Selection of EVS Volunteers

The coordinating organisation, in collaboration with sending and receiving organisations, establishes the selection criteria relevant to the target group with whom the receiving organisation works and the activities that they implement.

However the sending organisation conducts an initial screening of volunteers in order to match activities with volunteer’s interests and skills.

The most popular methods of selecting and screening volunteers are:

Usually the sending organisations publish a call for participants so as to start the recruitment process, they can use an application form to establish the volunteer’s current status, identify his/her motivation for pursuing EVS, and test his/her linguistic skills  (sometimes just for informative  purposes).Afterwards, an interview between the potential volunteer and the sending organisation might  be set in order to clarify details – as a follow-on to the  application form.

The sending organisation relays this information to the receiving organisation. The receiving organisation may ask volunteers to forward a letter of motivation regarding the position they wish to apply  for and continues the selection process through an interview in which it’s important to inform the volunteer about:

• working hours per week;
• name and location of the main workplace;
• location of the accommodation;
• specific instructions to be followed;
• rules to bear in mind.

In order to choose the best candidate, it is recommended to consider the following aspects : :

• a positive attitude towards independent progress of others; 
• flexibility and willingness to adapt to local conditions; 
• a desire to interact and understand other people’s cultures and outlooks on life; 
• be open-minded and willing to share ideas, information and experiences without imposing  values on others;
• remember that volunteering doesn’t mean having fun, everyone should be motivated to work and enjoy a simple life, then it will turn out to be fun most of the time
• be capable of living in another country for a long time .

Why?

Someone who has the above mentioned characteristics will easily adapt to  any new environment, thus making his/her volunteering experience in that particular country useful for his/her learning process.