Practice 35 UNICEF interview questions covering humanitarian values, global development, and child rights advocacy.
Question 9 of 35
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Isaiah Swanson is a volunteer recruitment professional who has interviewed, trained, and supervised thousands of volunteers supporting dozens of nonprofit programs helping families in crisis, homebound seniors, and victims of natural disasters.
UNICEF lists "innovates and embraces change" as #4 on its Competency Framework. The interviewer wants to know that you are a creative thinker and can adapt when processes, programs, and procedures change.

Isaiah Swanson is a volunteer recruitment professional who has interviewed, trained, and supervised thousands of volunteers supporting dozens of nonprofit programs helping families in crisis, homebound seniors, and victims of natural disasters.
"In any position I have, I think about creative ways to improve the way we do things. Innovation is necessary because the world is always changing, and we have to adapt to those changes to continue to meet our goals and push the mission forward. For a few years, we had issues with our paid staff getting lost on their ways to make client assessment visits. For several years, we printed hardcopy route sheets for our staff. When I reviewed the process, I realized we were wasting a lot of money on paper and giving staff poor directions. I worked with our Chief Financial Officer to allocate some funding to procure a contract app development specialist who worked with program leaders to create an app that could optimize client routes. This saved us nearly 5,000 and eliminated instances of staff getting lost in the field."

Isaiah Swanson is a volunteer recruitment professional who has interviewed, trained, and supervised thousands of volunteers supporting dozens of nonprofit programs helping families in crisis, homebound seniors, and victims of natural disasters.
"I believe that regular reflection on procedures is necessary to ensure that we are working as efficiently as possible. I manage a program that pairs volunteers with homebound seniors seeking companionship; the volunteers would call their 'phone buddy' once a week to talk about life and see if there was anything they needed. During a reflection session on program operations, volunteers informed me that they loved the opportunity, but they felt they could have more of an impact if they were each paired with more than one client. I embraced this idea wholeheartedly and worked with volunteers to develop a process for confidentiality training and scheduling calls. Ultimately, this change allowed us to include more seniors in the program."

Isaiah Swanson is a volunteer recruitment professional who has interviewed, trained, and supervised thousands of volunteers supporting dozens of nonprofit programs helping families in crisis, homebound seniors, and victims of natural disasters.
Show that you not only embrace change but can also be a catalyst for change that enhances the mission of the organization. Displaying a forward-thinking vision shows that you are committed to your work.

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Anonymous Answer
The use of digital technologies to manage misinformation during covid. capacity has been built to handle PHE in the future.

Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great start. Can you share more details on the situation and what impact you had on the project? Doing so will help highlight your skills.
Anonymous Answer
I am innovative, with the ability to quickly learn new approaches and techniques, and methods to work to ensure there is minimal disruption in implementation and achievement of results. For example, during the Ebola outbreak, I had to quickly learn and adapt to the emergency mode, having not directly worked in the emergency context before; and I ably supported the districts under my area of responsibility to draw up preparedness and response plans; advocating for the Community Development Department members to be incorporated into the District Task Forces on Disaster management, to enable them to amplify and respond child related issues during emergencies.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! You certainly come across as innovative and adaptable. Don't forget to include the result in your STAR example above. How did learning to function in an emergency and helping draw up response plans ultimately pan out? Who did this benefit? And how do you plan to be innovative and forward-thinking in this new role?
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Written by Isaiah Swanson
35 Questions & Answers • UNICEF

By Isaiah

By Isaiah