HELP WANTED

Over the years in various volunteer leadership roles, from President of the Band Boosters to Girl Scout Troop Leader I've learned that even though I'm looking for volunteers, these are still jobs. I sure wouldn't want someone who can't balance their own checkbook to handle the finances. Even if they are a volunteer. And I wouldn't want a leader who doesn't like being around a bunch of kids, leading a bunch of kids into the outdoors. So, even if they are volunteers, they need to be qualified.


So I'm going to approach this just as if it were a job interview. And I'm going to write help wanted ads for each of the roles and post them where ever I can.

Writing The Ads
You may have noticed that most help wanted ads follow a format of 1) Title of Job, 2)Description of Job, and 3)Description of Ideal Candidate.

I've already written the Job Titles and Descriptions. Now I need to describe the ideal candidate. Doing so does three things. First, it tells potential candidates what sort of experience they need to do the job. Second, it helps potential candidates self-screen themselves out if they don't have appropriate experience. And, finally, and most importantly, it helps the interviewer better define what they're looking for.

Lets look at the Business Manager for instance. The job definition reads "tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office." I then added "The ideal candidate will have experience maintaining the finances of an organization, experience with organizational reporting procedures and familiarity with the structure of the Sierra Club."

Now instead of asking, "Do you know someone who would be willing to track the revenue and expenses related to the ICO program and oversee all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office?" Which is the job description. I ask, "Do you know someone in the Sierra Club with experience maintaining finances and organizational reports?" Which is the description of the ideal candidate.

You'll notice I'm asking, "Do you know someone?", not "Will you?" So the "Ideal Candidate bullets" are a recruiting tool that I can apply to what I learned in My Date With Drew.

Again, over the years I've learned that volunteers don't want to be in charge, but they are willing to help with something based on a skill set they already have. So, when I do find a likely candidate, I always ask, "Will you help me with _____?" Not, "Will you be in charge of _______?".

You'll find the ideal candidate descriptions for all the jobs below. Hopefully, I will soon have help. Here are the job titles, job description and ideal candidate descriptions.


PROGRAM COORDINATOR (Chair)
The Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the activities of the six program managers and holding coordinates the overall program by managing and holding accountable the managers, coordinators and officers.


The ideal candidate will have -

• experience in each of the jobs necessary to sustain the program


• experience organizing and executing organizational events

BUSINESS MANAGER
The Business Manager tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office.

The ideal candidate will have

• experience with maintaining the finances of an organization


• experience with organizational reporting procedures


• familiarity with the structure of the Sierra Club

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The Volunteer Coordinator identifies the human resource needs of the program and then recruits volunteers to meet those needs including the Program Coordinator and all of the department heads, as well as the leaders on the activities.

The ideal candidate will have -

• experience asking people to help


• a broad network of contacts inside and outside the club

AGENCY LIASON MANAGER
The Agency Liason Manager recruits and leads the selection process of partner agencies and maintains the relationship between the program and partner agencies.

The ideal candidate will have-

• experience working with youth support agencies


• experience working with the Sierra Club

ACTIVITY MANAGER
The Activities Manager approves all outdoor activities led by the program and develops new activities to keep the participants engaged. Additionally, the Activity Manager recruits and coordinates the volunteers who will be taking the participants into the out of doors and makes certain they are appropriately trained and certified.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Certification as a Sierra Club outing leader


• Experience training outing leaders using the resources available through the club


• Experience working with youth and youth organizations

SUPPORT SERVICES MANAGER
The Support Services Manager arranges necessary transportation, food, equipment and educational materials for all outdoor activities and maintains the equipment and materials of the program.

The ideal candidate will have-

• Demonstrated problem solving ability


• Experience acquiring materials and services


• A can-do attitude

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
The Development Manager is responsible for generating all funds necessary to operate the program.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Experience asking people for money

PUBLIC INFORMATION MANAGER
The Public Information Manager manages all public communication both inside and outside the organization.

The ideal candidate will have -

• Experience working with the media


• Experience writing press releases


• Experience maintaining websites


• Experience maintaining Facebook pages