This document discusses a toolkit created to help volunteers and volunteer managers understand how volunteer experience can help with career development. The toolkit contains assessments and activities to help users identify their motivations for volunteering, skills gained from service, and how to discuss volunteer experience in job interviews and resumes. Research presented found that employers value volunteerism and perceive volunteers as having important skills, though nonprofits do not always engage volunteers in positions allowing professional skill development. The toolkit is meant to help volunteers, managers, and professionals think differently about volunteerism and maximize its career benefits.

1. Volunteering as a Career Builder
Rachael Candee
United Way of Central Indiana
Robin Springstead
Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne

2. Career Builder Toolkit: discussions
and activities for today
Purpose: research trends and development
Toolkit content: assessments and activities
Experience the assessments and activities
Volunteer motivations
Volunteer service on resumes
Volunteer managers and volunteer skill
development

3. Volunteerism and career debate
• Are we looking at the wrong issue?
• Do we really hire only for skills
and abilities?
• Do volunteers care about the
employment impacts?
• Can unemployed people really
take time to focus on
volunteerism?
• Can volunteer activities give
employees the right skills?

4. Volunteerism and career research
trends
• People want to work for
companies that support
volunteerism
• We perceive volunteerism as
helping our career
• Nonprofits believe in the capacity
building of skilled volunteers but
don’t engage professional skills
among volunteers overall
• Skilled volunteering is important
to HR professionals, especially
for those transitioning into
careers
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5. Takeaways
• Volunteerism does help, but it does not help everyone in
the same way
• The type of service performed by a job-seeking volunteer
can matter in their job search
• Perception is key, both for volunteers and hiring managers
• Nonprofits and businesses see the value of skilled
volunteer engagement but we do not do it well yet
• Volunteer managers play a role in the career-search
• How do we define our role?
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6. Toolkit content: overview
• Volunteering on the job
• Tools for volunteer managers
Position
Knowledge
Assessment
Motivations
Volunteer resume
Advancement
Resume
Support
Cover letter
Recruitment
Job
Development
• Volunteering and your job search
Growth
Abilities
Networking
• Selecting a skill-building position
Skills
Interview
• Skills & Competencies
Competencies
• Interests & Motivations
Career
Interests
Volunteer
• Introduction
Toolkit Job search
Management
Sections
Training

7. Toolkit content: review of activities
Assessments & Activities
• Case studies
• Interests & Motivations
• Skills & Competencies
• Aligning volunteerism with professional goals
• Discussing volunteering in interviews/while networking
• Sample job-search documents
• Employee Volunteer Program Resources
• Sample volunteer management documents

8. Experience the assessments:
volunteer motivations
Volunteer motivations assessment
• Recognizing our motivations matters
• Retention, growth, satisfaction
• Altruism is not the only reason to
volunteer
• Finding the right position
• Complete the assessment
• Share with a partner: do your results
surprise you?
• Why might this assessment matter to
you?
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9. Experience the assessments:
volunteer skills in career-search
Volunteer skills and your resume
•
Consider how you might develop a career
resume using volunteer experience
•
What is a volunteer resume?
•
In groups of 3-4, discuss these questions
• How would you describe a volunteer
experience on the career resume? On a
volunteer resume?
• What are best practices for using volunteer
experience on a resume?
• Practice using the sample experiences on
your own
• What do you prefer about either a regular
resume or use of a volunteer resume?
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10. Experience the assessments
Why does volunteer position development
matter?
How could a program benefit from focusing on
volunteer development?
• Go back to your group of 3-4 people
• Practice developing a position that highlights
skills needed and developed
• What benefits could a position like this
provide to your organization?
• Where could you find training for the
volunteer related to this position?
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11. Assessment’s value and toolkit use
Volunteering as a Career Builder Toolkit focuses on giving volunteers,
volunteer managers and professionals, the opportunity to think
about volunteerism in a new way.
Toolkit will be available electronically
How will this toolkit be used in the future?
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12. How to access to toolkit
Sign-up on the sheets being passed around!
Anticipated delivery: November 2013

13. Questions?
Thank you!

14. Sources
Third Sector Research Center. Paine, McKay & Moro, 7/2/2013
http://www.tsrc.ac.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tGaSOT2tnRU%3d&tabid=1016
Cambridge Policy Consultant. Links Between Employability and Volunteer. Hirst, 2001.
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/4618/1/RR309.pdf
Volunteering & Employability: Cause or Effect. Ellis. 8/2013
http://www.energizeinc.com/hot/2013/13aug.php
Deloitte. Volunteer IMPACT Research, 2004-2013
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/About/CommunityInvolvement/f0d3264f0b0fb110VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm
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