How to use volunteer work to build your career
Updated 2024-10-30. Originally published 2018-07-26 on VocationVillage.com
My career change from tech to career counseling started with a volunteer experience. At the beginning of my career change, I had no relevant job experience and my undergraduate major was economics, not counseling or psychology. I went to a volunteer match service who matched me with the Austin Women’s Center, a community-based nonprofit that offered coaching about career decision-making, job search, and salary negotiation. They trained me to teach classes and work 1-1 with their clients, and this experience was foundational for my career change.
Doing volunteer work is an excellent way to gain experience in a new career field. Whether you are at an early stage in your career or you want to make a career change, here are some strategies to use volunteer work to build your career:
Career assessment
Before you look for volunteer work, spend some time thinking about your interests, values, strengths, and personality so that you can seek volunteer opportunities that are in alignment with your career goals. It is okay if you don’t have everything all figured out. You just have to know enough about yourself to know what you might like to try, and what you definitely do not want to do.
At a minimum, do a reality check with how your mind and body feel when you consider a specific possibility. It is normal to feel anxious if you are learning new skills so you are out of your comfort zone, but it is probably a bad sign if you feel nothing but dread about a particular assignment. You don’t have to be open to everything; take a bit of time to figure out a few possibilities that you want to explore.
Katie Thomson worked as a counselor in residential care for foster children recovering from sexual trauma. She wanted to make a career change into a different niche within the helping professions, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. To explore different options, she worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa, cycling through volunteer opportunities as an HIV educator, English teacher, librarian, and soccer coach. Then she began volunteering with Volunteers of America and discovered a niche working with military veterans with PTSD. She started graduate work in military social work and is on track to become a military social worker. She plans to complete clinical certification and specialty training in EMDR. Katie said,
“My biggest advice to career changers is to take some time to think about what you want to do as well as what you enjoy. Life is too short to do a job you aren’t enjoying, but it is long enough to change careers.”
Value your contribution
Some organizations take advantage of career changers by trying to convince you that since you don’t already have a track record in an area in which you are trying to gain experience, you need to pay your dues by making copies and fetching coffee. It is debatable whether this type of volunteer work will ever lead to anything better, or whether the organization is simply exploiting the good intentions of volunteers. I usually advise against accepting a volunteer opportunity that doesn’t clearly offer an opportunity to gain experiences that will build your resume.
The best volunteer experiences are ones that have some measurable outcome where you can clearly articulate the role you played in facilitating an accomplishment. Don’t be afraid to ask the organization for specific assignments that will be a win-win for you and for them when you succeed.
Network
Learning new skills is important. Meeting new people in a professional community is equally so. One of the best things about volunteering is that it brings you into a circle of people who are insiders in the new career field you are considering. Cultivate these relationships because they might be the bridge to your new job.
Carla Hegeman Crim was a scientist with an academic background in plant molecular biology. The first part of her career was in research. After her son was born, she stayed home with him. When he was in second grade, he joined 4-H and Carla became a 4-H leader. While volunteering, Carla remembered she loves sharing knowledge with others. Her volunteer work gave her the opportunity to meet many of the staff at Cornell Cooperative Education. Carla landed work as a Horticulture and Natural Resources Educator. Carla said,
“Volunteering is a great opportunity to make connections. Be sure to choose something you really enjoy so that you naturally want to participate and shine as a volunteer. Even if the organization isn’t hiring when you start, you are building a network for when they do. When my job of Horticulture Educator was posted, I had connections who knew I was a responsible, innovative teacher.”
Where to look for volunteer opportunities
Here are some resources to help you find a good volunteer opportunity:
Job search strategy
After a few weeks of volunteering, you can add your volunteer experience to your resume. You don’t need to emphasize that your experience is unpaid and I usually recommend using a meaningful job title instead of “Volunteer.” Choose a title based on the responsibilities of the role. It might be “Project Coordinator,” “Social Media Manager,” or “Software Developer.”
If you have a question about using volunteer work to build your career, send me your question, and I may respond in a future article.
