How Volunteering Can Help You Land a Job

Volunteer. Land a Job.

Lisa as Volunteer Coordinator for Ignite Raleigh, August 2009

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? In all actuality, it’s really not as simple as that. However, with the right strategy, enough determination, and focus it is entirely possible to land a job by volunteering. I know because that’s how I got mine…sort of.

In March of 2009, thanks to a fledgling economy and a significant drop in advertising revenue, Media General Inc, parent company to our local NBC affiliate (NBC 17), decided it was time to trim the NBC 17 budget significantly by eliminating a large number of staff. Unfortunately, that included me.

I could’ve walked away bitter, angry, and defeated. Rather, I chose to rise above the circumstance and this is how I did it – volunteering, LOTS of volunteering. Of course, there was many a day when I’d check the various email alerts I had set up for the types of positions I was after or I’d forward my resume package to some of those very same positions. Sure. But, I didn’t spend eight hours a day sitting at my desk searching and hoping to get a call for an interview. In today’s job market, you have to do much more – you have to sell yourself and what better way to do that then to share your expertise with those that need it?

Again, this sounds easy but it’s not. You have to be strategic in deciding which organizations, associations, groups, even companies you wish to share your skills with. It’s preferable to choose those that fit not only your interests but also, the type of position you seek.

For instance, while I adore animals, I didn’t just decide to volunteer two hours a week to walk the dogs at the local animal shelter. While that is a noble thing to do, it is not the direction I wished to go in. Rather, I concentrated my volunteering with organizations that could use my skills in event planning, social media, and video production – all components of my idea of the perfect job. I became the Volunteer Coordinator for Ignite Raleigh (’09, ’10) and Durham (’11) as well as for Social Media Business Forum (’09). I also became a Walk Leader for Worldwide Photo Walk (’09).

In addition to volunteering my services for specific organizations and causes, I saw a need for a women’s networking group that brought Triangle-area women together offline with those they had built connections with online. Through Twitter initially but eventually through any social media platform, in September of 2009, Tweet Divas was launched. As of today, we have held nine official gatherings (some as co-sponsor for another organization’s efforts), hosted a fundraiser for Haiti relief after the devastating earthquake in January 2010, and have raised a total of $1500 in either in-kind or monetary donations to various women’s charities in the area.

Lisa (left) and Jennifer Newmeyer of the Food Bank of CENC, Tweet Divas collaboration for their Social Media Mixer June ‘10

It was during one of my Tweet Divas gatherings, I met a contact who became my friend and who would later recommend me for the position I currently hold as Digital Media Marketing Director for the Triangle’s leading real estate company, Fonville Morisey Realty. Because of this lady’s recommendation of my skills and expertise, Fonville contacted me. In February of this year, company leadership was looking to hire an in-house digital media person and thanks to that recommendation, we entered into discussions of how I could best meet the needs of the company. In March I was hired and on April 1^st, I began my new role.

If it weren’t for my volunteering to hone my skills in the areas I wished to excel in and if it weren’t for founding my own organization that caters to an un-fulfilled need in my community, I never would’ve met my friend, she never would’ve recommended me, and I never would’ve gotten a chance at what I consider to be a job of a lifetime. That’s not to say you’ll find that but, I most definitely believe if you’re out there looking for the right position for you, you’ll have a better shot at it if you get out in your community and make things happen by volunteering, by meeting the needs of your community, and by networking those skills you have.

Sitting at your desk four, six, even eight hours a day searching, applying, and hoping for that call is not going to get your foot in the door you wish to step into. Step outside your comfort zone and share the gifts you have been given, the expertise you have already mastered. Go out there and make a difference in your community because you never know who you’ll meet that has the right connection for you.

Lisa Sullivan is the Digital Media Marketing Director for Fonville Morisey Realty.  On her own accord she often presents and teaches workshops in the area of Web 2.0 marketing to nonprofits, small businesses, and individuals in her region of the Triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill).  When not engaging online, you can find Lisa practicing her golf game, walking her pooch, or reading a good book.  Lisa lives in Garner, North Carolina with her husband of thirteen years, Mike.