Effective volunteering to build career capital
I've had some volunteer experiences and in the end didn't feel that it helped my career that much. One of them is through a (somewhat elitist) mostly academic community - basically students in prestigious universities subscribe to this school of thought. It didn't inspire me as much in the end and I got jaded about their legitimacy and vagueness after a while.
Recently I've been exploring an officer role in a local nonprofit providing legal assistance to the disadvantaged. I've also been working with a friend's group on some startup projects. I had to stop before working for another startup because of competing priorities last year.
Through those experiences I became skeptical about using my time to volunteer. Sometimes I feel the entrepreneurs I work for are probably too naive/full of BS and not gonna make it and it would be a waste of my time (it's not like I get paid or anything). I also don't feel I have enough power and learning in these things.
Maybe I'm at an age that I don't want to work for free for the things that don't directly benefit me but just promise a distant hope. I'm not sure how I can navigate this. Is there a way to feel out my direction of these endeavors or should I just take a pause?
Hi Emily
I've worked in NFP sector precisely once and it was a paid position so far from an expert.
You posted this in career so I'll look at it in terms of career advancement. I remember a sales manager once told me on the business side you can get to general management from Sales or Finance because all companies need those functions. Maybe another way to look at it might be the volunteer role rather than the NFP.
So look for a volunteering opportunity in Finance or marketing or webdesign or whatever you think would build on your existing skills.
Cheers
T
Quote from Emily on January 18, 2023, 5:18 amThrough those experiences I became skeptical about using my time to volunteer. Sometimes I feel the entrepreneurs I work for are probably too naive/full of BS and not gonna make it and it would be a waste of my time (it's not like I get paid or anything). I also don't feel I have enough power and learning in these things.
Maybe I'm at an age that I don't want to work for free for the things that don't directly benefit me but just promise a distant hope. I'm not sure how I can navigate this. Is there a way to feel out my direction of these endeavors or should I just take a pause?
Just an opinion on this:
It may be the case that businesses and organizations that rely more heavily on volunteers do have indeed entrepreneurs who are more naive or full of BS -and less likely to succeed-.
Most new businesses fail, and that is probably more often the case in businesses looking for volunteers.
Entrepreneurs who can get real funding generally don't look for volunteers.
So if I'd have to volunteer, I'd look for either non for profits, or businesses that aren't dependent on or actively seeking volunteers.