Volunteering to Build Your Experience - FlexJobs

Volunteering to Build Your Experience - FlexJobsVolunteering to Build Your Experience Its the biggest Catch-22 for job landseekers You need experience to get hired, but employers wont hire you unless you have experience. If you alreadyvolunteer and help others in need, why not carry that action overand help build your experience as well?Volunteering to build your experience can help expose you to hands-on work in areas like project management, sales, managing a team, marketing, accounting, and other areas. Because nonprofits need lots of help, theyll often give you a good amount of responsibility when it comes to helping them with a particular project or fundraising. If youre given the chance to plunge into a project or go in-depth with a task, take the opportunity and run with itVolunteering to Build Your ExperienceWhere can you find volunteer opportunities? CEO Sara Sutton says that her favorite website to find volunteer opportunities isVolunteerMatch.org. You can search for both i n-person and virtual volunteer opportunities, and you can search by specific areas so look for volunteer opportunities in your career field of choice. also has a small listing of volunteer opportunities and jobs that involve volunteering, so thats another place to start.What if you dont have a lot of time to volunteer?If you arent sure how much time youll have to devote, look for volunteer opportunities that are virtual, which means youll be doing the work over the computer/phone from your apartment or dorm, rather than going into an office.How can you ensure that your volunteer activities help build your professional experience?One tip if youve started volunteering and need or want more responsibility, ask for it. Sometimes the organization wont want to burden you with lots of work because they dont want to scare a good volunteer away, but if they see that youre ready and willing to take on more work, theyll gladly give it to you. And if you see a problem that you can help them so lve, speak up This will open up other opportunities for you to gain valuable experience.Readers, do you volunteer to build your experience? Tell us about it in the comments below