If you and your family are worried about the impact AI is having on the entry-level job market and the value of your degree, you're not alone. Investing time in building your professional brand early gives you an edge, and strengthening it through meaningful volunteer work can create a measurable employment advantage.
We offer a semester by semester plan and ongoing support to help students steadily build their professional brand and turn volunteer work into a career advantage.
Volunteers have 27% higher odds of employment, and the employment boost is even stronger for individuals early in their careers. AmeriCorps, Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment
41% of hiring managers consider volunteer experience equal to paid work experience. LinkedIn, Global Recruiting Trends
82% of hiring managers are more likely to choose a candidate with volunteer experience.
85% of hiring managers are more inclined to look past resume flaws when the candidate includes volunteer work, yet only 30% list it on their resumes.
92% of employers agree that volunteering improves leadership and professional skills.
Volunteer leadership signals:
• Initiative
• Work ethic
• Accountability
• Civic engagement
• Emotional intelligence
When GPA and internships look similar, service-driven leadership becomes your differentiator. In a competitive entry-level job market, that difference matters.
Work with your old high school or a campus organization to create mentoring opportunities aimed at increasing student engagement and success by sharing stories about avoiding pitfalls and finding success.
Soft Skills: empathy leadership, emotional intelligence, communication, motivation, networking, interpersonal skills
Align class projects or form a collaboration with campus members that helps education and workforce development leaders or any student support program engage more students and better serve them.
Soft Skills: leadership, problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, networking, teamwork, communication, work ethic
Create your own internship or learn how to use tools, data, workforce development initiatives, or resume and interview strategies to become a stronger job candidate. Then create opportunities to teach others.
Soft Skills: adaptability, empathy leadership, teamwork, motivation, problem solving, critical thinking, interpersonal skills
Sharing the valuable insight you possess can help younger students avoid pitfalls and find success. Serving students you share a connection with is highly rewarding. It motivates you to stay engaged in volunteer work that builds evidence of soft skills employers are seeking. It's the perfect space to start growing your network and social capital.
Increasing student engagement and success is one of our country's greatest challenges. It's the same challenge employers face with employees. Working on projects that signal engagement is one of your core values helps shape your professional brand and build an advantage. It's the ultimate space to maximize your impact on society and your resume.
Gaining real world experience and building your network while in school helps you overcome the anxiety and self-doubt that comes with being a first-time job candidate. Creating quality volunteer work is also a way to practice creating your own gig work. Your education matters, but experience, leadership, and initiative are what set you apart.
Most students know that waiting until junior or senior year to start working on career development is a mistake that is hard to overcome. Unfortunately, it's easy to procrastinate when you don't have a clear "easy" first step and personal distractions get in the way.
That's why our focus is on helping freshman and sophomores overcome procrastination and stay engaged. Our goal is to make it easy and manageable to start working a clear plan from day one with the right type of support to hold you accountable.
We help you do a little bit every month for four years to stay on track for reaching your professional goals. By consistently aligning skill and brand development with volunteer work, you'll graduate with:
It's never to late to start working the plan, but it will require a more intense effort to make up for lost time.
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