Depending on vacancies, at any given time we seek candidates for:
- Data Entry Operators
- Administrative Support Officers
- Short-Term Project Managers
- Single-day volunteers to support Purple Day
- Occasional photographers and/or videographers
Because you become a valued representative of our organisation. You help us extend the reach of our services to people living with epilepsy and to increase epilepsy awareness in the community. You share our
Vision: for a New Zealand that is free of discrimination and stigma, where the impacts of epilepsy on a persons life, and that of their whanau and community, are minimised; and Mission: to improve the quality of lives of New Zealanders living with epilepsy.
In accepting a volunteer role with Epilepsy New Zealand, it is implied that you agree to abide by the values of the organisation.
Values include but are not limited to:
o acceptable behaviour – towards manager, colleagues and clients,
o abiding by the values and policies/procedures of the organisation, recognising and practising responsibility for ensuring ENZ’s workplaces are H&S compliant, people’s wellbeing is upheld, free from discrimination, respectful etc.
o that volunteers recognise they are representatives of Epilepsy New Zealand and must behave in a way that presents Epilepsy New Zealand in the best possible light
o protect the reputation of Epilepsy New Zealand.
If you answer “yes” to the question about identifying as someone with a disability, we are committed to providing you with the support or assistance to undertake your role as a volunteer with Epilepsy New Zealand, including making sure we are familiar with your Emergency Management Plan or other information we may need in an emergency (eg. Anaphylaxis, diabetes, allergies).
Epilepsy New Zealand may be required to provide de-identified statistical information about our engagement with individuals who identify as someone with a disability.
What we mean by the term de-identified information is that you will remain anonymous and anything that identifies you (such as name, address, phone number, appearance etc) will not be shared with any external organisations seeking these statistics.
We are unable to cover costs such as public transport, petrol or food.
No, volunteers can help out with a project for a few days, come in every week at the same time or provide support on a one-off basis. When you apply for a role using our online application form, we ask you about your availability for volunteering.
Your commitment to a particular role depends entirely upon the length of time that the volunteer role is available and your own circumstances, interests, and the length of time you can donate. Some roles we advertise specify the estimated length of time a volunteer is needed (eg. a 3 month project); for other roles, we especially welcome long-term availability.
The beautiful thing about this is that it’s up to you. You can apply for volunteer roles that we advertise that can be anything from a four-hour shift once per fortnight to two/three days per week to only a few hours as a once off.
Some of the volunteer roles involve working with other volunteers. Others involve working with people living with epilepsy and/or paid staff.
Just like for a paid role, it’s natural to feel nervous on the day before or during your first few days of volunteering. Don’t let that stop you from turning up for your informal interview; or on your first day. Together you and Epilepsy New Zealand have put in a joint effort to get you to this stage and all we want is for your volunteering experience to be enjoyable and rewarding. It’s not scary, it's something different.
We advertise the volunteer roles that best support our business goals at any given time. We do have a waitlist but are unable to create roles for individuals and our capacity to “job match” to your skills and experience is very limited.
If you are making a spontaneous enquiry about volunteering; unrelated to any advertised roles, it’s really helpful to be specific about your volunteering aspirations. For example, telling us that you wish to offer your experience with computers; or financial management skills is better than expressing an interest in “office work”.
We advertise the volunteer roles that best support our business goals at any given time. Advertised roles may have specific requirement such as “accurate data entry skills” or “advanced level knowledge of Microsoft Excel”. Having epilepsy poses no barrier to being offered a volunteer role if you are the best candidate.
Anywhere! Our National Office is located in Hamilton, New Zealand. We have regional offices and Educators around New Zealand. If none of our locations are convenient to where you live, you may still be able to help us.
We all want to be part of something bigger. We all want to contribute to making the world a better place. But between work, family and health, maybe a regular volunteering role just isn’t an option.
You can still change the lives of people living with epilepsy from home virtually.
Online volunteering that Epilepsy New Zealand advertises include:
- Helping with social media
- Researching on the web
- Giving specialist advice
- Designing a newsletter
- Fundraising and raising awareness
Of course! We advertise the volunteer roles that best support our business goals at any given time.
