Two-way street: volunteering may lead to a job

By Corilyn Shropshire Chicago Tribune CHICAGO In this rough and tumble economy, employers are quick to note that anything that sets a job seeker apart from the rest of the employment-seeking pack helps. That includes volunteering. Not only is it good for the community, but career coaches say volunteering is also a great way for job seekers to get their foot in the door, do some networking and boost their skills, thereby making them more attractive to hiring managers. “Your volunteer activities have as much to do with you and your passion ... and your skill set as it has to do with your professional expertise,” said Adriana Llames, a Chicago-based career consultant. “Volunteering is a representation of how well you work on a team.” LinkedIn made it easy to highlight those connections by giving users the option this fall to boast their community service and causes on the site, although the company declined to say how many of its 135 million users are using the tool. But of the nearly 2,000 professionals in the U.S. that LinkedIn surveyed, 89 percent had experience volunteering, but only 45 percent include their volunteer experience on their resume. At the same time, 41 percent of employers reported that they consider volunteer work as valuable as paid work experience when considering potential hires. Still, volunteering with a hidden “hire-me” agenda is not a good strategy. “The last thing that a nonprofit needs is a bunch of people coming to work there that secretly hope they’ll get a full-time job,” said Robert Rosenthal, director of communications at VolunteerMatch, which connects volunteers with nonprofits. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which tracks U.S. volunteer rates, said it’s not clear how many volunteering gigs have turned into full-time jobs. But for this trio of Chicagoans, volunteering was less about a hard-charging job hunt than about doing what they believed they were meant to be doing.

TIFFANY JONES

Slusser, 40, tucked away 8 to 10 percent of her earnings into an endowment. But saving to become a philanthropist wasn’t enough. When a client suggested she consider volunteering at the Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Slusser started spending at least one day a week answering phones and helping out at the organization, which provides legal and social support services to low-income Chicagoans. She steadily increased her volunteering time, and when the job as executive director opened up, Slusser got the job. Slusser said she feels like this is the work she was meant to do.