VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR: Employer

JOB APPLICANT: ROLE PLAYING SCRIPT FOR EMPLOYER, Ms. Castillo,

Bates College, Spring 2010

It is May 2010. You are the VP of Human Resources for the American Red Cross, New York City Chapter. Your chapter is the largest chapter in the country and is famous for the outstanding work it did during 9/11.

You are currently seeking a Volunteer Coordinator and Disaster Client Caseworker.​  This position will coordinate and maintain the Chapter’s volunteer program while creating a positive work environment for the volunteers, focusing on recruitment, orientation, recognition and retention.​  In addition, as a disaster client caseworker this position will oversee all matters of client casework to include appropriate interview and response as well as individual case maintenance.​ 

This is an important position, especially in these hard financial times and the person you hire must be a dynamic individual, possessing strong communication/​public speaking skills to represent the Red Cross at public events. He or she must have human services skills and be flexible, able to attend day and evening events. The candidate must also have demonstrated recruiting skills, the ability to maintain proper case files and be Bi-lingual.

This is an excellent opportunity for the right candidate, and you must fill this position quickly and have interviewed many candidates. Last week you received a letter from the Mid Coast Maine Chapter of the Red Cross with an attached resume for one of their outstanding volunteers, Ms. Gilmore, who is graduating from Bates College and is interested in staying involved with the Red Cross.

You interviewed Ms Gilmore yesterday. She is graduating in May from with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Degree and minor in Spanish and a 3.6 GPA

You are impressed that she has such a strong American Red Cross background, especially in recruiting, which will make it easy for her to jump right into the job. The fact that she had a summer internship at  the Women’s Health Clinic in New York City and is familiar with the city is also of great importance.

Ms. Gilmore is exactly what you have been looking for, and after interviewing her yesterday you offered her the job as the Volunteer Coordinator and Disaster Client Caseworker in the New York office, and asked her to return today to set her salary, benefits and start date. 

You knew immediately that Ms. Gilmore could be of great value to the Red Cross for many years, and you may soften on driving a hard financial bargain because of her exceptional potential. However, you are the consummate professional, are budget conscious and offer competitive salaries. Www.wageproject.org tells you that the salary range for a newly minted Volunteer Coordinator in New York City is $42,000 to $54,000 with a medium salary of $48,000. The benefits for this position add another $20,000 to the compensation package.

Typically new hires are paid at the low end of the salary range and because of ARC budget constraints you will start there, especially since Ms. Gilmore is just graduating and understands how tight corporate budgets can be. The benefits package you are offering for this position is $14,000. 

Ms. Gilmore’s job offer is the last piece of your work for the day. You have to leave in 15 minutes to attend a fund raising event.

When you and Ms. Gilmore sit down to talk, your opening lines to her are: 

“We’re so pleased that you want to work for the American Red Cross here in New York City. You’ll be a wonderful addition to our team. 

We have just a couple details to settle, then you can sign our contract, and we’ll see you after graduation. 

I am authorized to offer you a starting salary of $42,000. You will be entitled to the standard benefits package all new employees get of $14,000, and we’d like you to start here on June  1^st.

If that’s okay with you, please read over this contract, sign it,  and you’ll be the new Volunteer Coordinator in our New York City office.”

See how she reacts. Listen to her. Write down what points might persuade you to raise this offer. Write down what language she might use would make you hold the line and not raise her starting salary and why. Write down what objections you would raise if she wants more money. Discuss thoughtfully with her, because you want her to accept your job offer.

In this discussion, see what is the lowest starting salary and benefits package that you can get her to accept and get her to accept a specific salary in the 15 minutes before you have to leave. 

Remember, you made her a job offer because you really want her. Now it’s time

to get her to work for The New York City Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Good Luck!