Finding the Right Volunteer Opportunity for YOU!

Adam J. Cheshier
8 min readJul 17, 2020

Volunteering is not just for high school students who need to write something to boost their college resume. People of all ages can benefit from volunteering, and organizations need volunteers of all ages, with different skills and experiences.

But where do I start? After all, there are countless opportunities for volunteers.

The best volunteer services are the ones that come from within you. They will use your existing skills or teach you new ones that you want to learn. They will answer the questions that are close to your heart and introduce you to new and amazing people.

When you are ready to start volunteering, it will be time to find the right opportunity for you. Here are some tips to help you find a volunteer opportunity that will have a positive impact not only on the world, but also on your life.

Think about your skills and interests

The best opportunities for volunteers will interest and inspire you. If applying for a job seems boring, you probably won’t stay long. So, look for opportunities that are already of interest to you.

It is also important to find opportunities to use existing skills. If you don’t have the skills you need, volunteering can seem too intimidating.

For example, if you like pets, you might be able to offer dogs a walk at your local shelter. Or, if you have experience teaching, you could volunteer and teach adult literacy courses. However, if you don’t like pets or don’t feel comfortable before classes and teaching, these options are not ideal.

Boost your resume

Did you know that you can use volunteering for your future career?

Volunteering experience is like a good resume hook (yes, even for adults). It’s even better when it deals with skills within your career industry.

Think about volunteering in your field. If, for example, you want to become a lawyer one day, you can volunteer with ACLU. If you want to do marketing one day, you may find a non-profit organization that needs marketing support.

You can also look for volunteer opportunities in different fields that will give you other valuable…

Adam J. Cheshier

Documenting obscure pockets of the world across long-distance overland expeditions. Recently celebrated 7 years of nomadism. https://linktr.ee/adam.cheshier