Volunteer Work for Experience (applying, interviews, unemployed, references)

[charlygal]

It's common knowledge that doing volunteer work is an easy way to add recent or special experience to one's resume.

Volunteers are needed in also every field: human services, IT/web work, manual labor, counseling, marketing, etc. With the internet, a lot of stuff can be done remotely.

So why aren't more people doing it? If you've been unemployed for 6 months or more, are you doing volunteer work to keep your resume fresh?

[caradvice]

many people are or have done it. not only for a resume boost but to keep one self sane.

[Mnseca]

You know, it's not that simple. I've done volunteer work as a resume builder, but I did it long before I desperately needed a job. I think when one is unemployed and in desperate need of work, there is less time to go out and make a volunteer commitment - one is busy applying for jobs and hoping something will come through soon. Also, it would obviously take quite a while of volunteer work to actually have it be useful, so if you're already at the point where you need to work pronto, it probably doesn't seem like such a worthwhile venture. I think it's a more viable option for people who are not absolutely desperate for work at that moment, but know they'll need it in the near future.

You have to also consider that a really worthwhile volunteer experience takes some searching and applying also, and that kind of time consuming search and trial and error probably doesn't seem feasible to a person who is in the middle of a frantic job search.

Also, many people who are unemployed are actually high level people, for whom volunteer work wouldn't really help, since it's bound to be fairly low-level stuff.

I do think volunteer work and unpaid internships are a great way to get experience, but I think it's something you have to really invest in before you really need a job and not after.

[charlygal]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

Also, many people who are unemployed are actually high level people, for whom volunteer work wouldn't really help, since it's bound to be fairly low-level stuff.

I do think volunteer work and unpaid internships are a great way to get experience, but I think it's something you have to really invest in before you really need a job and not after.

"High level" people obviously won't need to boost their resume.

If someone is in a frantic job search that goes on for more than 6 months, isn't that time wasted? They created a huge gap on their resume. A lot of volunteer work can be done remotely This will leave time to go on interviews, hunt for jobs, etc.

Everyone knows that long gaps look bad. Why not cover yourself?

[DaBurgh]

Agree

You can get good references from volunteer work. Let's say you commit to showing up to volunteer with the same group of people at the same time each week. You can now use those people as references for a future employer. When the employer calls for a reference the co-volunteer tells them "Yep, he/she showed up every time we needed him/her". Not to mention you now have a network of people who may have job leads.

When I was unemployed and volunteered for an animal shelter (still do), I went out into the adoption centers and practiced my social and people skills by being a "used animal salesman"