A guest post from Stephanie Sparks of Employ
Talent acquisition strategies rely heavily on the interview process because they’re the best way to understand each candidate’s qualifications, skills, and personality in their own words. In fact, interviews have only become more important to nonprofit recruitment teams, with most jobs requiring two to four interviews for each role.
To make an informed hiring decision, you must make interviews as productive as possible to ensure you have everything you need—and the questions you ask can make or break the process. Let’s review top questions that gauge candidates’ capabilities and commitment to your mission, as well as how to curate questions that are best for your hiring needs.
Questions to Ask in the Nonprofit Interview Process
1. Why are you interested in our organization and work?
Nonprofits account for only one in 10 jobs in the overall workforce, so there’s usually a specific reason applicants seek out these opportunities. Understanding candidates’ motives for working with nonprofits provides insight into their personalities, passions, and career goals.
Here are some common motivations for working with nonprofits:
- An enthusiasm for a specific organization’s mission
- A general desire to make a difference
- Opportunities to develop new skills
- Ability to make community connections
Pay close attention to how candidates answer this question—it can tell you how serious they are about nonprofit work and whether they’d be a good addition to your team.
2. What do you know about our mission?
This question is fundamental for building relationships with donors and spreading awareness of your programs, giving you insight into their natural inclinations or affinities with your work. That’s why it’s also a great question to ask in the recruitment process, as it helps you understand who will stick with your organization for its mission.
Candidates who have a personal connection to your mission are more likely to stay with your nonprofit long-term and be engaged with their work.
3. What new skills are you hoping to develop through this role?
If you’re hiring for a specific role, you should have written a job description that includes daily responsibilities, required qualifications, and more. However, some organizations hire people generally before placing them in an open role, and that’s where this question comes into play.
For an effective recruiting cadence, confirm that candidates aren’t just a good match for your nonprofit—they should also be excited about their specific roles. Asking this question empowers the candidate to communicate their expectations for you as an employer, which ensures that you’re a good fit for each other and that the candidate doesn’t pursue an opportunity that doesn’t align with their goals.
4. How do you perform under challenging circumstances?
Nonprofits exist to support communities facing social challenges. This work can be demanding and stressful. Moreover, nonprofits are highly impacted by external factors, such as legislation and economics—meaning that an economic downturn or adverse policy decision could greatly harm their work.
This is why you must gauge how a candidate handles adversity. Remaining positive and resilient through turbulent circumstances is what keeps your organization afloat. Ask candidates about how they’ve persisted and remained effective throughout a crisis, whether in their personal lives or professional careers.
5. How do you practice self-care?
As previously mentioned, nonprofit work can be stressful, contributing to a sector-wide issue with burnout—95% of nonprofit leaders think burnout is a concern and threatens their recruitment results. While your organization can (and should) provide mental health resources, your employees need to have other outlets outside of work to practice wellness. Some common ways of practicing self-care include:
- Physical: exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and cooking healthy meals
- Emotional: participating in hobbies or other activities that “fill their cup,” having a support network to rely on, and committing to other mindfulness practices (like journaling and meditation)
- Professional: adhering to work-life balance and seeking out fulfilling projects
While every candidate deals with stress differently, knowing that they have ways to relieve stress mitigates concerns about turnover, allowing your team to save on recruitment costs and retain talent in the long term.
How to Curate Ideal Nonprofit Interview Questions
Though the questions above are well-rounded and provide relevant information, they might not align closely with your nonprofit’s needs. You can create a list of ideal questions for your recruitment process by focusing on:
- The role’s unique requirements and challenges
- The candidate’s understanding of and connection to your nonprofit’s mission and vision
- The candidate’s career goals
- Workplace culture fit
Also, Lever recommends using information from your recruiting tools to shape your questions. Analyzing data and trends illuminates gaps in your strategy and provides a starting point for improvements. Some metrics to look out for include:
- Time to hire: how long it takes from a candidate initially applying to accepting their offer
- Offer acceptance rate: how many candidates accept their offer
- Time to fill: the amount of time it takes from opening a job role to it being filled
These data points will give you key insights you can use to adjust your recruiting strategy.
Interviews can feel stressful for both your team and candidates, but don’t let that get in the way of a productive conversation. After all, discussing your nonprofit with a new connection is a daily activity for your fundraising and outreach efforts, so just rely on the strategies you use for those situations. And above all, be friendly, attentive, and professional to make a great first impression.
Stephanie Sparks, Director of Content Marketing at Employ
As Director of Content Marketing & Social at Employ, Stephanie leverages 17 years of marketing and communications experience, and her master’s degree in marketing, communication studies, and advertising, to craft compelling content across the JazzHR, Lever, Jobvite, and NXTThing RPO brands. She is a thought leader for the HR technology and talent acquisition space.
