<p>I recently got rejected after an interview for volunteering at a cancer agency.
Before the interview my friend advised me that all volunteer interviews are there just to see if you're not a psycho so I shouldn't stress much about it. I believed him and didn't worry much before the interview.
But after all the interview wasn't simply a psycho detector.
Ridicuously it was a little like a medical school interview. I know that not all volunteer interviews are this picky, but I guess I was unlucky.</p>
<p>Six hours after the interview I phoned the interviewer and asked her why she didn't choose me. She said that I seemed to lack passion for cancer and the overall interview wasn't strong. Seriously, it's ridiculous how she expects ordinary kid like me who never had cancer or any relatives with it but just looking to volunteer to have passion for cancer. Also, what I wrote in response to "Why do you want to volunteer here?" on the volunteer application form before the interview even said that I was just considering to go into medicine and so looking to volunteer in a medicine-related field. If she didn't like that on the application then she shouldn't have called for an interview in the first place and wasted my time.
Do they only want types of people who experienced cancer themselves or even had families of cancer patients and therefore able to truly talk about their feelings about cancer and why it concerns them?</p>
<p>I feel bad for having wasted 4 hours traveling to and from and interviewing at the agency.</p>
<p>I'm going to let someone else explain to you why you were rejected, but it doesn't surprise me that you were.
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Do they only want types of people who experienced cancer themselves or even had families of cancer patients and therefore able to truly talk about their feelings about cancer and why it concerns them?
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To answer this question, no this is not just want they want.</p>
<p>So... you don't care about sick people unless you're related to somebody who's had it?</p>
<p>I do care about sick people even if they aren't related to me, but I'm not very good at expressing my feelings so she might have misjudged me.. But I felt that the interviewer wanted to see unique passion for cancer, which I obviously had none of, not just any passion.</p>
<p>You know when you interview it could be a thousand things and half of them have absolutely nothing to do with you. Maybe she has a problem. Maybe you look like her least appreicated relative? who knows</p>
<p>Let it go and move on to something else. </p>
<p>think of it as an acting gig if it helps... </p>
<p>My son lost one med school interview because he lost a guy when he said the decision to become a doctor didn't hit him at 5 years old..it hit him at 20. maybe that person felt my kid lacked "passion". Go figure.. Somebody liked him and he's in med school. go figure..</p>
<p>
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Seriously, it's ridiculous how she expects ordinary kid like me who never had cancer or any relatives with it but just looking to volunteer to have passion for cancer.
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</p>
<p>It is not at all ridiculous. Cancer is "serious business," and if you're "just looking to volunteer," I'm not surprised that she wasn't interested in you. The level of commitment that the interviewer was looking for didn't appear to match your level of commitment. You didn't convince her that you were really committed.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, what I wrote in response to "Why do you want to volunteer here?" on the volunteer application form before the interview even said that I was just considering to go into medicine and so looking to volunteer in a medicine-related field. If she didn't like that on the application then she shouldn't have called for an interview in the first place and wasted my time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You were looking to volunteer in a medicine-related field. It doesn't mean that you have to volunteer in the interviewer's medically related field. She may have not liked the fact that it seemed like you could've gone to any other organization to volunteer - again, she wanted you to show more commitment to her specific organization.</p>
<p>Maybe she called you for an interview because she thought you'd come across better in person. Since you didn't, then she decided you weren't a fit for the organization.</p>
<p>That's my take on it.</p>
<p>They typically get many applications for one spot. They can only accept one. It may not be that you're inadequate but rather they found someone else they like more. Get used to it. This is what happens during med school admissions.</p>