Have some extra time? Find the Volunteer Center…

For the fortunate ones of us, work or school is enough to keep us busy on a daily basis.  For many of us though, due to the ever increasing market insecurity, we may have only part-time work or no job at all.  While you may be out job searching or enhancing your career options with higher education, there is a constructive activity and networking opportunity that you may not have already considered…

Volunteering to aid both your community, upgrade your resume and the value of contacts you will make within your community.

Performing volunteer work, depending on the depth of the experience, may enhance your resume if you don’t have much work experience.  This is a common concern of high school and college students who feel overwhelmed by the resume creation process, feeling that they do not have much to put down in terms of work experience.  It is also a great opportunity if you are currently out of work and have extra time.   Taking on a charitable activity, or performing your regular job function for free in some way shows both strong initiative and compassion. 

Volunteering opportunities, depending on their level of professionalism and relation to the job you are applying for, may be addition to a somewhat short resume.  Additionally, you may list the accomplishments and tasks performed in the volunteer position much like you would for past work experience on a resume.

In addition to resume building advantages, building contacts is essential when knowing what work opportunities are available to you locally.  By aiding your community with various projects ranging from food pantry help, building maintenance, tutoring, special event help, and even yard work you are giving yourself the chance to meet new people whom you will volunteer with that may have important connections that you didn’t realize.

Recently, the United Way of Rock River Valley has upgraded their Volunteer Center with a new webpage and method of coordinating volunteers with charitable opportunities within the community.  If you have ever considered volunteer work as a meaningful and even career enhancing option, the Volunteer Center is an excellent and easy-to-use resource at your fingertips.  Anyone may register at their website www.wevolunteer.org  and begin searching volunteering opportunities easily; and can also be contacted at 815.986.4806.  You may search by days of the week, times of day, types of opportunities and particular organizations that may fit your desired goal and availability. 

Please take advantage of this resource as it is an excellent way to raise awareness not only of the needs of the community, but to enhance your career and character goals as well…