7 ways volunteering can advance your development career

As the director of Bankers without Borders, the Grameen Foundation’s global volunteer initiative, I have the privilege of interacting with more than 7,500 individuals globally who have signed up to donate their professional skills through short-term assignments with social enterprises fighting poverty. More than 60 percent of our volunteers are currently employed, 24 percent are studying full-time, 3 percent are retired, and 11 percent are looking for employment. Regardless of where our volunteers stand in their own career paths, they are attracted to Bankers without Borders because we offer the rare opportunity for them to make a difference by volunteering their professional skills with organizations committed to improving the lives of the poor. They donate every possible skill and service you can imagine – translations, accounting services, IT support, marketing counsel, foreign exchange advisory services, business modeling, and monitoring and evaluation. While our volunteers’ motivations are fairly selfless, they are often personally rewarded for their generosity. Here are seven ways that volunteering services pro bono have helped advance our volunteers’ careers in development: 1. Get some cred – If you are a recent college graduate, an unpaid internship with a noteworthy nonprofit may be just the credential you need to help your resume shift to the top of the pile for that next paid gig. Even for more established professionals, volunteer activities are no longer seen as something to place next to your hobbies on your resume. The New York Times, for instance, recently highlighted LinkedIn’s new feature where you can prominently list volunteer experience. 2. Explore new directions – Whether you recently lost your job, retired, or aren’t completely satisfied with your current job, volunteering your skills allows you to test just how transferrable your skills actually are. Bankers without Borders frequently encounters individuals looking to make a career shift from the commercial to the development sector. A short-term volunteer assignment will give you a sense of the types of positions within development organizations that you might be best suited and help you to understand the different organizational cultures you might encounter and how truly different they are from your current work experience. 3. Build a relevant work portfolio – For more seasoned professionals who may spend most of their time managing others, a skills-based volunteer experience offers an opportunity to roll up your sleeves, prove your worth, and actually develop a sample work product that you may need to call on when interviewing for your next position. I recently met a seasoned PR professional whose job fell victim to downsizing. The feedback he received from his latest interview: He lacked direct experience with social media. He supervised people who performed this function, but he lacked the experience himself. I suggested that he try to get some of that direct experience through a skills-based volunteer assignment. 4. Prove your leadership moxy – A recent Forbes article argues that more companies should encourage their employees to pursue volunteer work early in their careers not simply as a retention or corporate social responsibility strategy, but because it exposes employees to scenarios that test their ability to lead under tough circumstances with limited resources and no direct authority. We’ve seen many of our volunteers rise through the ranks at their companies. We’d like to think the tough challenges we gave them had something to do with it. 5. Experience new markets – Companies see the value in exposing their employees to emerging markets to encourage cross-cultural understanding and spur innovation. If you are interested in a career in development, you must find those same kinds of stretch assignments for yourself. We, like many employers in the development field, are looking for people with a global mindset who can demonstrate that they are comfortable living and working in meager conditions. 6. Expand your network – In the age of social media, your networks are more important than ever. Skills-based volunteer assignments give you the opportunity to develop deep connections with the organization and people you volunteer with. Research cites that one of the primary reasons individuals continue to volunteer with the same organizations year after year is because of the relationships they form with staff and other volunteers. Who knows - the people you meet volunteering could lead you to your next job, paying client, or even your future spouse. 7. The inside advantage – It is an unspoken but known truth: Volunteering can often give you an inside track to a paid job at the organization for which you volunteer. Remember, you’ll be competing just to secure a volunteer opportunity. Your expectation should not be to convert your volunteer assignment to a paid position – it doesn’t work that way. But, assuming you are qualified for a future vacancy at the organization, your inside knowledge, proven work ethic, and the commitment you have demonstrated to the mission by volunteering your skills and time could be just that edge you need to outshine your competition. For more information, visit www.BankersWithoutBorders.com, join the BwB group on LinkedIn, or follow BwB on Twitter @GrameenBwB.