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This is something new I had just happened to observe among some of my peers. I had noticed that some of them that had advanced above the average growth in their careers had volunteered with some cause or the next. The thought is now bouncing around in my head that the act of their volunteering has something to do with their accelerated career growth.
So am I right in having this theory - that volunteering speeds up the career of corporate employees, especially into the management ranks?
Please weigh in on this, whether you feel this is accurate, or maybe just a fluke observation.
People starting out are required to volunteer because there are no entry level jobs that require no experience.
Some call them unpaid internships, others volunteer to get relevant experience on the resume.
Ask your supervisor and some colleagues--it's going to vary from one industry or organization to another.
Personally, I'm not fond of the practice of factoring volunteer work into promotions. A previous boss promoted a completely unqualified friend to a senior management position, being very impressed by her being "active in the community" (or sucking up to the mayor if you're cynical). As for me, between churning out more work than my colleagues and helping take care of my aging parents and their house, and my own own house, I was too effing tired at night to do anything but fall on the bed, let alone go be "active in the community." If I ever hear that smarmy phrase again, I think I will scream.
AFAIK, the firm never got any work or favors from these connections. The partner involved moved on to another city, too. I think he was impressed with all the wrong things.
By "volunteering" what do you mean? Some companies expect their management employees above a certain level to be involved in community organizations at board levels like United Way, local events, etc.
If you're working in the social service field, yes. Yes a million times. You get to see the organization, work with their target "population" and even do the job for a bit. For many "volunteers" this includes getting hours toward licensure. Many of my colleagues have been offered jobs at the places they have "volunteered" at. I personally have not, but none of the the places I interned with were places I was interested in working full time.
It's going to be job dependent. There are some jobs where yes, volunteer work is included in your annual appraisal. Whether you agree or disagree, it's a fact of life in some places. In many cases it's definitely a tie breaker for promotion and in some cases, a key factor in who is even considered.
It's hard to tell from your original post, but I assume you mean people who are doing truly voluntary work for a cause rather than giving away their services for free to hopefully end up with a job.
I have been a "true" volunteer for most of my life. I do it because I really truly believe in the causes with which I volunteer. Although I don't do them for career advancement I do include these positions on my resume. This is mostly to give a full impression of who I am but also, why shouldn't I get "credit" for the work I provide for non-profits while they are potentially cosidereding other possibilities?
At the end of the day the impression I have gotten is that it may help you in a ompetition between you and somone otherwise equally qualified, but it won't outweigh direct job experience. You do volunter work because it is awesome to do. It may help you in a job search but the likelihood is not good enough to do it for that reason only. Let go and enjoy it for what it is. Trust me, it is likely more importsant to your soul than your job is. if it helps, great. But rememeber that isn't why your are there.
This is something new I had just happened to observe among some of my peers. I had noticed that some of them that had advanced above the average growth in their careers had volunteered with some cause or the next. The thought is now bouncing around in my head that the act of their volunteering has something to do with their accelerated career growth.
So am I right in having this theory - that volunteering speeds up the career of corporate employees, especially into the management ranks?
Please weigh in on this, whether you feel this is accurate, or maybe just a fluke observation.
It does help. I have volunteered but find something you are passionate about and you just meet people after a while. It does not happen overnight.
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Huge impact!
