Before you get started, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What skills do I have to offer?

• Include all skills, whether it’s making great pies or great presentations!  

Do you want to use these skills in a volunteer capacity?

• Just because you’re an accountant during the day doesn’t mean you have to do it during your volunteer time.

What skills would I like to learn?

How much time do I have?

• Be realistic!  Agencies rely on you; commit to only what is  manageable.

What DON’T I want to do?

• Only do what you want—don’t feel pressured to do something you won’t enjoy!

Exploring a career through volunteering

• Allows you to sample a career without making a long-term commitment;
• It may lead to a paying job by providing contacts & references;
• Provides something tangible on your resume;
• Volunteering can be a door back into the workplace;
• Gives the opportunity to develop self-confidence and prove that your skills are still sharp;
• Gives the chance to meet the people in your chosen field;
• Volunteering can help you  explore a new career ONLY if you select  assignments that…
• place you in the type of setting you want to learn about;
• let you work with professionals you can observe and learn from;
• provide as much training as possible;
• may lead to “promotions” to more challenging tasks;

Then you can document this to a prospective employer.

Target a career through volunteering

Treat  a volunteer job as seriously as you would paid work:

• Submit a resume;
• Interview for your volunteer position --ask for a job description;
• Go through an orientation and training;
• Discuss the range of volunteer positions within the organization;
• Request your supervisor keep a record of your service;
• Develop your own portfolio of records;
• Take the initiative in suggesting new volunteer activities;
• Use all opportunities to create a job finding network;
• Prepare a resume & cover letter utilizing your volunteer experiences;
• If unemployed for a period of time put volunteer work in place of paid employment;
• When your ready to make the transition to paid work, let everyone within your organization know!

Putting your volunteer experience to work for you!

• Consider integrating your volunteer work into the section of your resume called “work experience”
• Translate what you gained from the volunteer activity into the language of the paid work world - describe transferable and specialized skills you used
• Give examples of skills used
• DO NOT USE THE WORD “VOLUNTEER” AS A JOB TITLE!
• The resume should be targeted to a specific position or employer -- include similarities between experience and prospective position.
• Describe the volunteer work in terms of your accomplishments, highlighting the skills that you learned and demonstrated.
• If you want to change careers, it may be your volunteer work in the new field that tells a prospective employer that you’re worth the risk - even if your paid employment history is in some other field.
  Ask for references:
  • ask the person who best understands the volunteer work you did;
  • ask their permission before giving their name.