Some people volunteer at early-stage companies hoping it leads to a job. It’s often a risky gamble, but there are ways to increase your odds of getting a job.
Companies are risk averse when it comes to hiring. One way to make it easier for them is to have worked with them before. The manager you worked with for five years doesn’t really need to interview you as she would another candidate because she already knows a lot of information about you, your competencies, and ability to work. Non-profit organizations offer a unique way to do this because you can be a volunteer and let people get to know you.
While you generally wouldn’t volunteer at a Fortune 500 company, I’ve also seen people volunteer at early-stage startups that don’t have funding. In theory, you should be doing it for equity, but I’ve seen recent college grads with no experience offer to work as a volunteer for a bit to get experience.
In all cases the hope is that volunteering will set you up to get a job with the organization. The logic makes sense, but should you do it?
Maybe.
The mistake people often make is to volunteer, hoping that it will put them on the inside track for jobs at the organization. The mistake here is that the strategy is “hope.” Hope is not a plan.
Instead of simply hoping, you need to be proactive. Begin by speaking with HR or a hiring manager about what jobs are likely to come up. Are there openings planned to come up or does it depend on funding or milestones, or maybe someone leaving? This will help you understand the odds of there even being a job to which you can apply. Then ask about what activities specifically would make you a better candidate. Not all volunteering is equal. Sure, they’ll like that you’ve volunteered, but if the work you’re doing doesn’t help the hiring manager get to know you (either directly, or indirectly) in a relevant way, does it really help you? For example, stuffing envelopes for three hours a week doesn’t show the hiring manager that you’re analytical, which is a key skill for the role.
The point of the conversation is to make sure the work you do will set you up to be a leading candidate. Don’t leave it to chance, have an explicit conversation about it. Otherwise, you can waste a lot of time going nowhere.
Volunteering is good in and of itself, and certainly you can volunteer with a non-profit just to help and maybe sometime in the future it can lead to an opportunity. (Taproot is a great non-profit I’ve volunteered with in the past that lets its volunteers use professional skills they have or wish to develop, in service of non-profit; e.g. you can help develop finance reports, marketing materials, or a website for a non-profit, and now can add that experience those skills to your resume.) But if you’re looking to volunteer to have it get you a job, especially with a company, be very intentional and have explicit conversations, otherwise all the time you put in to get a new job and salary may also turn out to be not-for-profit for your own bank account.
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