I’m a longtime volunteer. It started in the mid 90’s when I was in between jobs, and someone suggested I volunteer. She explained that you get to show off your talents, do some networking, and maybe even learn something. That seemed reasonable to me, so I took her advice and volunteered to work at a local charity fundraiser. It was only for three days: a street fair, sponsored by the city. I signed up with one of the dozens of charities represented. Then I did whatever was asked of me, 18 hours a day, for the next 3 days. About 6 hours of each day were devoted to cleaning and hauling things. I got pretty grungy. The other 12 hours of the day were spent mostly standing over a hot grill turning Italian sausages. One thing people liked was that I didn’t faint. Hint: don’t sip beer while standing over a 175 degree grill. Drink water instead. I guess someone was impressed, because soon after the fundraiser concluded I got a job offer — sort of. I was invited to serve on one of the subcommittees for next year’s event. And it was only a one year commitment. For no pay. Well, they asked me nicely, so I accepted. Then the following year, they asked me to actually chair that subcommittee. Again, they asked me nicely, and again I accepted. Over the course of three years I actually did wind up demonstrating my IT skills (and other skills too). I got to meet and work with a lot of truly amazing people from dozens of organizations including charities, corporations, and government at the city, county and state levels. Did I learn anything? You bet I did.
I almost forgot. You don’t actually have to be unemployed to volunteer.
The picture in this post is of the Teatro di San Cassiano in Venice, Italy. It was the very first public opera house, and was opened in 1637. Wow! (Source: baroque.it)
