A hospital volunteer must be willing to help patients, their families and staff members. Hospital volunteers should be approachable and well-mannered, with a pleasant disposition, in order to facilitate good care for patients.

As you prepare for an interview to become a hospital volunteer, knowing the questions that typically are asked will let your work ethic and personality shine through.

Questions About Helping Others

Some questions that you may be asked involve your ability to engage with others. These questions may include:

How well do you deal with different personalities?

Do you consider yourself a people person?

Do you enjoy helping others, especially those who may need extra help because of illness?

Think of possible answers to these questions before the interview. The more information you can give in a two-to-three-sentence answer, the more precise and sure of yourself you’ll seem. The interviewer is looking for someone who enjoys being with people and helping them.

Questions About Organization

Other questions could address your organizational skills and ability. Hospital volunteers are often responsible for logging daily hours for staff positions and signing visitors in to visit patients. You must be able to keep track of lists, hours and other information for the hospital’s records. Here are some questions you may be asked about organizational skills:

Have you used any computer software to organize information, such as Microsoft Excel?

Do you consider yourself well-organized?

What is your biggest weakness when it comes to organization?

Prepare yourself with answers that go beyond “yes” or “no.” By responding with examples that back up your answers, you’ll be providing interviewers with important information. Also, when answering a question about a personal weakness, be honest, but mention how you are addressing that weakness. For example, you might say, “My biggest weakness is that I’m not great at math, so logging things may be difficult. However, I have been taking classes to improve my math skills.”

End-of-Interview Questions

An engaged interviewee will stand out in the interviewer’s mind. At the end of the interview, your interviewer may ask if you have questions. Feel free to ask some of these questions. They may help you be better informed about the position:

What is a typical workday for a volunteer at this hospital?

How many visitors come to the hospital per day?

What tools are made available to me, such as computer programs, that will help me assist staff, visitors and patients?