Streamline Customer Service and Management for Non-profit Organizations

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If you're interested in a job with a  non-profit organization, it's important   to prepare thoughtfully for the job interview!  So in this video I want to share an updated list   of job interview questions that I would ask as a  non-profit executive director or hiring manager,   especially in today's ever evolving  employment landscape. [Music]   Welcome or welcome back! My name is Amber Melanie  Smith and I'm a non-profit founder and executive   director and I make these videos here on YouTube  for people who want to make a difference and they   can do that through non-profits or social  Enterprise or other ways to create social   impact as always I hope that you find this video  useful and helpful don't forget to give it a like   And subscribe to my channel for more content like  this I also have a website if you are starting a   non-profit or developing a sustainable fundraising  plan for a non-profit at foundertofulltime.com you   can find some online trainings to help you  with both of those things so I hope that you   check those out and that they are helpful to  you alright so let's get into this today as a   non-profit executive director I have done my fair  share of hiring people and I did a video on this   topic job interview questions for non-profits  and how to prepare a a couple of years ago but   that was before the covid-19 pandemic and in my  opinion things look a lot different now from you   know changing workplace cultures and emphasis on  employee well-being and the great resignation and   all of those things that have really changed  what working for any organization non-profit   or otherwise but especially non-profits these  things have changed in the past couple of years   so I wanted to do an update video that reflects  the changes I went back and I looked at some of   the job interview questions that I described in my  earlier video and I definitely thought to myself I   would do things a little bit differently now than  I did before so that's what this is all about and   let's get into it a couple of comments before  I get into my list of job interview questions   for non-profits and there are seven of those  questions um I just want to offer a couple of   additional comments on this and the first is  that you know over the course of my years of   hiring and onboarding and training new people um  one thing I really have wanted to do differently   in my job interview process now than before is try  to get to know like what's at the core of a person   um as much as possible in the short time we have  together uh during a job interview um I'm very   interested in a person's values and what motivates  them what makes them tick what they're passionate   about what what makes them angry in the world  that's actually a job interview question that   I've used before um with the help of a great team  who helped put some of these questions together   um but I think you know in today's world  we're really talking about an alignment of   values between people who want to work for an  organization and the organization itself and   once those values align like a lot of other things  can fall in place so that's comment number one um   comment number two kind of going along with that  is um while prior experience in the non-profit   World certainly helps and a degree in non-profit  management can definitely help for me at least not   having those things wouldn't disqualify you from  working for the organization that I run I look   for two things I look for knowledge of my cause so  my mission with the non-profit you know did you do   your homework do you understand what we're trying  to achieve as an organization and how do you see   yourself kind of like in that work and secondly  your passion for helping um obviously that's   critical for all non-profits for mine especially  it's all about how can we be of the best service   possible to our community so if you have those two  things but you don't have the degree in non-profit   management or you don't have a lot of non-profit  experience before interviewing for my role um uh   it's not a disqualifier so just be encouraged by  that if you're someone starting out in your job   hunting for non-profits okay let's get into the  seven updated non-profit job interview questions   that I want to talk to you about today the first  question and this is a really important one is   what questions do you the candidate have about the  role from anything including salary and benefits   to what your duties will be Etc I want to know  about your understanding of the position there   are a couple of reasons for this one is if we  were to hire you I would want to know that your   expectations of what you signed up for are the  same as our expectations of what we need you to   do because when those expectations are aligned  everyone is a lot happier but secondly because   over the past couple of years of the pandemic and  the great resignation and all of that there's been   an increased emphasis on transparency in the  hiring process and as someone who hires people   this is important to me as well because I want you  to know what you signed up for and like anything   else like any other a kind of relationship a  job is a type of social contract right you are   saying I will do X in exchange for y and same on  our side right so um we want to make sure that   everyone is completely clear on what they're going  to receive and what they're going to be expected   to do to prevent dissatisfaction later down the  road so that's a really important question and if   you don't as a job candidate have questions for me  about the role or anything about it I might feel a   little concerned I won't have a sense of if you  thoroughly read the job description if you know   what you're signing up for um and so it's always  a good idea to you know come up with a couple   of things you can ask about the position even if  you feel like you're clear on everything question   number two that I've grown accustomed to asking  in job interviews is describe a time you did blank   and your process for approaching how you did blank  and in the blank you're putting something that is   an integral part of the job duties right so um if  you're hiring a bookkeeper something related to   accounting if you're hiring a fundraiser something  related to fundraising um Etc and the goal for me   here is to understand one not just that you  know how to do it so I want to it's a little   bit of a test of your knowledge here on how to  do the thing that is a very critical part of the   job that you're interviewing for but I also want  to understand how your brain works a little bit   um understanding your approach to how you you know  start and complete a task whether it's through   um some people like to make lists some people  like to study how other people did it before   them whatever your approaches will tell me a lot  about who you are and how you might work