Help Others, Help Yourself

Why do career coaches recommend that their clients spend some time volunteering during their career transition?

Volunteering can be a great way for job hunters to gain valuable experience and skills, network with potential employers, and demonstrate their commitment to a cause. Volunteering can also provide an opportunity to explore different roles and professions that may be of interest. Additionally, it can provide a sense of purpose, which is especially helpful during long job searches. Furthermore, volunteering can also help to maintain momentum and motivation during a job search.

And when job hunters take a little time each week to volunteer to assist other job hunters, the result can be something very special and important: making the world a better place.

In recent years, I've seen a truly wonderful explosion of community-based job search support groups, both here in New Jersey and around the world. One of those efforts is called Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NhN), started by my friend John R. Fugazzie MBA who saw the need in his town and galvanized into action to help people who were struggling with unemployment.

A key feature of NhN is that it is a total volunteer organization: the members run the group, provide peer coaching, and help one another to find work.

"Neighbors Helping Neighbors" has become a widely-used phrase to describe a local grassroots community effort to provide assistance to those who are in some sort of distress, be it loss of employment, financial need, or some other dire straits. The idea is to galvanize a network of people who are willing to help to provide support to their neighbors in need. This can include anything from helping with transportation, running errands, providing meals, doing yard work, or offering emotional support. The goal is to create a sense of community and to make sure that everyone is taken care of during difficult times. Like the Covid pandemic. And perhaps like the predicted recession to come.

When I was out of work, earlier in my career, I received a huge helping hand from other job seekers who were volunteering their time in a NJ-based job search support organization called Professional Service Groups, PSG for short. I stay connected to the PSG's as a pro bono guest speaker so that I can "give back" to an organization that gave so much to me when I really needed it.

As a new year is dawning, and 2023 is looking to be an uncertain one, it is highly likely that many are going to need a helping hand.

Helping others is at the heart of an effective job search. When you help others, you are helping yourself. Let's all pitch in.

About the author: Terrence "Terry" Seamon is a career transition consultant and job search coach who volunteers to help others through his church in Somerset, NJ.

Special Note: Parts of this article were written with the help of YouChat, an AI powered tool that answers questions in human-like conversational form.