The list is endless and only limited by your own skills, experience and abilities!
We advertise the volunteer roles that best support our business goals at any given time. It might be office administration; event assistance; or fundraising.
Yes, there are many support organisations that can find people to support your volunteering aspirations. You may have a case manager or access to other support services which can assist you to find a paid or unpaid (volunteer) support person to help you carry out your volunteer role.
You would need to check this with your case manager as the requirements change often and depend on your circumstances.
Anyone 18 years or over can volunteer with Epilepsy New Zealand. We are always willing to explore how to accommodate under-18s’ volunteering ambitions as we value every member of our volunteer workforce.
Everyone’s circumstances and visa conditions are different. Please check the Immigration New Zealand website for the latest information.
Everyone’s circumstances and visa conditions are different. Please check the Immigration New Zealand website for the latest information.
Group volunteering opportunities at Epilepsy New Zealand are available for family or friend groups in a way that you may never have considered to be volunteering: Contact national@epilepsy.org.nz to donate your time in support of our annual appeal on Purple Day.
This depends entirely on the role. Attitude and experience, and your commitment to abiding by the values of Epilepsy New Zealand are generally more important. Some Epilepsy New Zealand volunteer roles require specific job skills or qualifications, while others ask only for a willingness to learn. Training is always available to volunteers who need it.
Yes, we have plenty of opportunities for supporting volunteer roles. See also the section on Virtual Volunteering.
Yes! And we’ll contact your referees too if the role requires it. In attending an informal interview (or meet and greet as we prefer to call it), you get the opportunity to assess us and vice-versa. This is a great way to gain experience in the complete recruitment process. It is important to you and Epilepsy New Zealand that you are well-matched to a volunteer role.
A typical interview may include any of the following questions:
• Why you are interested in volunteering for Epilepsy New Zealand?
• How would your friends describe you?
• Are you looking for paid work?
You can ask us anything that you want to know, including:
• Does the organisation cover agreed out-of-pocket expenses?
• Are there any training opportunities?
• What is the scope of the role?
• Am I covered by the organisation’s public liability and personal accident insurance
Yes, for some roles. We’ll ask you to nominate two people who can speak about their impressions of your skills and work ethic. Don’t worry if you don’t have a referee for paid work – nominate someone who has known you for a long time (eg. your neighbour of 10 years), is your basketball/footy/boot-scootin’/dog club teammate; or someone who has seen you in action on a committee or organising an event.
For some roles you will need certain checks to be undertaken. We will tell you what checks are required and where to get them.
Yes, you can but each case is assessed individually. Epilepsy New Zealand has the flexibility to consider the nature of your criminal record and how long ago it occurred. Some volunteer roles may be unavailable to you because of a criminal record but others may be suitable. It’s best to be open with us and discuss your options.
Epilepsy New Zealand volunteers who are in regular contact with children will be supervised if necessary.
That would be a shame but yes, of course, you are under no obligation to keep volunteering for Epilepsy New Zealand as circumstances can change very quickly. If you secure paid employment, don’t like the role, or find the volunteering job of your dreams at a different organisation, we understand. But it is always worth talking to somebody before stopping. You can discuss openly with them why you wish to leave and what we could do to improve your volunteer experience. If you feel strongly that something should be done, you are welcome to access an appropriate HR-related process to reach a resolution.
Even negative feedback is very important for us to receive.
If you still want to leave, try to give us some advance notice. Even if you can’t give us advance notice, please let us know you won’t be back or we will always wonder what happened to you.
Epilepsy New Zealand is unable to offer you a qualification for volunteering.
However, by volunteering you will gain valuable experience, develop your skills and a verbal reference. We would be honoured to provide you with a certificate confirming your length of service.
The skills and experiences that you gain while volunteering are often very useful for careers and life generally. The skills and experiences may enhance your resume and we will happily provide a verbal reference.
If this Q & A series hasn’t answered your question, email our team with the question you want answered and we’ll get back to you.