by Claudia Baier

Created on: October 13, 2010

When it comes to planning your career, considering nonprofit jobs and volunteering is a very useful option. This is especially true when you are still in school or when you want to return to work after taking a break like taking care of your new-born.

How does volunteering help you

An important advantage of volunteering in the context of career is that you can gather a lot of experience from different departments within an organization. Being a world volunteer helps finding more diverse opportunities and at the same time broaden your horizons which is a very attractive quality to employers. Volunteering itself shows a sign of leadership which is always an important criteria in determining the ideal candidate. It is recommended to volunteer with organizations that are in the industry or interest areas you are fascinated by or in which your field of study lies so it correlates with the career path you want to follow in the future.

Volunteering can help you fulfill your six emotional human needs all at once:

1. Certainty: You can feel certain that what you do matters.

2. Variety: You can interact with a lot of people and learn a lot of new things.

3. Significance: Giving to others is a useful way to feel important to other people.

4. Love/Connection: If you volunteer your services from your heart, people are attracted to being around you are very grateful to you.

5. Growth: You will learn so many new aspects of leadership and about yourself, that you become an even more well-rounded person.

6. Contribution: The feeling of giving to others from your heart is one of the more pleasurable feelings imaginable.

How you can find volunteer opportunities

If you want to help to heal people in the future, consider being a hospital volunteer. or support humanitarian missions.

Volunteer networks such as Volunteer Solutions http://volunteer.truist.com/ or Volunteer Match http://www.volunteermatch.org as well as volunteer recruitment strategies can help you to find these opportunities.

If you are interested in volunteering and are adamant about organic foods, consider volunteering for WWOOF.  There is an organization for every interest. All you have to do is to keep your eyes open.

How to get a career with volunteering

People that volunteer are attracting other opportunities in their lives that can easily lead to employment and other opportunities. When using your volunteering experience in your resume, think of the organization you are applying to. If they are all about giving and contributing to society, mentioning that it is a volunteering experience is a good idea. But if you notice that the company is not empowering people that are volunteering, it is your good right to mention the experience without mentioning that you were not paid for it. Focus especially on your volunteer skills, meaning the skills you developed during the experience.

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