For students looking to give back to their communities, and to perhaps even grab the attention of college admissions officers, volunteering can be a wonderful extracurricular activity that can make an all-around positive impact for all those involved. Volunteering can also be a wonderful way for students to build their resumes and to simultaneously build up their work experience, particularly if they have little to no previous work experience, or if they just want to learn more about a particular job or career pathway, and by doing so in a low-risk, low pressure—and, hopefully, fun—manner.

Let’s look at the following dozen tips—and pieces of advice—for students to take into consideration when looking to select a volunteering experience. This article will be broken up into the following two sections: Section 1—Considering Options for Volunteering & Section 2—The Volunteering Experience (From Start to Finish).

Let’s get started.

Section 1—Considering Options for Volunteering: Tips #1-#6

1. Determine your why—Probably the first thing that students will want to consider when thinking about taking on a volunteering gig is their reason for volunteering—the why. Maybe it is a desire to genuinely help others; maybe it’s an opportunity to gain valuable work experience or network; maybe it’s to satisfy service hour requirements or to stand out in college applications—or even just to further develop some different skills. Whatever the reason, determining the why is a crucial step in selecting the perfect volunteer experience.

2. Get something out of it for yourself—You are giving up the most valuable asset that in your possession: your time. Your time is something that you will never get back, so make sure that wherever—and however—you volunteer, that it is also an enriching, beneficial, and rewarding experience for you, as well. If it turns out not be such an experience, there are many other (future) opportunities out there—and places that would be super happy to have you.

3. Don’t settle for easy or convenient—Sometimes, with volunteering, the tendency for students is to maybe select easier or convenient options. I often have students come to my office wanting to know where they can volunteer; I love having these discussions. I will usually provide each student with  a handy list of many volunteering options to consider, broken down into different categories—all great options. But sometimes great is not always easy or convenient. A lot of different places are open to having students help out, without being on payroll (and, after all, it is often much easier finding a volunteering opportunity, than it is to find a job opportunity). For students, that means going beyond accepting a volunteer opportunity at the first place to say yes to you, or a place where other students are also regularly volunteering at.

4. Think outside the box—Similar to Tip #2, spending some time in contemplation and creating a Pros/Cons list can really help with narrowing down multiple good options, but so can considering volunteering settings that don’t typically feature a lot of other high school students. Some unconventional volunteering experiences may even allow students to create their own unique role or position, so keep an open mind!

5. Go where help is most-needed—I wrote about this particular idea in my last article for Internship tips for college graduate students. But it also rings true for selecting the perfect volunteer opportunity: Sites that need a lot of help may also be the same places that will allow students to carry out the most impactful duties and activities. A volunteer site that needs a lot of help may even let students do some extra cool things once a young person becomes more established. What is more, sites that need a lot of help may also afford students to have some additional leverage to choose particular service or learning opportunities, out of multiple options, if help is needed in short order.

6. Don’t be afraid to let others help—When it comes to selecting a volunteering experience, it does not have to be a solo endeavor that falls squarely on the shoulders of the student. If you have a parent, extended family member, neighbor—any connection: Don’t be afraid to access this form of help from other people. Work your connections. Let these folks put in a good word for you and advocate for you through their own networks. Nobody has to know that someone else assisted you in landing a great volunteering experience, and there is no shame in letting others help out. After all, some volunteer experiences may be completely by word of mouth or by special invitation only. These types of opportunities often require someone to personally vouch for a prospective volunteer—so don’t be afraid to let others help, in big ways or small.

Section 2—The Volunteering Experience (From Start to Finish): Tips #7-#12

7. Commit for at least a year—This first tip for Section 2 is important for several reasons: Firstly, in order to get the most out of a volunteering experience, students will want to accumulate, ideally, a couple hundred hours, or more, hours of service and experience at their selected setting(s). This will allow students to make the largest impact and to walk away from their experience(s) most-satisfied and proud of their work. Volunteer-stacking, one-time, or short-term, volunteer experiences just don’t carry the same weight as committing to a volunteering opportunity, for, say, at least a year. Colleges know this, and future employees also may want students that might stick around at a particular job for the length of some time. Secondly, committing for a year will allow students to more confidently describe their experiences—and contributions—through their college applications and also for future job interviews, and resume-building endeavors.

8. Be eager but flexible—This is the top tip for arriving on Day #1 of the volunteer experience, because it is all about setting the right tone from the beginning. Start off with an open mind. Arrive early. Ask a lot of questions. It’s okay to have an initial idea, or to envision what you think your volunteering experience might look like, ahead of time, but by being open-minded and eager to expand upon your opportunities, more doors can potentially open up to you. Let your supervisor(s) know that you are open to taking on different tasks and duties as they may present themselves. If you take on an open-minded, proactive attitude others will notice and you will find yourself being more nimble, and prepared, to assume greater responsibility or more opportunities to learn and sharpen your volunteering skills.

9. Be patient but persistent—Tip #9 should dovetail nicely with Tip #8: At the beginning of a volunteer experience, being eager; open-minded; assertive; and ambitious all can be wonderful things. But it might take some time to establish yourself as a volunteer. You have to build up trust. You have to have others know that you are dependable and trustworthy, and have a winning attitude. Bide your time patiently, but if an opportunity comes to take on a greater role, or to really show what you can do, you will be ready. Sometimes that opportunity will arrive rather quickly; sometimes, it may take some time. Either way, you will be ready if you patiently persevere, while quietly doing outstanding, excellent work.

10. Give it your best—always—You never know when a volunteer opportunity might eventually turn into a job opportunity. By doing your best—while working for free—you will allow others to see your winning attitude and strong work-ethic, which may, in turn, allow supervisors to  envision what having you aboard as a prospective employee might look like in the future. You never know who is watching, so always give it your best. At the end of the day—and end of your volunteering experience—you can look back with the pride and satisfaction of giving it your best each and every time that you volunteered.

11. Network like crazy—Ideally, your volunteering site(s) will be representational of a strong age/ethnic/socio-economic diversity, for example (something to maybe factor in when deciding where to volunteer). This way, you will be surrounded by a wide-range of potential networks, and be stronger, better, and wiser for it. Ask people their stories; exchange contact information with a number of other people; connect via social media—you never know how wide or strongly-developed another person’s network are. Keep your antenna up for future opportunities, and get to know the people that you will be working side-by-side with (or within your greater site).

12. Ask big—This last tip is meant to empower volunteers to not be afraid to ask for such things as letters of recommendation or gaining permission to use your site supervisor as a reference (if you do a good job, of course, and believe that they will likely say yes). After all, as a volunteer, you are giving up, potentially, hundreds of hours of your time and labor—to work, usually, for little to no monetary gain—so don’t be afraid to confidently approach your supervisor with requests such as these. Likewise, if you want to be in-line for a more advanced volunteering gig (or maybe to even be considered for a future paid position) within your site, let your supervisor know. Ask them for coaching or mentorship opportunities; specific forms of constructive feedback; or their thoughts on ways that you can improve. Ask your supervisor if they would be willing to conduct a mock interview with you; or even to maybe create your own unique volunteering position (See Tip #3 above). Ask big because the worst that someone can ultimately say is “no.”

–The Blue-Collar Counselor