How to Choose Volunteer Opportunities That Enhance Your Career

Written by: Mia Barnes

While you're busy optimizing cover letters and refreshing job boards, the perfect résumé-boosting experience might actually be waiting at the animal shelter, community garden or halfway house. Dedicating your time and effort to a cause you’re passionate about earns you more than just karma points and impressive talking points for the next interview.

Think of strategic volunteering as your career's secret weapon — it looks selfless on the surface but works overtime in the shadows to boost your professional development. Here’s how to find actionable volunteer opportunities that align with your values and goals to take your professional life from meh to magnificent.

Why Volunteering Matters for Your Career

The benefits of volunteering extend far beyond just giving back. Here’s why it's one of the smartest career moves you can make:

1. Skill Development and Test-Driving Playground

Volunteering gives you a chance to practice and develop skills that might otherwise fall outside your current scope of work. Whether it's leadership, project management or public speaking — you name it —- there’s no skill that’s inapplicable in professional settings.

2. Stand-Out Factor

Employers are increasingly looking past degrees and technical qualifications specified in job descriptions to attract high-value candidates. The experience you garner while volunteering reveals that you're not just skilled but also values-driven and well-rounded. In today’s competitive employment markets, this can be the differentiating factor you need to stand out from an ever-growing talent pool.

3. Résumé Booster

The skills you learn and hone during strategic volunteer work contribute to building your résumé. You can point to the valuable skills you developed while contributing to a cause you care about to demonstrate your commitment, initiative and well-roundedness to hiring managers.

4. Safe Career Exploration

Not sure if you want to make a career change? Volunteering in different industries or roles lets you test the waters without committing to a full career pivot. That marketing campaign you oversaw for the local animal sanctuary? It's tangible proof of leadership and emotional intelligence abilities that the job role you’re eyeing prioritizes in successful hires.

5. Networking Gold Mine

During volunteer missions, you interact with people from different backgrounds and industries. These connections aren't mere names on LinkedIn — they're real people who've witnessed your dedication and work ethic firsthand.

Some of these associations turn into professional relationships, which grow your network. When they hear about opportunities that match your skill set and career goals, guess who comes to mind first? That's right — you.

6. Broadens Perspectives

Perhaps most importantly, while volunteering, you’re exposed to perspectives that regular work rarely provides. Working with diverse communities and tackling real-world problems develops your human intelligence systems. These learned qualities make you more adaptable, resilient, resourceful and social in any setting you find yourself.

How to Choose Volunteer Opportunities to Build Your Career

Now for the fun part. Here's how to find volunteer work to enrich your professional life:

Step 1: Identify Your Career Goals

Before signing up for volunteer work, ask yourself — What do I want to achieve?

• If you’re hoping to break into a new field, look for roles that offer relevant experience.

• Want to develop leadership skills? Seek out opportunities where you can take charge of projects or mentor others.

Having clear career goals will help you determine the ideal volunteer opportunity that aligns with your aspirations.

Step 2: Leverage Your Strengths

Even though your existing skills are valuable assets, there’s no better sweet spot than landing opportunities where your professional abilities meet community needs. Aligning volunteer work with your industry ensures that the skills you gain are relevant and transferable to your career path.

If you have a knack for writing, consider offering your services for grant writing or content creation. Tech-savvy? Help a local charity with their website or social media. Using the strengths you already possess enables you to make a meaningful impact while honing and showcasing your abilities.

Step 3: Seek Leadership Opportunities

Taking on leadership roles in volunteer organizations can help you build confidence and demonstrate initiative. These experiences prepare you for higher responsibilities should you encounter them at work. The opportunity to lead a team showcases your ability to manage people, solve problems and make strategic decisions — qualities that employers highly value.

Step 4: Take Advantage of Employer-Supported Initiatives

Many businesses acknowledge the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and are backing it up with action. One report found that 66% of U.S. workers prefer their employer to be philanthropically engaged. Charity begins at home, so explore your current workplace for in-house or collaboration opportunities to join. For example, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Why not rally your colleagues to participate in awareness and fundraising activities? This kind of initiative supports a worthy cause while directing the spotlight on your leadership and organizational skills.

Step 5: Track Your Experiences

Document your volunteer work as you would any regular job to make it easier to highlight your contributions to society in résumés, cover letters and interviews. Listing relevant volunteer work on your résumé can help fill gaps in employment and showcase skills that may not be evident in traditional work experience.

Where to Find Volunteer Opportunities for Career Enhancement

Several resources propose particularly favorable gigs that support career growth and development aspirations, notably:

• Professional associations: Established organizations, like Amnesty International and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), oversee volunteer placement programs. Find one that matches your industry's profession and sign up. This puts you in direct contact with leaders in your field and strongly backs your commitment to career development — factors that put you in good standing come appraisal season.

• Workplace programs: Many companies encourage their employees to volunteer. Some even offer employees paid time for charitable work. Getting involved in workplace volunteer programs can demonstrate your commitment to upholding CSR initiatives, making you stand out as a proactive and engaged employee.

• Mentorship programs: Becoming a mentor helps someone else and develops your leadership and communication skills. Look for programs with industry-specific mentoring initiatives.

• Skills-based volunteering: Associations match professionals with nonprofits that require specific skills. This focused approach guarantees your abilities are put to good use wherever you’re placed.

• Pro bono professional services: If you're in a field like law, accounting or consulting, consider joining nonprofits or small businesses that support you in delivering pro bono services. You get to expand your portfolio while helping those who can't afford professional services.

• Event committees: Volunteering to plan charity events or fundraisers builds project management skills and exposes you to a wide network of professionals and community leaders.

If your schedule is packed, don’t worry. Not all volunteering missions come attached to a long-term commitment. Just look for virtual volunteer roles or one-time projects tailored for busy lifestyles. However, be mindful of compassion fatigue — a sort of empathy overload triggered by the negative impacts of helping others and symptomized by fatigue, mood swings and depression, amongst others.

Strike the Right Balance

The most effective volunteer work for career enhancement is genuine. If you're only in it for the résumé boost, it will show sooner rather than later. The best volunteer gigs balance between what you love and what benefits your trade. The sweet spot is finding opportunities that:

• You genuinely care about it.

• Utilize your professional skills.

• Stretch you to learn new things.

• Connect you with interesting people.

• Fit realistically into your life.

Remember, volunteering is a two-way street. Both you and the cause should benefit at the end of the day.

Volunteer — A Win for You and Your Career

While you're making the world better through strategic volunteering, you're simultaneously making yourself more marketable, connected and skilled. You also get the satisfaction of knowing you’re making a difference in the world.

Whether you’re looking to move into a new industry, gain leadership experience for potential promotions or build your résumé, the perfect volunteer opportunity — and career boost — is out there. So, what are you waiting for? Take that first step, register and commit to a few hours a month or take on a larger role. Every experience will bring you closer to your career goals.