Landing a new job is almost never easy, but volunteering your time doesn’t take much initial effort. Nonprofit organizations around the country are almost always looking for volunteers, but joining their ranks as a full-time, paid employee is a different story. Still, there’s probably no better way to secure a job at a nonprofit than to start as a volunteer.
So how do you actually turn a regular volunteer gig into a full-time job? Idealist breaks down the transition as a six-step process, and since much of the advice is obvious or intuitive, you don’t exactly need to follow the steps like a checklist.
To begin, your record and experience as a volunteer should set you apart for the better: consistency, hard work, a willingness to learn, and demonstrated commitment to the job are the types of assets that highlight you as a potential job candidate. For the same reason that internal hires or promotions are compelling to supervisors and hiring managers, your track record can help eliminate guess-work on the part of a manager. This fact obviously holds true in either direction, so if you’ve demonstrated inconsistency or lack of interest as a volunteer, a supervisor might rightfully pass over you when committing to a full-time hire. Obviously you never want to sell yourself short in a job situation, but particularly since you’re donating your time and possibly hoping for a full-time position in the process, you should try to hold down your end of the deal as much as possible by showing up on time, working hard, and dedicating yourself to the nonprofit as much as possible.
A proven track record gives you a leg-up on outside applicants, but that depends on supervisors being aware of and taking note of your work. Just like any other industry or job-hunt might, the nonprofit world builds its ranks through commonplace networking. In fact, moving from a volunteer position to a full-time job probably depends especially on getting familiar with the whole nonprofit organization, and while your efforts in a soup-kitchen, for example, might be commendable, the hours you spend in that capacity might not help you land in the fundraising department. If possible, try to take the initiative to understand the ins and outs of every process and department at the nonprofit you’re contributing to. You’ll not only gain a productive new perspective on how things are run, your name (and work) will start ringing out everywhere. The importance of networking holds true whether or not you’re volunteering on a consistent basis too, and just like you might in your career, staying in contact with your network is vital to moving forward.
Perhaps most importantly: it helps to be personally invested in the nonprofit or their area of concern. Hopefully you’re volunteering for this reason in the first place, and since the nonprofit industry isn’t always the most profitable space to work, it helps to be deeply dedicated to the work itself. One of the best things about nonprofit work is the community it brings together, not just the populations that are being served, but also the staff themselves.
Let us know if you have any other questions or ideas below, but you should be able to get a good sense of how to get a job by volunteering above.
