Volunteer as Part of Your Career Development Plan

Volunteer as Part of Your Career Development Plan

I am fortunate to do outplacement and contract work for several outstanding organizations which help individuals in job search transition. One of them is REA Partners in Transition, which assists families who are relocating due to a job search transition. REA’s help usually centers on helping the family to acclimate and settle into their new home area, with guidance and resources to help with the relocation. Another aspect of the service is to assist the “accompanying spouse,” (the one moving as part of the move who is not the one directly being transferred), with searching for employment opportunities in their chosen field.

About a year ago, REA’s social media Team reached out to me to get my insights on the topic of volunteering. They had heard that volunteering was a large part of the work I did, in addition to my outplacement and private practice work, and that it was something I encouraged strongly with my clients, especially as they got settled into their new home area. I was asked to answer three questions about my thoughts, and was told, while they would not be used immediately in a social media feature, they would be part of a future communication put out by the team.

During April 2024, I was pleasantly surprised to see the development of a video that the team developed for “National Volunteer Month,” which is in April, and that paraphrased my answers as to why I volunteer and encourage my clients to do so. I was asked if I would “voiceover” the comments I had made as a complement to the visuals in the video. The other day I was able to get to see the final product and was absolutely pleased with the result.

So, what were some of the thoughts that I shared on volunteering and its benefit when one is in job search transition? It is best that I share them from the text in the video.

“(Volunteering) is a wonderful opportunity to begin to connect with others not currently in your network. I love to stress that the people you meet directly or indirectly help you land your next job.

It is a way for others to see your skills in action. Often the transferable skills used in a volunteer role are displayed in a more relaxed environment and can build a person relationship that may transfer to a paid role.

Getting out, networking, or directly contacting others is proven to be the key in landing the next opportunity 75% to 80% of the time, and those figures have been consistent from generation to generation.”

Yes, we all want to be valued for what we do. And, certainly we want to be compensated adequately to meet the needs of our family. However, so many individuals when they find themselves in job search transition immediately figure what they need to do is identify as many jobs as they can for which to apply, send in their application online with their resume, and then sit back and wait for an answer. Often, I will hear from individuals using that approach is that I have applied for over a hundred jobs, and have only heard back from one or two of them, (and sometimes from none). As a result, the job searcher gets frustrated, feels more isolated and depressed and winds up feeling less and less self-value.

As was said above, statistics show that 75% to 80% of the time, that new opportunities come to you through people connection. Whether you connect with those individuals that are ones you have worked with in the past, ones that you reach out to discuss opportunities at companies that you target, or ones who are in front of you often (extended family members, neighbors, parents of your children, etc.), volunteering provides another way to add to that list of individuals that you know. It is one of the answers to the lament of “I don’t know anyone,” of how to increase the contacts that you know that I share with job searchers.

We all have causes which call to us. For me, it has been providing my time doing webinars at job search networks, working with refugee families on the employment process and with the professional associations of which I have been a part. A few years back, I was introduced to a local group that worked with students from local schools that helped to give them experience working in a lab set-up similar that goes on in pharmaceutical companies. It became the springboard for several individuals that were part of my job search groups to not only show their skills, but be hired by companies, that needed those talents.

Job search transition can be long and onerous. Career development is an ongoing process, especially in a world where tenure at a given company now averages often less than 5 years. Volunteering provides an avenue for giving back to a community or cause, meeting new people, showing your talents and skill sets (often ones you have possessed for your whole life, not only your work life), and makes you feel good for helping a worthwhile cause. If you have not incorporated it into your job search or career development strategy, consider doing so.