I applied for a volunteer position at the Kyoto City Animal Welfare Center and received an invitation for an interview. (by mail!) The questions in the application form were some serious essay questions:
#1. Why are you interested in volunteering here and what do you think you can contribute to?
#2. What do you think is the meaning of public "services" offered by Kyoto Animal Welfare Center?
They are dead serious about it, which is a good thing.
Three other people came to the interview, so it was a group interview, and we were all there by 9:45. It was amazing. There was even a waiting room for the interviewees. I did not like the silence, so I asked them what they were going to ask us, and after that, we had a friendly conversation. We talked about dogs, where we live (I was surprised that they came from far away by train), puppy walkers (dogs that become guide dogs for the blind), and so on. It was interesting to hear that some of the wanna-be puppy walker volunteers said that it is ideal because it does not come with the difficult time when dogs (or any pets) pass away as puppy warker is for a limited time; while others said that it was hard when they had to return the dogs to the training facility. All of them were dog people lol. But there were also stories of puppied returned to the puppy walker home because they could not pass the guide dog test. Or others said that guide dogs come back to their home after they retire. I liked to hear those heartwarming stories.
Then came the interview. In a large conference room, four interviewers sit at an L-shaped table and four applicants sat on chairs. I think the distance between them and us was 5 to 6 meters. I had to raise my voice to be heard (at 9 Saturday morning!). Everyone wearing masks just added to the distance. It was much like a group interview for real job hunting...! I'm glad they are this selective in hiring volunteers, though.
The questions asked were:
#1. Self-introduction and why you want to work here.
#2. What do you think about feeding stray cats?
#3. Sometimes euthanasia is the only choice left to us because we cannot find foster family for shelter animals because of extreme agressiveness or an incurable disease, or other reasons. What is your opinion about mercy killing of animals like them?
#4 Do you agree that you may not be able to continue as a volunteer if your relationship with the staff or other volunteers deteriorates? An answer "yes" or "no" will suffice.
#1. all have owned dogs and some have worked with shelter dogs. My fellow interviewees have a lot of experiences!
Regarding #2, one said, "If you are going to feed them, it makes sense to sterilize them and even take care of their waste." I had vaguely thought that just feeding them was like not taking full responsibility, but when she listed the other things that were necessary, it was very informative.
As for #3, I think this question is not so much about the answer as it is about whether the person is like an abnormal complainer who complains to the center about the killing of animals. They say there are people like that. It must be very saddening to be criticized in abusive language when you're doing your best.
And #4. I was amused, to be honest. But there must have been ...... difficult people. If you hire 30 people every year, there will be some. I think just saying something like this up front would be a great deterrent. I never thought the word "inter-human relations" would come up at an animal welfare center.
The interviewers told us that they received more than 100 applications for the 30 positions available, and that made them very happy and grateful. That means there is a higher chance of not getting the job. I know they probably narrowed down the number of people they interviewed through the application screening process, but still.
They were all very professional people at 8:30 on a Saturday morning! After that, I went to the hospital for a checkup, which went so smoothly that I wondered if it was a weekday today. People who deal with living creatures (whether animals or humans) are amazing.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) - edited by author.
面接には他3人もきていて、グループ面接だった。9時45分には全員集合。すごい。。面接者控え室まであって本格的。控え室で、しーーん…となっていたので「何を聞かれるんですかねえ〜」と言ってみたら、そのあとは和気あいあいと話が弾んだ。飼っている犬の話や住んでいるところ（電車で遠いところから来ていてびっくりー）、パピーウォーカー（盲導犬になる犬）の話とか。パピーウォーカーのボランティアは、「期間限定だから、看とる時がなくて良い」という人と、「訓練施設に戻すときつらい」という人がいて興味深い。全員犬派だった(笑)。でも、盲導犬の試験に受からなくて、パピーウォーカー元に（実家に？）帰ってきたという話や、盲導犬引退後に帰ってきたという話も。いいな。
そして面接。大きな会議室に、面接官4人がL字型のテーブルにつき、応募者4人が椅子に座る。その距離、5ー6メートルはあったように思う。けっこう声を大きくしないと聞き取りづらかった。そのうえマスクもしているし。格好としては、就職活動のグループ面接だった…！
質問は、
- 自己紹介と志望動機
- 野良猫にエサをあげる行為についてどう思いますか。
- 殺処分についてどう考えますか。
- 愛護センター職員または他のボランティアとの人間関係の悪化によっては、ボランティアの継続をご遠慮いただく場合があります、同意していただけますか。回答は「はい」か「いいえ」のみで結構です。
1。全員犬を飼ったことがある、そして保護犬に携わったことがある人も。みんな経験豊富だなー
2については、「エサをあげるんだったら、不妊手術をして、排泄の世話までするのが筋です。」と言っていた方がいて、エサをあげるだけでは中途半端だよなと思ってはいたけど、そうやって他にも必要なことを列挙されると、なるほどなと思った。
3については、どうしても里親が見つからないとか、難病とか、いろんな事情で…。ほんとに人間の身勝手であるけれど、劣悪な環境で無理矢理飼うのも違うのかもしれないから、という…。この質問は、回答を重視しているというよりは、殺処分のことでセンターに文句を言ってくるクレーマーみたいな人ではないかということを見ていると思う。そういう人がいるらしい。最善を尽くしているのに、罵詈雑言言われたらやるせないだろうな。
そして4。面食らった。が、いたんだろうな……難しい人が。毎年30人も採用してればいるだろう、それはもう。こういうことを前もって言っておくだけで随分抑止力になると思う。動物愛護センターで、「人間関係」の言葉が出てくるとは思わなかった。
30人の募集枠に、100通以上の応募がきたということで、嬉しい悲鳴というか、ありがたいです、とおっしゃっていた。ということは、普通に考えて落ちる可能性の方が高いということね。恐らく書類選考で面接する人数を絞ってはいるだろうけど。それにしても、土曜の朝8時半から、プロ意識の高い人たちばかり。このあと病院で検診を受けたのだけどそれも非常にスムーズで、今日は平日か？と思うくらいのテキパキさで… 生き物（動物であれ人間であれ）相手の人はすごいな、と思う。
No comments:
Post a Comment