- Volunteer Challenge Tests-

Challenge Tests

- Employment -

We are a new startup, and everyone (even the executive director) is working on a strictly volunteer capacity until funds are raised to hire formal employees. If you are interested in one day working for us, all potential employees (except in very rare circumastances) must first donate their time as a volunteer. So, if you want to one day work here, first, show us that you really care about what we are doing. Once you've proven your mettle, and once we have the funds, we'll consider hiring you in a paid capacity.

To that end, we have a general requirement that anyone who would like to eventually work for us should first volunteer with us. Therefore, management will always, as a first step when seeking to fill available positions, seek to hire/employ qualified volunteers who have shown a dedication to our mission:

  • first through the most number of volunteer hours
  • then through accomplishment of the highest Break Diving level
  • and finally through attainment of the highest formal education

THE CHALLENGES

  • Find your challenges below. Speak to staff to determine which ones you should complete.
  • Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important. Proofread before submission.
  • Answer all questions in each section. Do not leave any blank, and do not say "I don't know" to any of the answers. You must try.
  • Submit answers via email to your staff contact as a google doc link. Please be sure it is a google doc.
  • In your answers, be sure to also include the challenge name, the section (basic, intermediate, advanced) and the questions!

⇩ GENERAL STAFF CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. Please share in your own words why you want to volunteer here at Break Diving.
  2. Please share why you expect and want to volunteer here at Break Diving for the foreseeable long term.
  3. Explain why you can handle a sometimes high stress and usually fast paced environment.

INTERMEDIATE

  1. Briefly explain each tenet of the Diver's Code and why it's important.
  2. Briefly explain each of our "Member Expectations" and why each is important.

ADVANCED

  1. Are you prepared to work on a second team, where we need help? Note: entire coding team is ONE team. Explain why.
  2. Briefly explain each part of the Terms of Service, and why it's important.

⇩ CODING TEAM CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. What is your GitHub?
  2. How many pull requests (PRs) have you made on GitHub? If none, say so. It doesn't disqualify you.
  3. What would you type to switch to a branch named 'development'?
  4. What would you type to create a new branch called "feature/message-board" and switch to it?
  5. What would you type to push that branch to GitHub?
  6. Once the branch is pushed, how to create a pull request and assign reviewers?
  7. What does this HTML/CSS do?

    8. CLICK TO SEE THE CODE

  8. What does this Javascript do?

    9. CLICK TO SEE THE CODE

  9. Why won't this HTML code work?

    10. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  10. Why won't this CSS code work?

    11. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  11. Why won't this Javascript code work?

    12. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  12. We want to create an ordered list. How would you do this?
  13. We want to use CSS to target a class named 'caption' and change the font to blue, and underline the text. How would you do this?
  14. Design a simple website with all proper HTML, head, body tags and a separate CSS file that has a big title "CODE TEST" that is centered, and use CSS to make the title change colors gradually as you hover over it. Include Javascript script tags, but leave empty.

INTERMEDIATE

  1. Do you currently have Git, Ruby, Rails, and Redis installed on your computer? If not, say so. It doesn't disqualify you.
  2. What is MVC and please explain how each is used in a Rails app?
  3. What would you type to start a Rails server?
  4. How would you start a Rails server on port 3100?
  5. How do you access the Rails console?
  6. How do you migrate the database in Rails?
  7. What is PostGreSQL and why is it different from MongoDB?
  8. What does this Ruby code do?

    9. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  9. What does this Ruby code do?

    10. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  10. What does this Rails code do?

    11. CLICK TO SEE CODE

  11. What might this error mean and how might you try to solve it? Where would you look?

    12. CLICK TO SEE CODE

ADVANCED

  1. Do you have Node.js installed? If no, say so. It's not a disqualifier.
  2. Let's say you are assigned a new coding task. It's something you don't know how to do. In general, how would you go about solving this issue?
  3. How are you going to help the coding team move faster, rather than slower?
  4. How are you going to help the entire Break Diving team move faster, rather than slower?

⇩ MARKETING TEAM CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. Describe the similarities and differences between publicity, marketing, and advertising.
  2. If you wanted to create a Google ad to encourage people who want to volunteer how to find us, what keywords would you use, and what would the ad text, body, and display URL look like?

INTERMEDIATE

  1. What do you think our biggest marketing problem is right now?
  2. How do you recommend that we fix it?
  3. Do you know basic HTML and CSS? Git & GitHub? Ready to learn?

ADVANCED

  1. Write a sample press release in three paragraphs for the release of our new community app. The mission: help people succeed in life.
  2. Explain why sales is essentially a part of marketing, and how they are related.
  3. How are you going to help the marketing team move faster, rather than slower?
  4. How are you going to help the entire Break Diving team move faster, rather than slower?

⇩ ADMIN/MANAGEMENT STAFF CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. Find all the grammar and formatting issues in this email. Make it perfect.

    2. CLICK TO SEE TEXT

  2. Explain how you can help us as an administrative assistant.
  3. What leadership and management experience have you had.

INTERMEDIATE

  1. Write an email from scratch to a vendor about: explain our mission, then ask if they offer discounts for charities, get their mailing address, inquire about countries in which they operate, and find out the best way to reach them: phone, email, or text message.
  2. Explain why when you are asked to do something, you finish it, without forgetting. What is your system, and how can we know to depend on you?
  3. Describe a situation when you took charge of a project with multiple people and took it successfully to completion.

ADVANCED

  1. How are you going to help the admin/management team move faster, rather than slower?
  2. How are you going to help the entire Break Diving team move faster, rather than slower?

⇩ FINANCE STAFF CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. Explain the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet.
  2. What is an endowment, and why does Break Diving have one?
  3. How much income tax does Break Diving pay per year?
  4. According to the IRS, up to what amount of a membership fee can a not-for-profit charge that remains 100% tax-deductible for the member?

INTERMEDIATE

  1. Explain all the different types of Form 770 and the benefits of each.
  2. Have you used Quickbooks, Wave Accounting, or any other type of online bookkeeping software? When? Where? Thoughts?
  3. Explain why positive cash-flow is crucial to our business, and based on a review of our website, explain the different ways you think we currently make money.

ADVANCED

  1. If we had to raise $100 in donations in 30 days, what would you suggest we do?
  2. How are you going to help the finance team move faster, rather than slower?
  3. How are you going to help the entire Break Diving team move faster, rather than slower?

⇩ FLUENCY PROJECT LINGUIST STAFF CHALLENGE ⇩

BASIC

  1. What language(s) are you interested most in helping out with?
  2. What are your truly native languages?
  3. What are your 'second' languages and at what level can you speak, read, write, and understand?
  4. What is the Break Diving Fluency Project?
  5. Are you prepared to help out in our language channels on a consistent basis?
  6. Are you prepared to patiently help the company grow, find more Fluency Project students, and brainstorm ideas for improvement?

INTERMEDIATE

  1. Do you have any teaching certifications? If none, say so. It's not a disqualifier.
  2. Explain a time when you led others to success.
  3. Explain a time when you showed patience with students or colleagues when trying to explain something to someone who didn't understand.
  4. Write a short one paragraph essay about who you are in the languages you want to help with, and translate to English.

ADVANCED

  1. Are you interested in leading a particular language as a 'group leader', organizing events, classes, meetings, etc. and helping it to grow worldwide?
  2. How are you going to help the Fluency Project team move faster, rather than slower?
  3. How are you going to help the entire Break Diving team move faster, rather than slower?