It’s that time of year, when people are asked to fit more volunteering into their schedules to help the nonprofits, neighborhood groups and houses of worship that keep our communities humming.
I have always thought that volunteerism was one of our nation’s secret powers, like Superman’s X-ray vision or Wonder Woman’s charmed bracelets. With our battalions of people ready to help others, we have been able to ride out some pretty difficult situations.
Two years ago, while hosting a Russian woman who was studying English, I learned that the concept is not entirely universal. As I headed out one evening to a volunteer assignment, I was caught off guard by her questions: Why are you doing this? Who will pay you? Do you know these people you’re helping? Probably the biggest eye-opener was needing to explain the term “volunteer.” At 35 years of age, she had not encountered the practice in her native country, and it took some conversation to orient her to the idea.
As proud as I am of our nation of volunteers, when I put on my career counseling hat, I have to temper my enthusiasm a bit. On the one hand, I’m sometimes dismayed by the unemployed folks who have not added volunteering to their schedules, given the relative flexibility they now have.
On the other hand, I often find myself slowing down those job seekers who are volunteering too wholeheartedly, or without enough thought for their primary task, which needs to be job search.
Whatever your level of volunteering, you’ll want to avoid some of these 10 mistakes if you’re involved in a job search.
Mistake 1. Not volunteering at all. The benefits of volunteering during job search are almost too numerous to count. For starters, you gain self-esteem, new contacts and new skills. You will also be more productive in your search activities because you'll have to be more efficient with your time, and you'll have more to tell employers during interviews.
Mistake 2. Volunteering too much. The best way to avoid overdoing it is to decide how many hours per week you can afford to donate, after subtracting the hours needed for your job search. Then, when someone asks for a bit more time, you'll know if your "budget" can afford it.
Mistake 3. Using volunteering to avoid job search. If your volunteer life is fun and interesting -- let's hope it is! -- then the challenge you'll face is not letting it become your "real" life. Again, you need to stay focused on job search.
Mistake 4. Volunteering at the wrong times. If you're freshest in the morning, then that's the time to devote to your search, not to your volunteering.
Mistake 5. Volunteering for the wrong activities. The ideal volunteer assignment for an unemployed person might teach a new skill or provide a mental break from job search. The "wrong" volunteering assignments? Anything that exhausts or depresses you, or keeps you isolated from others. Job seekers need to stay fresh for their search, and they also need human contact.
Mistake 6. Accepting difficult logistics. Driving across town in rush hour when you still have to fix dinner for your family? Not so great. Choose assignments that fit into your schedule and lifestyle.
Mistake 7. Not networking while you volunteer. The people around you, including those you are helping, are all connected to other people. Ask them their stories and tell them yours, then look for ways to help them while also being alert to building connections to people who can hire you.
Mistake 8. Not asking for a reference letter. This won't be appropriate for very short-term or low-level volunteer assignments. But if you're being supervised in your work, consider asking for a note on letterhead saying that you have been valuable to the organization this season.
Mistake 9. Not being reliable. This huge mistake is usually made when job seekers realize they have bitten off too much. Even when you are overwhelmed, you have to treat this assignment like you would a job. You have to show up, in the right frame of mind and on time, or you have to cancel as far in advance as possible -- not just because you promised to, but also because you are building your reputation with someone who may later be in contact with an employer.
Mistake 10. Forgetting to have fun and give your time freely. Although this list sounds like a litany of how the job seeker can best benefit from volunteering, the better message is to remember how much fun work can be when you can give your talents freely, without fear of being misjudged by an ornery boss.
Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 626 Armstrong Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.
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