricky one. The purpose of this question is to see how you view and evaluate yourself.

One the one hand, if you suggest you don’t have any weaknesses, your interviewer will almost certainly see you as a lair, egotistical, or both.

Don’t fall into the trap of trying to present a positive skill in disguise as a weakness, like “I work too hard” or “I am a perfectionist”. Any experienced interviewer will see through this in a heartbeat.

Often interviews will start with an “easy” question to encourage you to relax. However, the way you answer a question like this also gives a good initial insight into the type of person you are. The important thing is that you show that you are an interesting and active individual, with a passion for life. Not having any hobbies to share or saying something like “watching TV” can suggest that you are quite passive or uninspiring. On the other hand if you have a memorable or quirky hobby or a number of things you like to do in your spare time, this can count in your favour as it may be memorable to the panel and shows your zest for life.

Absolutely! Fundraising is all about asking people for money in unique ways, and you are a pro at it to be in the field! Tell the interviewer that fundraising is asking people for money, and this is often done in outside of the box ways. Share that you enjoy collecting money to fundraise for whatever organization you are a part of, and you look forward to doing so for this company.

Most event planners juggle multiple event projects at once and are skilled at multitasking. What the interview panel are looking to hear is your attitude towards a larger workload and whether you find it easy or hard to deal with multiple deadlines. Chances are you will be needing to draw on this skill again in the job role you are being interviewed for.

Time management is one of the most important aspects to meeting deadlines and staying on track. Do you have an organisational program that you use? How do you ensure that you stay on task and meet the required deadlines? This is about specifics, draw on previous examples if you can.

Many consider this question to be a loaded gun – dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced. Often times, an interviewee will start talking salary before they’ve had an opportunity to illustrate their skill set and value making any sort of leverage valueless. Here, knowledge is power, as salary often comes down to negotiation. Do some research into your industry to establish base rates of pay based on seniority and demand but keep in mind – your employer is hiring you for what they believe you are worth, and how much benefit they feel you will provide.

☛ Tell me about a time when you had to accommodate a last-minute change. What did you do and who was involved?

☛ What do you do when you are feeling stressed?

☛ Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client. What was the result?

☛ How do you prioritize your time? What organization tools do you use?

☛ When kicking off a new event, what are the first steps you take?

☛ Have you ever managed more than one event at a time? Did you complete both events successfully and if so, how?

☛ What event technology/software do you use/prefer now? What new event technology are you excited to try?

☛ What marketing technology do you use to promote events? How do you manage your social media, advertising, and email campaigns?

☛ How do you stay up-to-date with the event industry?

☛ Have you ever gone over budget? How did you deal with it?

☛ How have you negotiated with sponsors, vendors, and partners to make more room in the budget?

☛ What tools do you use to manage your budget?

☛ Describe a time you dealt with an argument between volunteers

☛ Recall an instance in your time as a volunteer when you found it difficult to stay motivated. What did you do? What do you think a volunteer coordinator should have done?

☛ Tell me about a time you had to work while being short staffed. How did you manage?

☛ Describe a project/event you coordinated successfully

☛ How do you measure the success of your events? Do you use qualitative or quantitative data?

☛ Describe your most successful event planning experience. What did you do that made it so successful?

☛ What do you think makes a good event?

☛ How would you rate yourself as a leader?

☛ Do you find our mission important and why?

☛ How does your experience make you right for this role?

☛ What’s your experience with databases? How would you use them to recruit volunteers?

☛ What system would you use to keep track of volunteers?

☛ Are you familiar with background checks? When would it be necessary to conduct one?

☛ What’s your experience in training volunteers/employees?

☛ What type of software do you think a volunteer coordinator needs? Have you used any in the past?

☛ What do you need to know to create a schedule for volunteers?