Featured Article
Pick a Non-Profit and Watch Yourself Grow
Money isn't the only thing you can donate to your favorite non-profit to help the cause. In fact, by volunteering your
Project Management skills, you'll create the perfect win-win situation and help yourself by helping others.
The non-profit organization you’re helping gets your time, PM expertise and passion for contributing. You get to show them how time-tested PM techniques can make the non-profit more efficient and effective. In return, you get the chance to stretch your wings in a low-risk environment, gain experience that’s relevant in the private sector, and network and meet new people.
Here are some ways you can grow your career and help an organization benefit from
Project Management.
Match skills and needs. Research the organization you’re interested in to see what the needs are. If a web master recently left, and you’re an Internet professional or hobbyist, you could have a real impact on the web presence.
Build your resume. Whatever the soft spot is in your career experience, use your volunteerism to strengthen it, and be sure to mention your volunteerism as a talking point in an interview. What you choose to do with your personal time says a lot about you as a prospective employer.
Spread your wings. If you have a secret dream to cross departments and try something completely new, your volunteer position is the perfect place to give it a try and see how it flies.
Expand your network. How many times have people encouraged you to go out and network – as if it’s as easy as making a dinner reservation. Networking happens when people know you, trust you and have a sense of who you are. That’s exactly what can happen in a non-profit where you’re volunteering.
For more tips on how to get the most from volunteering, read this month's
Know How Network article, and check out
Find the Right Spot for suggestions on where to find the right volunteer opportunity.
Money isn’t the only thing you can donate to your favorite non-profit to help the cause.