Why Should I Give My Time For Free if I Don’t Have a Job?

Many people in career transitions struggle with the advice that I give about volunteering, which is:

JUST DO IT!

When I am coaching I hear rationalizations such as:

“I don’t really have the time right now–all of my effort is focused on finding a job, not a volunteer gig.”

“It makes me depressed to think that the only job I can get is one that doesn’t even come with pay.”

“I don’t feel comfortable around people who are sick or are looking for handouts.  How is that going to help me?”

Get off of monster.com and Get Out of the House

Volunteering is an important piece of your networking agenda and should not be neglected.  But there are many other benefits to volunteering directly related to your career goals.  There are both practical reasons and emotional reasons for making the choice to volunteer your time.  First, if you are not networking enough in person, it gets you out of the house.  You may have noticed that no company has rung your doorbell recently inviting you to be their Vice President.  No slur to you.  I’m sure you would make a great Vice President.  But recent astudies show that up to and even more than 90% of  new hires are achieved through word-of-mouth (an interesting idiom–not word of “email” or “word of Tweet.”  And nameless, faceless “H.R.” department worker bees do not care about you or your career.  They are under orders to screen for specific qualifications.  Meeting a person in person–that sounds redundant, but haven’t you signed off on a phone call or email interchange, “nice meeting you?”–is to your advantage if you know how to behave in your best interest.  Sadly, many do not, which we will discuss in another blog.  You have to go out to meet people who may be interested in your career.

Connecting and Showing Your Expertise

Stop and think about who is on the board of volunteer organizations., and who else might be volunteering.   These are people who by the very nature of their involvement, are connectors.  They are connected to others who no doubt are board members or volunteers elsewhere; they often have high-level career positions; they may be married to the owner of a company you have targeted; they may be retired, and happy to mentor you.  Often while volunteering you get an opportunity to try new skills and show your leadership abilities.  When people ask about your profession–and they will–it gives you a great opportunity to ask the organization, “Are there any tasks I could do for the organization that are in my area of expertise?”  Some of the most important volunteering needs are in the areas of event creation, accounting and bookkeeping, administrative, scheduling, counseling, registration of guests and clients, public relations, grant writing and organizing fund-raising projects.  If you have not yet developed a comfort level with people with challenges, it may be time to give it a try.  There are, also, as mentioned above, volunteer positions which are not part of the direct service provision of the organization.  Volunteering provides excellent opportunities to keep up your creative processes, and your communication,  people and leadership skills.

Get Some Warm and Fuzzies

For the emotional reasons, let’s start with warm and fuzzies.  Executive Directors, teachers, and agency or religious leaders are grateful for your help.  You are assisting them in accomplishing their goals.  More often than not, they will tell you this in no uncertain terms.  Say “Thanks, I enjoy helping.”  It will make you feel good to help others.  It increases your feelings of self-worth.  Additionally, when you are down in the dumps, there’s nothing like exposure to people who have it worse than you do–and there is always someone who has it worse than you do–to give yourself a little perspective on your life.  To reframe who you are and what you have.  Developing perspective brings gratitude and humility, and helping others  develops self-esteem.  Healthy self-esteem is essential for improving your self-presentation to others while networking and interviewing.

If you want to discuss in more detail how volunteering can help you, or for suggestions on where to start, contact me through one of my sites listed here.

To read some stories about people who volunteered while looking for a job, read Meagan Pittsley’s blog at:

http://tinyurl.com/volunteeringworks