Back to Work: How Volunteering Builds Skills and Confidence

“You now have Marketing Manager permissions on the website.” I texted with a big smiley emoji.

She joked, “Cool! Can I put that on my resume?”

My friend, Amanda, has been doing heaps of extra work on my small business… for free. I am all about paying people for their labor but she offered to help while my company grows! This is not the first time she’s let me borrow her skills where I am lacking.

I used to work at a nonprofit that had a weekly deadline. We had to repackage and count out thousands of diapers every Friday morning so groups supporting low-income parents could pick up their exact order. Who would I call on Thursday night to come over and help me do all the math? Amanda. Since she was in between careers, she also designed labels we regularly needed. We received gobs of compliments on the cute and efficient labels.

Now, she is teaching me how to use website analytics and marketing. If I can’t figure out how to change a website format or how to advertise to a specific audience, I know I can ask Amanda. She’ll give me her perspective and advice that I can “take or leave”.

What else can we learn from volunteering?

Why shouldn’t she add this work to her resume? She isn’t earning money but exercising her talents still has a high value. Volunteering your expertise is significant and should be held in high esteem when HR is thumbing through job applications. I believe all skills are transferable especially when someone is practicing their passion but can’t use it in their current field. 

Has volunteering given you the opportunity to show off your under-utilized talents? Has that experience ever helped you get a new job?

10/10 would not hire again.