Get LinkedIn to find volunteer opportunities
KELSEY CIABATTONI
THE SIGNAL
Last month, LinkedIn, a social networking website for people in professional occupations, teamed with volunteer organizations Catchafire, Taproot Foundation, BoardSource and VolunteerMatch to add a volunteer marketplace feature to the site that will connect professionals to nonprofit volunteer opportunities.
Allison Dorsey, social impact manager for LinkedIn, said the website wanted to provide nonprofit organizations with an easy way to find professionals who want to donate their time and talent and to give professionals an easy way to find skilled volunteering opportunities.
The launch of LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace now gives nonprofits the ability to post volunteer opportunities. The Volunteer Marketplace feature is one of the outreach programs housed under LinkedIn For Good, a department created to use the company’s social networking capabilities to generate a positive social impact on the world.
“Talent is critical to the nonprofit sector, and LinkedIn’s platform is a way to find the right professionals to fulfill their needs,” said Meg Garlinghouse, head of LinkedIn for Good. “At LinkedIn we connect talent with opportunity on a massive scale, and we believe we have a unique opportunity to create impact in the social sector.”
Dorsey said employers take notice of volunteerism when reviewing potential candidates. LinkedIn conducted a survey on its site asking hiring managers their thoughts on volunteerism from current and potential employees.
“Forty-two percent of those surveyed said that they consider volunteer work the same as professional experience, and one in five hiring managers said they’d hired someone specifically because of their volunteer experience,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey also said that by including the volunteer experience in their profiles, students could enhance their resumes and show potential employers they are willing to heighten their skills while making a positive impact on the world.
Jennifer Clark, assistant director of Student Life, said volunteering not only serves as a way to give back to the community, but it also allows an individual to become a well-rounded and experienced worker by increasing a person’s social connections, professional contacts, skills and practices.
“Volunteering is not just good for the community, it’s good for your career,” Clark said. “It eliminates your popularity and GPA, gives you the practical experience of teamwork and provides you with natural leadership and transferable skills.”
LinkedIn works similar to Facebook and Twitter in the sense that users can connect, interact and stay in touch with other people. In addition to sharing photos and statuses, users share their skills and resumes. LinkedIn also gives users the opportunity to discover business deals and new ventures, as well as receive the latest news and insights on every profession.
Chuck Crocker, associate director for Career Services, points out it is important to keep in mind the type of social networking site forum on which you are interacting.
“LinkedIn, just like any social media site, can work for you or against you,” Crocker said. “You want to make sure you keep it strictly professional when it comes to your online presence on this site.” Crocker said students at any stage of their collegiate career would benefit from utilizing the site to build and engage their professional networks and identities and that it could also be used as a research tool to find information on the different professions that a student could enter into based on his or her degree.
“LinkedIn allows students to see and connect with alumni from their school and gives them an idea as to what career path they’ve taken,” Crocker said. LinkedIn is open to the public and free to join. Members seeking volunteer opportunities can visit volunteer.linkedin.com to find out more information.
