As a new wave of college graduates enters the job market, along with the host of others who are in job transition or have been laid off, there are more reasons than ever to consider volunteering.
We’ve written several times on this blog about the benefits of volunteering while in job-search mode. Recently, the Chicago Tribune highlighted a few of these excellent motivations for giving your time and energy to help out the nonprofit sector:
1. Be the first to know when a job opens up.
Even if no jobs are available when you hop on board as a volunteer, something could always change. Someone might leave for another job, the nonprofit could receive extra funding to hire a new employee or temporary help might be needed when a new mother takes her maternity leave.
When these situations happen, people with the power to hire will likely want to interview someone who’s already familiar with internal processes and has demonstrated a passion for the organization’s mission — someone like a volunteer.
If this best-case scenario were to happen, the organization will choose from the best of the best volunteers. So even though you’re not getting paid, treat your job as a volunteer as if it’s a real job. Be punctual, work hard, don’t complain when tasked with seemingly unimportant duties and try your best to get along with other volunteers and staff.
If you’re a reliable and well-liked volunteer, you’ll be at the top of the list when a position opens up.
2. Show potential employers that you’re not resting on your laurels between jobs.
Maybe you graduated from college or were recently laid off. Your first instinct might be to throw yourself into scouring job boards, attending networking events and fine-tuning your cover letter. While you should do all those things, remember that the job hunting process can be long. And you could be doing more to beef up your resume besides moving bullet points around.
Several months of “professional job hunter” on your resume will impress absolutely no one. However, several months as a volunteer as a tutor for a literacy organization, or as a dog walker for an animal shelter, or as a repacker for a food depository, will set you apart from other potential candidates who used their unemployed down time to feel sorry for themselves and eat cartons of Ben & Jerry’s.
3. Expand your network.
If you’re on the hunt for a new job, you’ve probably already exhausted your network. You’ve already reached out to your past professors, your friends, your friends’ parents and your friends’ parents’ friends. And you’re still jobless.
Read the whole article here.
We work with dozens of amazing and engaged nonprofits in the northwest suburbs of Chicago that are always looking for ways to expand and help more people. To find out how to get involved, visit our Skilled Volunteer opportunities page.
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