Strategic Volunteering

In her address to job seekers at the Women for Hire Job Fair, Tory Johnson used a phrase that really made tremendous sense when describing the importance of volunteering during a job search.  She referred to it as strategic volunteering.

Too many job seekers view volunteering as a waste of time.  I've provided numerous examples to demonstrate how volunteer work can be a valuable aspect of your job search.  I've suggested targeting volunteer opportunities in industries or organizations in which you'd like to work or to which you think you'd like to transition into.  Actually, I guess I was talking about strategic volunteering.

Three of the suggestions Tory made were...
1.  target volunteer opportunities that are closely associated with what you want to get paid for
2.  seek a volunteer opportunity at an industry association
3.  volunteer to work at a conference in your field or the field you wish to transition into

While I am currently doing the first, volunteering in career services at a university, I hadn't focused on the benefit of volunteering at an industry association or conference.  What a great ideas!  What better place to expand your network than volunteering for an association or at an industry conference that draws together professionals who work in a field or discipline in which you're interested. 

The message is clear.  In today's job market  strategic volunteer opportunities can greatly expand your network and add value to your job search efforts.