A New Job Search Strategy: Volunteering

I have been working as career counselor for over 20 years, and while volunteer work was sometimes suggested to those involved in a job search, it was more often seen as a diversion, something that would steal time away from the real work of finding a job.  Not so today.

Volunteer work can be a real part of a search strategy and serves a multitude of purposes.  Working as a volunteer one can...

• make new contacts
• feel good about themselves and connected to others
• be reminded of the skills and energy they bring to the work place
• explore new opportunities, possibly even a total job shift
• discover all that it takes to run a non-profit organization, including accounting, marketing, etc.
• uncover consulting opportunities
• walk in the shoes you hope to step into to see if they're a good fit - this is really helpful to those thinking of a true career transition
  

I am working with one woman with a legal background who is volunteering for a tourism group.  The group plans walking tours of New York City and needed a lot of research done.  They expected the first project they assigned her to take at least a month.  Two weeks later the work was done and exceeded expectations both in terms of time and quality.  My client is now working on several other projects for this group and the hope is that they will be able to hire her at least part-time in the next few months.

During one of my network interviews I was told about a woman who wanted to work in college admissions, but had never worked in admissions or on a college campus.  She offered to volunteer in the admissions office and ended up working two days a week.  She confirmed her belief that she really liked the work and became a known resource in the department.  The following year when the college had a part-time opening in admissions, she was the logical choice.  This year she's on board full-time.

One critical thing to remember is that your search doesn't stop because you spend some time volunteering.  If you hear yourself say you don't have the time to get that resume out or make a network call because you're too busy with your volunteer work, then volunteering is serving as a means of avoiding your job search.  While you need to take volunteer work seriously, an interview for a paying job that can only be scheduled when you are supposed to do your volunteer work trumps the volunteer work.  You notify the agency, give your apologies and put on your interview suit.

When we're honest with ourselves, most of us have to admit that we don't spend all of our time working on our search.  So, there is time to spend volunteering and it's often time spent more productively and with more value (see bullets above) than simply killing time at home.

If you don't know where you want to volunteer, there are numerous placement agencies that can help you identify opportunities.  Google 'volunteer opportunities in (your town or county)' and see what comes up.  Sites like idealist.org and Volunteer Match are places to research the types of volunteer opportunities out there and to connect with the organizations in need of help.

One of the challenges in this market is maintaining a sense of self worth.  Volunteering is one way to  contribute to something important and to get the acknowledgment and appreciation that's hard to find sitting by yourself in front of a computer screen.