You have flown through the initial interviews, had the friendly chat with the chairman, and now you are daydreaming about your new company car. Then you get the call: you haven't got the job after all. It has gone to someone you know well. Someone who has the same level of experience, a similar career background, and similar qualifications. What made the difference?
In such situations the difference often lies in being able to show prospective employers a range of skills and experience from outside your job – those soft, interpersonal skills that are difficult to prove but all too often invaluable for working within any organization.
One of the best ways of demonstrating such abilities is through experience gained with voluntary or not-for-profit organizations in your local community. Putting back into society some of the benefits you take out, is how some people view it; others see it more as an intelligent addition to their work-based skills. Whatever the motivation, the benefits for the individual and employer are just as great as those for the local community.
Positive view
“There's an increasing trend to look positively on such work,” says Amanda Jones, director of corporate community investment at Business in the Community, a lobby group that works on getting companies involved in more community projects. Eighty-nine of the FTSE 100 companies now run programmes with Business in the Community.
Jones claims that employers are beginning to recognise the benefits of creating volunteer programmes for their staff, and the positive impact of such programmes on recruitment, employee retention, motivation, teamwork and training – and the bottom line. In addition, employers are looking more favourably on potential employees that have taken the initiative themselves. “,Employers are having to look a lot harder at people's CVs,” says Jones, “particularly in areas with significant skill shortages.”
So what sort of skills are we talking about here?
Amy Stillman is marketing director at Common Purpose, an educational organization that runs leadership programmes to bring executives and community members together. She believes the benefits for all concerned are too numerous to detail.
Few people emerge from Common Purpose with their prejudices – or working practices – unchanged," she says. “As their perspective gets wider, their vision improves. As their vision improves, their decision-making gets better.”
She mentions the benefits of networking with a different group of people, gaining new ideas, strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and the ability to influence. She sees the role of Common Purpose as “waking up sleepwalking citizens. There are some competencies that blossom in a cross-sector environment where it is impossible to ignore the bigger picture.”
Give something back
That sort of approach is backed up by Bill Stokoe, a former bank executive who now runs his own management consultancy. He says that his experience as chairman of the board of governors of a large London further education college has been invaluable in his career. After all, helping to run an institution of 25,000 students and an annual budget of £35 million can be a testing task.
“I believe that if you take out of society, you should be prepared to put something back,” he says. “And that, I suppose, has been one of my main driving forces in the work.”
He admits that his role has taken up much of his spare time, but says that learning to balance the demands of such a position with the demands of a day job is a skill in itself.
“Professionally speaking, the business of chairing a body with disparate needs, expectations, and backgrounds is a real challenge. There is also the difficulty of balancing the needs of the community with the need for solid finances.”
He adds that the role has always ensured that he keeps on his toes as far as confident public speaking, discussion and presentation is concerned. “In terms of developing skills for the board room, I would consider that it would be an advantage to anyone.”
Carmel McConnell is driven by similar thinking. She recently set up The Magic Sandwich, a scheme that provides breakfasts for underprivileged kids in Hackney, East London. The group provides 700 breakfasts a week in five pilot schools across the borough with a view to expanding the initiative later this year.
“Everyone has their own values,” says McConnell, adding that if someone wants to go to work in the City, earn their crust, go home, and enjoy their three Porsches then that's fine, that's their choice. She, however, wants something different for herself. Having worked in the City for several years, she felt that she was spending all her time concentrating on something that didn't sit well with her values. Hence when she heard that 25% of kids in Hackney were not getting a decent meal to start the day, she resolved to do something about it.
“I needed to get passionate about my life and myself. To start making a social contribution is enough, even if it is in baby steps.”
When John Strawinski was invited on to the board of Project North East in the early 1990s he saw it as an opportunity for himself and his work. At the time, he was working for Whitbread as an estates manager and was actively encouraged by his employer – one of PNE's sponsors – to take the opportunity to develop new links across the north east region. Project North East is a not-for-profit enterprise and economic development consultancy, which aims to help people and organisations realise their true potential through business.
Strawinski saw it as a great chance to develop his business skills, meet some new people, and put something back into the community. “They were happy to invest time in me before I could really contribute anything back, but it offered me the chance to mix with people from a range of organizations and disciplines. It gave me experience of a different kind of cost-benefit analysis, helped me to network with other people, and a knowledge of the market in Newcastle. It's helped me in my career ever since and really was a case of benefits all round.” Strawinski liked the organization so much that he still works with PNE even though he has since switched employers.
Downturn downside?
Of course, such social responsibility is all well and good when the economy is booming, but what happens if recession begins to bite? Do companies and individuals become less willing to get involved? Stillman doesn't think so.
“In recessionary times, people may [have to] consider a job change,” she says. “Getting involved in the community – either through work or on an individual basis – can provide an excellent opportunity to gain new skills and perspective. We encourage people who are interested in public life and community involvement to plan their 'careers' as citizens just the way they would plan their careers as professionals.”
Of course, voluntary work with a not-for-profit organization can also be an excellent way of keeping busy should you find yourself unemployed. There is nothing worse than sitting around waiting for replies to job applications, and prospective employers will want to know what you have been doing with your time off too.
It might even lead to a job opportunity that you had not even considered. One of the greatest advantages of voluntary work is the chance to meet people from other organizations – some of whom may be at a senior level. It gives you the chance to expand your network of potential employers while putting something back into the community.
Executives in the US – and their employers – tend to have more of an enlightened view of community involvement than their peers in the UK. Perhaps that stems from a longer history of recognising the benefits.
Catherine Jordan, programme director for the Blacklock artists' retreat in northern Minnesota, finds it hard to believe that US executives would be put off from volunteering for social programmes simply because of an economic downturn.
Jordan says that community involvement or work with non-profit organizations is very strong across the US and is a recognition that business needs a solid society as much as society needs solid businesses. “It follows from a corporate understanding that if you don't have a good community, you don't have a workforce.”
She says that employers in the US have started to look negatively on individuals who don't put something back into their community outside of their work. “If you're only concentrating on one area, then it's very easy to get bored and lose your focus. They see getting involved as a mixture of altruism and enlightened self-interest.”
One director of human resources and organizational development with Coutts bank in London needs no more convincing. Arts & Business, an organization that helps put business executives and creative people together to further the needs of both types of organization, linked her up with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The volunteer worked with LPO's chief executive on board development and reviewing the role of the board of trustees. Both of the organizations – and the individuals involved – say that they benefit from the experience.
“I get a tremendous amount of enjoyment from it,” says the Coutts director, who prefers to remain anonymous. “You get to meet people from completely different worlds and the experience plays an important part in your personal development. It's a bit like going to the gym – you come back with more energy and enthusiasm.”
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