And all I got was a T-shirt: How to Leverage Community Volunteering for Career Development

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Presented at BSidesAustin 2019 by

Kathleen Smith

Career progression is typically seen as education, certification, and job moves. However in order to continually advance, we need to build both technical and non-technical skills in different environments that challenge us and give us opportunities to learn. This is increasingly important as LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends Report found that 92% of talent professionals agree that soft skills matter as much as hard skills, if not more.Community volunteering provides career development opportunities, and offers substantial benefits spanning personal fulfillment and career advancement. This notion is supported in the findings I will share from a recent survey among industry professionals, which examines how individuals volunteer in the community, what skills they learn, how employers support them, and how they face stress.I will discuss ways to get involved and offer tips to ensure volunteers gain more than a T-shirt from their efforts. I will also share best practices for engaging employer support and how job seekers should present this in their career search, while relaying the results of my upcoming job search challenges survey. This session will also encourage employers to be more involved in the community, discussing tips to retain top skilled talent and build their employer brand.