Do Everyone A Favor: Interview in Person

by Meghan Oakley

categories: Tips for Applicants, AmeriCorps

Published November 12, 2009 @ 04:15PM PT

I have to make a confession.

When I first finished my term of service in AmeriCorps*NCCC, I applied for, interviewed for, and accepted another position with AmeriCorps as a Volunteer Coordinator with Volunteer Maryland right outside Washington, DC.

Only a few weeks before I was supposed to start, I got cold feet and left them high and dry.

It was painful, but I realized at the last minute the position really wasn't for me and it would be a big mistake ( and both unfair to me and the organization) if I took the position. Unfortunately for Volunteer Maryland, it was too late to recruit a new member. Unfortunately for me, I was out another opportunity to serve in AmeriCorps.

My mistake? I didn't interview in person.

When I was applying for the position, I was in California on my way home to the East Coast from my position with AmeriCorps*NCCC. The only option was to interview on the phone, and then plan to visit the site just a few weeks before I would start.

It seemed like a seamless plan, but what I didn't realize that there are elements to an in-person interview that you just can't get over the phone. When all the pros and cons have been weighed, I ultimately make decision with my gut, and that gut-reaction can only come to me in person.

It would have been best for everyone involved--both the organization and myself--if I had interview in person to start with. It may have taken some extra cash and time, but the investment would have been well worth it.

Photo Attribution: Personnel Strategies