Volunteering Could Land You a Job

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Created on Tuesday, 18 October 2016 19:05
Written by Rebecca Reese
hiredLYNDON - Volunteering may make you a good person, but it could also help your career. For starters, it looks good on your resume. “I think volunteering is seen as a positive thing,” said Director of Career Services Amy Wright.
 
 Wright graduated from Vermont College of Norwich University in 2003 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, then went on to the University in Vermont to get her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2011. She has been working as Director of Career Services since November 2015, where she helps members of the Lyndon State College community past and present students with career development. You can find her helping with job searches or even writing a resume. 
 
“So the purpose of a resume is to get you an interview,” Wright said. “So you don’t have to say everything in your resume just what is going to reach out and grab the hiring manager. It should be short, very interesting to read, it should outline accomplishments and outcomes and not job duties.” Especially for younger people, volunteering is "a great opportunity to get work hands on work experience if you can’t find a full time job or part time job on top of studies.”
 
Volunteering on a resume tells a hiring manager more than just what you did during that time. It says a lot about your character. “I think that it would tell them that they’re community minded or engaged civilly. That they care about things outside of their normal work and life responsibilities to be involved,” said Wright.
 
In a competitive work world, doing well in the community could be what lands you the position. "If you’re look at 10 resumes and 10 are really great, you look for things that you might eliminate like, ‘I could eliminate this person because there’s a spelling error' or 'I choose this person because they have the same experience and this extra experience’. If weighed against a similar candidate, I think it would make you more desirable."
 
That’s not the only reason Wright says volunteering is great for the career oriented person. “The other great thing about volunteering, particularly for students but also for any other older person who might want to change jobs or even change careers, if you have a lot of experience or even an education and no experience and you’re wondering if you’d like this kind of work, trying it out through volunteering is a lot easier to do than trying to get hired,” Wright said. "So if you have an education but no experience and you want to work in X field, it’s a great thing for students to do to try and volunteer in that way and then you can add that experience to your resume.” 
 
“I also like that it helps you explore what you might be interested in. So if you’re thinking about changing jobs or thinking about a certain job, trying it out first through volunteering is a great thing to do and developing new skills," she said. In addition to new skills, volunteering also helps you meet new people.