Values-Based Interview Guidelines

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AboutThese guidelines are intended to be used – in part or entirety – to recruit any and all new volunteers to SCORE, though the document is primarily geared toward mentors. All chapters want volunteers who can provide excellent service to clients and volunteers that align to SCORE’s mission, vision, and values. When it comes to values-based recruiting at SCORE, if a person is passionate about SCORE’s mission and aligns with SCORE’s values, it is incumbent upon SCORE chapters to find a way for the prospective volunteer to contribute.

Through SCORE’s client engagement survey, we know what behaviors are valued by clients.

• Empathetic, compassionate, warm, being there for someone• Patient• Tolerance for ambiguity• Tolerance for uncertainty• Curious, inquisitive• Open-minded, approachable, tolerant, observant

• Connector, rich network, links with others• Generalist*• Big picture• Adaptable• Flexible• Willing to experiment and take prudent risk

*Please note: This would not apply if recruiting a Subject Matter Expert (SME). SME’s should be an expert in their area.

As you evaluate your prospective volunteer, go beyond a review of the application and the skills and knowledge on his/her resume. The following questions are suggested for you to better understand if the new volunteer believes in the SCORE mission, vision, and values, aligns with SLATE, and has the behaviors we know clients want. A note on SLATE: SLATE is the method by which we serve clients, and it is important for all volunteers, not just mentors to know and understand the process.

Why Value-Based Interviewing?The future of SCORE depends on recruiting for team players, not just functional players. Sixty-two percent of our clients interact with mentors once and never come back. Many chapters struggle with leadership succession that jeopardizes the sustainability of the organization. We need volunteers who embody SCORE’s mission, vision, values, SLATE, and the behaviors our clients have outlined as key. This is important not just for volunteers who mentor clients, but all volunteers at SCORE.

Why? Deloitte recently launched a study of people challenges in business, Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2017, and the results were notable.

Among the 10,000+ companies who responded (in over 140 countries), the top issue on leaders’ minds is “actively building organizational ecosystems and networks” to meet the demands of the workforce and business climate today. The conclusion, after almost a year of study, is that today’s digital world of work has shaken the foundation of organizational structure, shifting from the traditional functional hierarchy to one Deloitte calls a “network of teams.” This new model of work is forcing us to change job roles and job descriptions; rethink careers and internal mobility; emphasize skills and learning as keys to performance; redesign how we set goals and reward people; and change the role of leaders.

With this in mind, SCORE sees the need to shift from recruiting exclusively for skills and knowledge or recruiting only to fill a needed role and focus on attracting people who align with SCORE’s mission, vision, and values and who exhibit the behaviors our clients want and need. If we explicitly state the behaviors we want, we can recruit and validate against these behaviors and competencies and bring our recruiting efforts to the next level. Our clients identified the behaviors below as common threads in our best mentors. As it turns out, a great volunteer, no matter what his/her role, in SCORE demonstrates these same traits with the roles they play in SCORE.

Benefits of Volunteering at SCORE

• Learn mentoring skills and become a certified mentor in SCORE’s proven SLATE methodology

• Learn new business tools and strategies

• Network and connect with local community and business leaders

• Can pursue public speaking opportunities, attend national conferences, and may work with national sponsors and alliance partners

• Hone leadership skills and build a personal leadership brand

• Have access to network of amazing volunteers! Currently, SCORE has 10,300 volunteers and 300+ chapters across the US. Last year, our volunteers donated 2.2 million hours and helped SCORE clients start 54,072 new businesses

By the same token, volunteers interested in SCORE, need to feel passionate about SCORE’s mission, vision, values, and SCORE’s mentoring methodology, SLATE, and feel excited about what volunteering at SCORE can do for them. As the world of work shifts to be more focused on skills and learning, SCORE provides significant benefits.

The research, which identifies the top ten human capital trends for 2017, shows that most of the issues facing companies today (employee engagement, performance improvement, culture, diversity & inclusion, digital technology) are tied inextricably to this new way of working. And 90% of the companies Deloitte surveyed cited “building the organization of the future” as one of their key challenges, making this the number one trend of the year.

FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS: Once you receive their application, we strongly recommend that you complete the following checklist.

NOTE TO SMALLER CHAPTERS: We recognize that you have often accepted an applicant when you ask them to go to score.org to complete the application. Consider the Step 1 items and insert them where they make sense in your chapter’s process.

Google the candidate

Have a Phone Interview:

Begin with a discussion about SCORE, including the Mission, Vision, Values, SLATE Mentoring Methodology.

Discuss Code of Ethics. Share the code with new volunteers to make sure they’re comfortable.

Discuss the volunteer roles and opportunities available.

