Why People Volunteer: Josie’s Career BreakthroughMy wife Josie understands why people volunteer. She found two jobs, two mentors and a very supportive friend as a result of her willingness to help others. Josie’s career breakthrough is the direct result of her willingness to do charity volunteer work to help jump-start her job search and build her career. She decided to help herself through volunteering while also doing her small but significant part in changing people’s lives. She knew that her parents had come many decades ago from Italy and struggled to make a life for themselves in Toronto. So she decided to help newcomers from China, India, Pakistan and many other countries to ease their own settlement into life in Canada. Josie had worked many jobs in a variety of career areas since she started a family in the mid-1980s. Most of her past work had been in factories – hard physical work for low wages. By the time I met her a few years ago, she'd brought up two beautiful daughters but felt disappointed about her career history and current unreliable part-time job as a house cleaner. Josie’s Dream: A Real Professional Career As we got to know each other better, she shared with me how much she wanted to build a stronger, more stable and rewarding career, something she very much wanted to do all her life. At that time she was working varying and unpredictable hours in an unskilled labour job as a house cleaner, a job that offered her none of that economic security and inner sense of self-confidence she hoped for. Josie felt that her house cleaning work would not suit her for too long, because it is physically taxing. She often felt aches and pains after her shifts, especially after vacuuming. So she decided to pursue office work as a new career, and attended job search coaching appointments along with an office work skills development group at a local social agency just up the street from where we live. After attending a few such meetings, Josie asked if she could volunteer to help promote, organize and run the group meetings, and started to develop office work skills. The group leader understood why people volunteer – she knew that this volunteer experience would help Josie to move forward in her career, and encouraged her to continue to volunteer. The office work skills group leader also encouraged Josie to assist in the agency’s job search course for newcomers, including assisting the facilitator with conducting the workshops. At first, Josie thought this was a crazy idea, given that she had little experience or interest in conducting workshops or doing public presentations. However, it turned out that she really enjoyed it and it opened up a whole new avenue for her in her formal education. The job search workshop course facilitator also understood why people volunteer, and she understood Josie’s potential to continue learning and developing new work skills under her guidance. Josie had volunteered one day per week for about 3 months before she switched her focus to improving her education. Josie felt inspired from her volunteer work experience with the facilitator, and decided to learn more at a local college. Josie Goes Back to School As frequently happens when people volunteer, Josie met a new friend – one of the clerical support staff. Her new friend understood why people volunteer, and the two of them decided to take a diploma in life skills facilitation and coaching together. This is a 3-semester continuing education program that Josie would complete over the following 9 months and add to her Personal Support Worker and General Arts and Science diplomas. She devoted herself to her studies, and passed with flying colours. While taking her program, Josie received a referral from another staff at the agency, resulting in her taking a part-time job at a local retail clothes outlet. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an improvement over her cleaning work. A Big Opportunity – Totally Unexpected! Josie continued to stay in touch with staff from the agency, and right around the time that she completed her life skills training program she received a great job lead from one of the managers there. The only reason that the manager knew Josie was because she had decided to volunteer there. It’s crucial to understand this. Again, if Josie had not volunteered at the agency, she would never have found out about this golden opportunity! The manager also understood why people volunteer. He had met Josie several times and referred to her as ”a very personable young lady.” And the job he told her about was not posted on a website accessible to the public – only a handful of people knew about this rewarding, well-paying job - only people who had done their networking - whether through volunteering or other effective means. Only an even smaller handful applied for the position, unlike highly-publicized positions where hundreds of people fight for one measly vacancy! Furthermore, and most importantly, the manager knew the employer well, and Josie mentioned in her cover letter that she had found out about the position from that manager. The job up for grabs was not in office work but rather in the social services. Because Josie had taken the life skills training program, she was able to see herself being successful in this new role, and thus decided to apply for the position. Josie was offered and interview, and impressed the employer enough to be offered the position of job developer, matching employers to students in the field of hairstyling. She started as a casual employee, and quickly moved to temporary status where she continues to effectively help newcomers like her parents to quickly find work and build successful careers in Canada. She makes a very good salary and has her own office. :-) Summary: Understanding Why People Volunteer People volunteer to open up their lives to brand new opportunities – opportunities that often surprise them. Josie’s decision to volunteer one day per week at a local social service agency produced many benefits for her – benefits she would never have imagined. She met two new mentors and a new friend – all of them staff at the agency who supported her and believed in her despite nothing from her past work experience to prove it to them.
She received two successful employment referrals from other staff working at the agency, resulting in her getting two new jobs – one a transitional part-time job and the other a full-time career-building position in what is to her a totally unexpected brand new professional field. It all happened for Josie in less than 15 months, as a result of her decision to volunteer to help both herself and others. And it can happen to you too!
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