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. "Employers want to see that you're not just another candidate that's all about me, me, me. 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.
LinkedIn did say, however, that of the nearly 2,000 professionals in the U.S. it 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, a national group that 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 finally doing what they believed they were meant to be doing.
TIFFANY JONES:
--Previous job: Project manager in the telecommunications industry
--Current job: Program manager at the All Stars Project of Chicago
Some people find a vintage sofa, a cozy apartment or maybe even a future husband on Craigslist. Tiffany Jones found her life's work.
When Jones was laid off from a local telecommunications firm in 2005, her first inclination was to jump back on the corporate track. Then it dawned on her: "I thought, 'I'm 30 years old; I have no kids. I'm at a fork in the road,'" she said. She decided it was time to do what really inspired her -- work with young people.
Despite growing up in a strong, supportive family in Rochester, N.Y., Jones struggled to speak up in school, to shine. Traditional learning methods never worked for her, but a theater program her mom discovered for her did. There, she felt confident, smart, capable. She thought about helping kids who faced similar challenges but came from less-solid backgrounds.
Her initial plan was to start her own nonprofit. But that took more money and time than she had.
So she seriously downsized her life: no more fancy haircuts and manicures. She gave up her apartment and moved in with roommates. She took a part-time job at a retail store and moonlighted by helping people organize their homes and offices. But the years passed, and she hadn't raised the money to start her own charity.
