Selecting and Screening

Selecting and Screening

As a follow on from your organisation's volunteer recruitment plan, a well planned selection and screening procedure is an important process to get right.

This process will allow you to match the needs of your organisation with the needs and skills of the volunteers. It will also prevent a volunteer from being placed in a role that does not match their expectations, or that they are ill-equipped to fulfill - which could lead to an unhappy and unproductive experience for everyone.  Screening also ensures that your group or organisation is fulfilling its legal obligation to protect any children or vulnerable adults that your volunteers may work with.

 Key Points:

 • Keep it simple; try to keep the process for your organisation the same for all volunteers
 • Keep it straightforward and appropriate for the roles within your organisation
 • Make it clear from the outset if volunteers require to be disclosure checked for their role and if references are required
 • Look at what will help to draw out the best from your volunteers and ways to make it a fair process
 • If possible, try to steer away from the more formal approach of application and interviews.  There are many methods you can use, so it is worth investing time to make the process accessible and suitable to your organisation