The Real Lives of Volunteer Coordinators
A Blog for us to Learn from Each Other
You’re looking for a volunteer coordinator job, but don’t know where to start or how to make yourself stand out. That’s why we’re here. This series will provide you with the answers from locating job posts to getting the job. So stick around, there’s a lot of ground to cover.
Throughout this series, we will be giving you certain downloadable content that will help you even further in your volunteer coordinator job searching process. You can also download the whole Volunteer Coordinator Job Seeker packet below!
How To Get Started Looking For Volunteer Coordinator Jobs
Depending on the city you live in, the type of organization you want to work with, and the size of the organization, your options will vary for the best places to source volunteer coordinator jobs.
However, volunteer coordinator jobs are always looking to be filled. If you are flexible with your location and the type of organization you are looking for, this will open up your job searching locations to many different job boards.
But, if you are looking for volunteer coordinator jobs specifically near you, you may need to narrow down your search or try looking into more location-based job board sites.
You can download our list of job board sites that are best for volunteer coordinators here.
But for now, here are some steps you can take when looking for volunteer coordinator jobs!
1. Talk to Your Immediate Network About Volunteer Coordinator Jobs
This could be organizations that you have volunteered for or professionals that you know to volunteer or work in an organization with a volunteer program. If you haven’t been a volunteer coordinator before, it is worth asking organizations if they need an assistant volunteer coordinator.
But always, get feelers out to other organizations, or people that are inside of the volunteering and nonprofit world. These are some of the best and most personal ways to find volunteer coordinator jobs!
2. Search Within Organizations That You Are Familiar With
If you volunteer for an organization or have before - definitely reach out to them! But then, next you should look at organizations near you. If you are not looking to relocate, starting directly with nonprofit organizations, foundations, or any other organization that has volunteer programs is a great idea.
You may get lucky and find organizations near you are posting about a volunteer coordinator job! If not, it is always good to reach out just to see if the organization may consider having a volunteer coordinator. Especially if you are familiar with the organization, this will be a huge bonus.
Also, not all organizations put their job listings on their website, so by reaching out to someone directly you are showcasing interest!
3. Start Looking At Large Third-Party Job Board Sites
If organizations are not posting their volunteer coordinator job openings on their website - where could they be posting them? To other sites!
You’ve heard of them - Indeed, Google Jobs, LinkedIn. There are so many! In our job board site breakdown, we go over all of the best places to find volunteer coordinator jobs online. You can download it here!
Many third-party sites have a huge audience, so sometimes it is easy for you to feel like one in many many applicants. This is why you need to ensure that your resume stands out! And also why you should be applying for volunteer coordinator jobs in more than this one location.
4. Look at Specific Nonprofit Job Sites
So, next, you should start looking at different job board sites for your volunteer coordinator job. These types of sites should be more specific, and maybe not that many people know about it. This will help your application stand out easier.
But, of course, this also means fewer jobs will be available. But, start by looking at nonprofit-specific job board sites and location-specific sites. This could also include Facebook and LinkedIn groups!
The more specific, the better chance you have at matching the volunteer coordinator job description.
To see a list of specific job board sites, download our job board site breakdown list here.
5. Create Accounts For Different Job Board Sites
It is important to note which job board sites set up a profile for you when you are applying for jobs. Sometimes, job board sites have you apply and set up an automatic profile for you based on the resume you have entered into the system.
If this is the case, it is important that you make your profile better than this automatically set up one. Make sure your profile matches the effort you put into your resume. You never know which one a potential employer will see first, so make sure you make a good impression if it is your Indeed profile - or any profile for that matter!
6. Set Up Email Alerts for Volunteer Coordinator Jobs
Once you have applied for an ample amount of volunteer coordinator jobs, and you have set up profiles so organizations can see you, it is time to set up email or text notification from the job board sites that allow you to do this.
Most of these will be in your profile settings or even next to the search bar. Set up notifications to notify you when jobs are posted with “volunteer coordinator” or “nonprofit” or “volunteer manager” in the description. This will not only help you be one of the first applicants for these volunteer coordinator positions, but you will also have access to multiple different volunteer coordinator jobs delivered to your email.
7. Keep Doing This and Applying for Volunteer Coordinator Jobs That Suit You!
Remember that the more proactive you are, the better your chances. But applying for volunteer coordinator jobs is definitely more about quality than quantity. Make sure all your applications are going to be for positions that will actually allow you to work in conditions that you want to and on projects that you want to.
Hang in there and be persistent! You will get a volunteer coordinator job soon!