Volunteering in the community benefits us all…not just our communities but also enhances our recruiting brand, whether an organization or a 1 or 2 person firm.  The result is good will and making the world a better place.  In fact, we as recruiters are not much different form the general population of volunteers.  Most of the characteristics of volunteers are*:

 1. Highly educated with professional backgrounds

 2. Goal-oriented with highly organized career, family, and social lives

 3. Mobile/transient in terms of residence, school, and work

 4. Technologically skilled and comfortable participating in social networks

 5. Individualistic and have a strong desire for autonomy

 6. Linked to many communities and causes and have multiple interests and identities

While the list is an impressive portfolio of characteristics, the result if that the highly skilled volunteers end up undertaking administrative tasks that do not reflect the value of the volunteer, resulting in activities such as picking up trash at a park, collecting for the food bank or collecting gifts for children at Christmas.  Sound familiar?  If it does you are in the majority, however, it does not have to be that way.

At Executrade we have started to look at skill-based volunteering as a more important component to internal development of employees and far more beneficial to the community in which we rely.  In the past skill-based volunteering was somewhat limited to doctors in Africa, although a lot of opportunities exist for recruiters and our organizations in the communities in which we live.  Executrade has started to work with Youth Emergency Shelter Societies in an effort to develop the job skills of kids at risk.  This example not only uses the skills and expert knowledge we have in this industry, it continues to challenge our skills, developing material and presentation approaches and at the end if the youth enter a good career they are likely to remember who taught them the skills in the first place. 

Of course a multiple of skill-based opportunities exist.  Recruiters have the ability to volunteer for organizations such as Junior Achievement, high schools or in the specific industries of their specialties. The key is to do skill-based volunteering because you upgrade the value of the time that is spent in the community.  This does not just demonstrate a sense of goodwill in the industry but is an indicator that volunteering is pre-planned, part of the strategy and as authentic as possible…after all, anyone can pick-up trash at the park, but not everyone can teach someone job skills, only experts.

Simplicity would suggest, if you want a volunteer job done right, ask a specialist.

Darryl

Executrade

Your Recruitment Specialists

**Reference:

http://volunteer.ca/skills