Study: Volunteer to Juice Your Career (Forbes, 2012, Hewlett)
Finding: Volunteering is a win-win situation with potential to provide a needed spark to a stagnant career.
Note about The Woman Effect Research Index: This study was performed by researchers not affiliated with InPower Women. Our Research Index includes all relevant research to the subject of women, business and power. We do not influence how the research was conducted or reported by the researchers. In our abstracts, we focus on pulling out the most actionable advice for individual women. To suggest additional research we should index, or discuss our choice of abstract focus, please contact us
InPower Insight: Give some good volunteer juice to those who need it, and get some good career juice to get out of our professional rut.
Summary:
If you’re stuck in a rut and looking for some good career juice to get you moving again, you may want to consider taking a walk down the volunteering road.
This article by Forbes suggests that there are several benefits to engaging in corporate volunteer programs. Benefits such as feeling better about yourself, looking more kindly upon your employer, expanding your professional network and discovering new meaning in your career, are just some of the positive effects of volunteering.
More than half of women want their work to have a positive impact on society. 88% percent of Gen Y women, 91% of Gen X women and 90% of Baby Boomers feel it is important to contribute to their communities and the world as a whole and consider being in service a higher priority than the number in their paychecks. The article further states that “two out of three employees feel more engaged at work because of their employer’s corporate social responsibility program.”
Available volunteering programs that exist to help their employees reach this goal “range from one-day community service activities to mini-sabbaticals”, in which one is sent to developing countries to volunteer. Selected non-profits and entrepreneurs in these mini-sabbatical countries receive free consultation services.
Nearly 100% of participants in one company-wide volunteering effort reported that the experience was “rewarding or very rewarding.”
At least 27 Fortune 500 companies now operate pro bono programs in countries like India, Brazil and Ghana. These programs can ignite your career as the the selection process is extremely competitive. It is also a high profile endeavor.
Career Coaching Tip: Volunteering is more than an opportunity to feel good about yourself, it’s an opportunity to explore new skills and try new things that can give you a larger sense of what you’re capable of. It’s also a great way to network and meet people and work with people in ways that help you bond. When you expand your network with people who care and know what you’re capable of in unusual environments it can really pay off in many ways. When you seek a volunteer experience and they ask you what you would like to do, be sure to choose something you’ve never done before, or something you want to do more of in your professional career. Use the opportunity to expand yourself.
Category: Career Advancement
Keywords: corporate volunteering, volunteer, give-back, social responsibility, corporate responsibility
