William:
Thanks for coming in for this interview.
William:
It's very important for us to meet our volunteers in person.
Grace:
It's no problem at all.
William:
Let's get started.
William:
What's the best phone number to contact you on?
Grace:
My mobile phone's probably best.
Grace:
The number's 021 636 7189.
Grace:
But I can't always answer it during the day.
Grace:
I'll give you my email address as well.
Grace:
I check it frequently.
William:
I'll make a note that email's a good way to contact you.
William:
What's the address?
Grace:
It's graceb@travel.co.nz.
Grace:
I chose it when I was younger, and I just haven't changed it since.
William:
It's easy to remember.
William:
Now, do you have any particular qualifications, Grace?
Grace:
I'm a housewife now, but I used to be in teaching.
Grace:
I trained for that and got my diploma, although I haven't done it for years.
Grace:
Before having children, I worked as a bank teller.
William:
I need to find out when you'll be available during the week.
William:
You said you have children.
William:
Are they at school?
Grace:
So I can't start work before 8.15 in the morning or work past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
William:
So you'd be looking for about four or five hours a day, say 9.15am to 2pm.
William:
That gives you time to get to and from school to work.
Grace:
It's important for me to be there for my children.
William:
And are you looking to work Monday to Friday?
Grace:
If it gets to be too much, I can rethink it later.
William:
Now, Grace, you obviously have a lot of work experience, but have you done any volunteer work before?
Grace:
Um, during the Rugby World Cup, there were many visitors who didn't know their way around or what they should see and do in Auckland City.
Grace:
So I worked as a guide to help introduce the city to tourists.
Grace:
I really enjoyed it.
William:
Have you done anything else?
William:
Perhaps when you were at school or university?
William:
Did you do any volunteer work there?
Grace:
When I was at university, the manager of a netball team asked me to be the coach and I did that.
William:
It sounds like you like your sports.
Grace:
I used to, but not so much nowadays.
William:
If not sports, do you have any other interests?
Grace:
I love to get out in my garden and I grow most of my own vegetables.
Grace:
I love flowers and flower arranging, but I don't suppose there's much volunteer work associated with those kinds of things.
William:
You'd be surprised.
William:
Any other hobbies?
Grace:
Like most people, I guess.
Grace:
Actually, I can play the guitar, but I haven't done much for a while, so I'm a bit rusty.
Grace:
One day, I'd like to have a go at the flute.
William:
That gives me a good idea of the type of work you might be interested in.
William:
Ideally, it'd be something that combines your experience and your hobbies.
William:
If you're interested in something outdoors, I have a position helping out on a farm.
William:
That's just for a month.
William:
It's not too physically demanding, though it does require you to be on your feet all day.
William:
And it'd be nice as long as the weather is fine, but I imagine it could be uncomfortable in the rain or the heat.
William:
In the past, we've had many positions working in community centres.
William:
They've been working with the disabled or teens.
William:
The position we have available now is with elderly men and women.
William:
They have activities like flower arranging, music lessons, sing-alongs, things like that.
Grace:
Both of those sound great.
Grace:
I'm really open to anything.
William:
That's nice to know.
William:
Just a couple more questions.
William:
Why do you want to do volunteer work?
Grace:
Well, now that both my children are in school, I'd like to make some friends as I've got the time on my hands.
Grace:
Also, I like the idea of helping others.
William:
And last question, how did you find our agency?
William:
We aren't in the phone book.
William:
Did a friend tell you about us?
Grace:
No, I was on my way to school the other day and I saw your advertisement at the supermarket.
William:
It's good to know someone sees those ads.
William:
Thank you again for coming.