best   with other people on our team so um for example if  you are hiring for a an event planning position I   might ask how to describe a time how you describe  a time when you planned an event and what was your   approach to getting started planning the event  stuff like that for question number three we're   getting into a little bit more about um your  personal interests and your your values Etc   and the question here is what does our mission as  a non-profit mean to you personally for me I want   to know that the people working in my organization  genuinely care about the cause if they care about   the cause I feel like they're going to be able to  find a great sense of fulfillment in the work that   we're doing uh as a team so I I would be looking  for a personal story here maybe a short anecdote   about something related to your the cause so um  it could be let's say you're you're applying for a   job with an organization that is raising money to  find a cure for cancer maybe you have a personal   connection to cancer somehow maybe someone you  know had it um or you know someone in your family   um or you know let's say it's an animal rescue  organization and you have a pet that you uh   received from an animal rescue organization these  connections to the cause or what it means to your   values um you know whether those values are  um you know achieving Justice in the world   or preserving the planet Etc I want to know how  you are personally connected to our mission and   how you view that connection question number  four is our goals in the next couple of years   include blank and blank how do you see yourself in  this position or with the organization helping us   achieve these goals now there's a lot of different  things I'm trying to achieve with this particular   question the first is I want to get a sense of  how they see themselves using their particular   skill sets or talents or competencies to further  the organization's Mission but another goal here   is to see if they might be able to visualize  themselves in the in the organization in the   future you know hopefully you're hiring someone  who will want to stick around for a while and   grow with the organization possibly you know  move up into leadership positions as they   become available and so seeing um whether or  not they can describe a potential scenario in   which they could see themselves in the future  with the organization will give you a sense of   that number five is a great question for helping  understand whether a candidate might be a good fit   with your team and that is describe your ideal  workplace culture and what makes it your ideal   uh you know with the increasing emphasis on  workplace culture over the past couple of   years there's been a lot of curiosity around what  people serving on a team want and I find that the   easiest way to find out is to just ask them plus  it challenges them to think about what they're   looking for in a workplace culture I've heard  a lot of great answers to this question and it   really helps I think give me a sense of whether  I can visualize that candidate on the team and   getting along with the other team members who  presumably in your organization have already   bought into whatever the workplace culture is and  hopefully it's a healthy one whether they would   be a good fit working alongside those other team  members too question number six is what are your   long-term goals for growth and where do you see  yourself in five years or some number of years   I like this question because there's almost a  sort of unspoken mutual respect in this question   um it demonstrates to the candidate that you  care about what they want for their own future   and if they sense that then hopefully they  uh will be excited to work for you even more   but understanding where they see themselves  and where they want to go can help you   as a manager make sure that if you hire this  candidate you're going to help them grow in   that direction you're going to be able  to provide the appropriate professional   development opportunities the right coaching  the right opportunities the right access to   um you know mentors Etc so um it's it's something  that demonstrates your commitment to the candidate   in their growth and in exchange helps you  understand how you can help them fulfill their   potential in your organization as well question  number seven and the final question I'll share   with you today gets at the heart of what I was  saying before and it is this what are your top   values as a person and how do you see yourself  applying them to this work and the organization   um I think it's really great to see a candidate  who has reflected on themselves and who kind of   knows who they are and what their values in the  world and how they carry themselves in the world   might be um if you are a someone looking for  a non-profit job and you are not clear on what   your values are to be able to articulate them  there's some great exercises online where you   can see various lists of values and think about  what matches you and like online quizzes and stuff   like that so I encourage you to check those out  and really get clear on what your values are in   the event this question comes up but also just  to be able to live your life in alignment with   those values well but as I was saying before  it's really critical to have values alignment   between a job candidate and the job slash  organization they would be working for so by   asking this question you're able to see how they  view their values aligning with the organization   um or if you are the candidate how you can  see your own values aligning with the work of   the organization I'd love to hear from you if you  are someone who is applying for or thinking about   applying for a non-profit job what do you think  do you feel like you'd be able to answer these   questions well or if you're a hiring manager in a  non-profit what did you think of these questions   are there others that you've asked that you  felt worked well for you share them in the   comments below and let's uh let's build our our  knowledge base of interview questions for the   world as I mentioned before if you're starting a  non-profit or developing a fundraising plan I have   a website foundertofulltime.com where I have some  online trainings I also have a newsletter that I   send out with resources news information funding  opportunities Etc to people in the non-profit and   social impact space you can subscribe to it with  the link that I have in the description below this   video and unsubscribe anytime you want and finally  I have a group on Facebook called change the world   or bust a couple thousand people in there from  around the world at this point Come on by come   join us it's a great community and it's just full  of people who want to make a difference like you   so I hope that you found this video helpful  don't forget to give it a like And subscribe   to my channel once again I'm Amber Melanie  Smith and I hope to see you next time, bye!