By Margot Pritzker
 
For thousands of Chicagoans being laid off from what once were steady jobs, it’s the first time they’ve had to update their resume or remember decades-old interviewing tips they learned from their college career counselor. Job clubs have become popular, but when you suddenly find yourself at home, unemployed, spending your day searching Monster.com, how do you keep your skills sharp and leverage all networking opportunities?
 
Volunteer. But do it using your professional skills.
 
It’s easy to think of volunteering as a way to fill the hours in a day or to give back to a cause you care about, especially if you can no longer write a donation check. But for the highly-skilled professionals finding themselves laid off and in search of work, volunteering your professional skills is a great way to add substance to your resume, as well as network.
 
Not only does volunteering in this way provide non-profits with much-needed expertise, it will also allow an unemployed professional to maintain skills, add an interesting – and relevant – resume line, network with a wider variety of people, and get out of the house and into the professional world again. People often talk about having a ‘foot in the door.’ While the non-profit itself may not be able to offer a job, just being around other professionals will allow you to hear about opportunities first – from a non-profits’ clients, partners, colleagues’ friends, etc. You may even be able to get some tips to freshen your resume or cover letter from your new ‘colleagues’.’
 
The first step is to find a volunteer position that truly utilizes the special set of skills a professional can bring to the table. Often, non-profits don’t know where their volunteers are coming from or what kinds of skills they may have. Even if they are aware, non-profits don’t always know how to ask for specialized help. And volunteers don’t always think to offer it.
    
There are many online services that help link volunteers and nonprofits, including WomenOnCall.org, which specifically matches professional women volunteers with nonprofits. Explore what’s best for you, but most importantly get out there and see what’s in it for you – at the same time making a difference.

Margot Pritzker is the founder and president of WomenOnCall.org, Chicago’s first online network that seeks to successfully match women who are committed to volunteering their professional expertise with non-profit organizations.  These organizations have specific and immediate volunteer needs, and are thrilled to have women with such skills helping out.   

This post is a part of PRofessional Development Week. The posts from March 2 to March 6 will focus on the development of professional skills of public relations students. If you would like to contribute to this special week on A Step Ahead, e-mail Rachel.M.Esterline {at} Gmail.com.

Renee Walker, the associate vice president of public relations and marketing at Central Michigan University, shared this quote with us at the CMU-FSU PRSSA Regional Activity:

Don’t let the fear of falling keep you from knowing the joy of flight.

— Lane Wallace

Here are three ways to help launch and manage your career that I learned from Renee:

1. Create a list of “must haves,” “deal breakers,” “professional goals” and “personal goals.”
   To help you evaluate whether or not your career is going in the right direction, Renee suggested creating a list. For example, one of my “must haves” is a job that challenges me. If it is too easy, I won’t be learning much. A “deal breaker” is a job that requires me to fetch coffee. I believe in paying my dues, but I don’t want my position of intern to be taken advantage of.
2. Identify your talents and experience gaps.
   By identifying your talents, you can better promote yourself. And, by identifying your experience gaps, you can find ways to gain the experience you need. My talents include social media and writing for publications. But, I don’t have a lot of experience in media relations. In order to close the experience gap, I should work on gaining experience in media relations in order to advance my career.
3. Establish stretch goals.
   Since working with Renee when I was an intern in her office, I have realized she believes in pushing yourself to reach higher goals. She calls these “stretch goals.” She said it is OK if you don’t always reach your stretch goals, but you can never reach them if you don’t try. This is where her favorite quote, at the top of this post, comes in.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.