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Check their LinkedIn Page2

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• At SCORE, you’ll have the opportunity to not only give back to your local community and help the local economy, but you’ll also learn new business tools and strategies

• You’ll be trained in our mentoring methodology and build skills as a mentor• You’ll have many opportunities to network with your local community and the business leaders in it• You’ll have public speaking opportunities, can attend national conferences, and may work with national sponsors and alliance partners• You’ll have the opportunity to hone your leadership skills and further build your own leadership brand

Discuss the benefits to the volunteer. These may include:

Focus on contribution more than a specific time commitment, but give your candidate a sense of the time commitment they should expect.

Discuss Computer/Technology Skills.

Screening Process Recommendation: If they seem like a good fit, enter them as needed in CORE and ask them to complete modules in SCORE Training after the phone interview to ensure they will take that time and have the computer skills to do it. Be aware of giving new volunteers access to CORE/Volunteer Center before taking Code of Ethics.

Interview Checklist

Have an In-Person Interview

It is more important that the SCORE values should resonate with the potential volunteer, before recruiting for a specific chapter need.

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KEEP IN MIND

We have offered questions and things to listen for during the interview. Most of these suggestions have been added to tie directly to the behaviors clients have asked for and said they value most. For example:

Choose questions from the “Open-Ended Questions” and “Either/Or Questions” to augment and round out your current interview process.

Other questions are offered to help you think through the attitudes of a prospective volunteer. When selecting a volunteer to join a chapter, these questions might provide insight about the volunteers fit with the direction of the chapter.

• Have you ever dealt with an emotional co-worker/client? How did you deal with them?

• NOTE: This “listen for” ties directly back to the client identified values of empathy, compassion, warmth, being there for someone, and patience.

Open-Ended Questions

Question Listen for:

1 Tell me about your professional background.What do they think is most important in their career? Are they focused on me and I, or is there an understanding/acknowledgement of the role others played in their success?

2 Why do you want to volunteer for SCORE?SCORE values (See Page 2)Volunteer benefits should play a role, but the mission, vision, and values should also come through

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Some version of the following: • What roles are most appealing to you? Mentor, trainer, community

ambassador, etc.

• How do you like or want to contribute?

• What unmet need would volunteering fulfill for you?

The volunteer’s answer to this question will help you determine if s/he is a good fit based on your expectations of what’s needed in that role

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Tell me about your best client or customer relationship.

If no direct client experience: Tell me about a time you were a client and received exceptional service. What did that look like?

Some kind of experience working with clients versus a non-client facing role (process engineer or corporate accountant for example)

5 What is your communication style like? What way do you prefer to communicate with others?

Communication styles and how they work with volunteers and clients

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Tell me about your professional networks. How do you link with others?

If you had a client in need of help on a topic not in your area of expertise, what would you do?

Connector, rich network, links with others

7 Give me an example of a person you didn’t get along with and/or had difficulty working with and why? What were their traits?

Open minded, approachable, tolerant, observant Empathy, compassion, warmth, patienceAdaptable, flexible

8 Can you think of a time where an opportunity passed you by? What did you do? Willing to experiment and take prudent risk

Interview Questions

9 Tell me about a time you were in charge of executing a decision that did not have a consensus.

This is a key question if you are recruiting for leadership. This tells you about the ability to be assertive to drive home a point of view if necessary

10 How have you dealt with situations where you have to convince people about a change that needs to be made? Patience

11 When someone comes to you with a problem, what steps do you take, if any, to assist? Listening skills, not rushing to resolve a problem right away

Either/Or Questions

Question Listen for:

12 Would you say you were: 1) More patient than decisive, OR 2) More decisive than patient? Option 1: Patience

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When you counsel or mentor someone, would you say that you generally: 1) Do the most talking, because they are there to learn from you, OR 2) Ask a lot of probing questions to get their opinions, resulting in more talking time from them?

Option 2: Curious and inquisitive when giving counsel

14 When it comes to business acumen, do you consider yourself:1) A generalist, OR 2) An expert in one area?

Generalist (This question does not apply if recruiting a Subject Matter Expert. SME’s should be an expert in their area.)

15 Would you say you are generally: 1) More task-oriented, OR 2) Big-picture oriented Big picture

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If a client comes in and is unsure about what he wants to talk about with you or is uncertain or confused about how to proceed, are you more likely to: 1) Allow him to come to what he needs by asking questions, being silent, and letting him talk, OR 2) Offer suggestions and a framework for him to determine next steps?

Tolerance for ambiguity

Chapter Volunteer Interview

Interview Questionnaire Choose 3 open-ended or either/or interview questions to build your interview questionnaire. To identify each question you choose, place the question number in the space provided. As you conduct the interview and ask the candidate your chosen questions, take notes on their specific response.

Name of Applicant: Date:

Question Notes

Question Notes

Question Notes