How to Turn Volunteer Experience Into a Job Reference

During a job search employers usually ask you for references. If you don’t have lots of work experience or you are trying to change careers, job references can be tough to find. References don’t always have to be a former boss. Good references can come from volunteer experiences that you may already be doing.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Make a list of all of the people you come in contact with when you volunteer. This can include community organizations, charities, churches or schools. Anyone of these can provide a great job reference. You can also include volunteer work that you did in the past.

2. Write down a list of all of the tasks you complete when you do this volunteer work. When you think about it you may plan events, complete a budget, create a program or build a shelf. It’s more than working in a food pantry--it’s sorting, organizing and distributing.

3. Pick out the tasks that are most relevant to the job you are looking for. If you are interested in accounting, identify where you worked on a budget. If you're looking for a job with event planning, think of the time you ran a carnival. The best references link job tasks to past experience.

4. Identify the people who would do the best job of describing the quality of your work. You want someone who can say that you finished a task, completed all assignments on time and were reliable. If it’s creativity you want to display, identify the job reference that benefited from your creative side.

5. Ask the people you identify as job references if they would respond to an inquiry from a potential employer. Find out the way they want to be contacted--phone or email. You will also need the best phone number, email and regular address.

6. When you give out their name and it looks like they are going to be contacted for a job reference, call them to give a heads up.

Tips & Warnings

• When you ask someone to be a job reference there is nothing wrong with reminding them about the fabulous job and specifics of a task you completed. If you ran a gala 2 years ago, it is still relevant and may not be the first thing they remember. You could say, “I would really appreciate it if you could be a job reference for me, the work I did on the gala in 2006 is a lot like the work I would be doing as an event planner.” Or, “That budget I put together for the summer program is just the kind of work I would be doing in accounting.”
• If you know someone has provided a job reference for you it’s a really nice touch to send them a thank you note. This is also a good way to keep in touch if you are no longer volunteering together.