Volunteer Interview

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runswithscissors

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I have a volunteer EMT interview with a very busy, urban EMS agency next week. I was told the interview will be a panel of 4 people and the questions will not be clinical. What questions were you asked and what advice do you have?

To give you a better idea of who I am as a candidate: I have a regular 9 to 5 job in technology consulting. I want to remain a volunteer and I have not intention to get paid for it. My only concern is work/life balance as the agency requires 64 hour a month minimum and I travel frequently for my tech. job. The agency is very busy and runs between 7-12 calls (all 911) during a 12 hour shift. I have been observing with them 2 times a month for the past year.
 
I think volunteering is inherently good. Please remember I said that when you read the rest of this.

You are in a seller's market for volunteers. Given your well-entrenched adulthood and professional experience, you should be treated with respect by your interviewers, whose main job should be to make sure you show up wearing suitable clothes and without any deadly weapons. You should not be subjected to the kinds of probing questions you might be asked during a real job interview. If your chat goes much beyond why you want to volunteer and how much time you have to do it, feel free to walk out.

Be polite and professional, just like you have to be to keep your real job. Anyone on the panel who's looking for more probably has a distorted sense of supply and demand. You are doing them a favor -- not the other way around.
 
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Why should we hire you over the other guy?
What was your most significant call?
What have you done wrong on a call?

Things like that.
 
runswithscissors said:
I have a volunteer EMT interview with a very busy, urban EMS agency next week. I was told the interview will be a panel of 4 people and the questions will not be clinical. What questions were you asked and what advice do you have?

To give you a better idea of who I am as a candidate: I have a regular 9 to 5 job in technology consulting. I want to remain a volunteer and I have not intention to get paid for it. My only concern is work/life balance as the agency requires 64 hour a month minimum and I travel frequently for my tech. job. The agency is very busy and runs between 7-12 calls (all 911) during a 12 hour shift. I have been observing with them 2 times a month for the past year.
Click to expand...
Ok, i'm curious.... where is this very busy urban EMS agencies? And is it a 100% volunteer agency, or a combination ALS one? Does the first letter of the agency start with C?

64 hours a month, 12 hour shifts, means 5 to 6 nights or weekend shifts a month. Every month. for the entire time you are with the agency. Can you do that with your job?

They probably need you more than you need them, so as long as they think you will meet your commitments, you should be fine. Oh, and if they don't like you, I'm sure you could find another agency or two to volunteer your time at.
 
My interview with a volunteer ems agency consisted of "why do you want to volunteer" and "how much time can you offer per month" as well as "what do you do for a living"
My answers were: "I like this community, eventually I will volunteer with my fiancé here"
"20-40hours" and finally "parole officer"
I got denied from a volunteer agency and went for a 2 minute interview for a paid place and got that. So my personal impression of volunteer is skewed, but don't expect much, your an adult they'll treat you as such, remember it's volunteer, they need you, you don't need them.
 
DrParasite said:
Ok, i'm curious.... where is this very busy urban EMS agencies? And is it a 100% volunteer agency, or a combination ALS one? Does the first letter of the agency start with C?

64 hours a month, 12 hour shifts, means 5 to 6 nights or weekend shifts a month. Every month. for the entire time you are with the agency. Can you do that with your job?

They probably need you more than you need them, so as long as they think you will meet your commitments, you should be fine. Oh, and if they don't like you, I'm sure you could find another agency or two to volunteer your time at.
Click to expand...
 
Its a part of Wake County EMS (Raleigh, NC). The County system runs more than 100,000 calls a year.

I think there are less than 20 volunteers in the entire system. The agency I am interviewing with is the only 911 organization that takes volunteers within 45 minute drive.
 
Let me send you a PM.... I think you have either been misinformed or are missing some information.
 
I've been at a couple of vol agencies. The questions mentioned above were similar or the same. They also did a background check, fingerprinted you, and you had to have a physician sign stating that you were in good enough condition for EMS type of work.
But some things are not quite adding up from what you're saying. Be mindful of what they expect of you. Even though you are helping them, they might not view it that way. My vol squad requires a 48 hour a month commitment. They provide uniforms and a meal reimbursement program.
And as someone mentioned, home/work balance which actually will turn into home/work/volunteer balance.
 
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