KnowHR Interview Question of the Day: Do You Volunteer?

Posted on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Frank Roche

Bill Strahan at HumanMarkets left this interview question in the comments on my interview question about driving a Hummer:

Tell me about your volunteer activity in the community.

If you hear crickets, say no hire!

I like that one a lot. Not everyone has a chance to volunteer all the time, but there is something to be said for looking for people who look out for more than themselves.

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Cool twist: My wife is a board member of FLITE, which provides resources to underpriveleged students. One hundred percent of their funds go to student programs.

Here’s something you can do to help them out. FLITE, like a lot of non-profit organizations, uses Online Mall to augment their contributions. It’s so simple it’s practically unbelievable. When you make purchases at over 1,000 online sites and login using Online Mall, the organization gets money — sometimes substantial amounts. There’s no hook and no risk. Here’s what they say on Online Mall:

Before you get started, there are a few things you should know:

By using the Online Mall, the organization earns up to 16% of your purchases from over 1,000 name brand merchants

You shop from the same websites you know and trust and pay exactly the same price

The specific items you buy are not recorded in any way, just the total you spent from each merchant so you can earn contributions

There you go. It’s painless. Click on Online Mall before you make purchases. Doing something good was never easier.

User Comments

Malcolm Chlan

May 5th, 2009

This is good but if you are hiring someone who works 60 hours per week and has a family volunteer service can often times get a bit difficult. I think a better way to gauge if someone thinks of others is to ask “how they might have helped a co-worker complete a task” or something to that effect.
Frank Roche

May 5th, 2009

@Malcom, I hear you. There’s only so much time. I think you get at the essence of this question — helping is helping. And I think this question could accommodate that idea nicely.

I don’t mean for these interview questions to be the literal truth. But if they get us thinking and talking then we’re happy campers.!
William

May 6th, 2009

Would suggesting this as a litmus test question not be a wise? “Can s/he do the job” line of questions seem to be the defensible ones, right? I also ask, “How do you stay on top of the latest developments in your field (or a variation thereof)?” I’m interested in seeing how the person self-learns and their level of commitment to their field. Great post, thanks for sharing with us.
Frank Roche

May 6th, 2009

@William You’re right, the best question is “Can you do the job?” It’s really the only one that matters. Sometimes I like to poke and prod a little bit…gets m thinking revved up. I so agree about staying current in their field. The ones I love to work with are only satisfied with their work until they move to the next thing…and it’s always better. That’s what superstars do.

Thanks very much for your thoughts on this.
Bill Strahan

May 12th, 2009

I hear the opposition on this one loud and clear and I need to go off and do some thinking on it.

Thanks for the dialogue Frank and friends.
Mike

May 13th, 2009

I don’t like this question. At all. LOL. I go to school full time at night so a question like this wouldn’t exactly be fair. I guess the school thing would come out somewhere else in the interview though.