Boost your resume with remote community service
In addition to applying to paid opportunities, students might consider supplementing
their summer experiences with community service.
Volunteering can be a great way to learn about yourself, boost your resume, expand your network, and stand out in future application processes. Students can also hone communication and problem solving skills, gain cultural competence, and create positive change in the world.
Sounds pretty good, right? Future employers and graduate schools will think so too.
Knowing where to find community service projects, particularly in the COVID-19 era,
can be a challenge. However, many organizations are sharing ways for volunteers to
help on a remote basis. Skidmore also has its own Office of Community Service Programs helping students to access civic engagement activities.
Here’s a sampling of opportunities that offer flexible, part-time schedules that you can do right from home with an internet connection.
- Crisis Text Line - help people in crisis; training provided
- 7 Cups – Volunteer as a “listener” for a wide range of issues, from big existential thoughts to small, day to day things we all experience; training provided.
- National Eating Disorder Assoc. Hotline – be a helpline volunteer; training provided
- Smithsonian Institution – transcribe historical documents or edit Wikipedia articles
- TED Talk Translator – be part of this global community of volunteers who subtitle TED Talks to help big ideas crisscross languages and borders
- The Trevor Project – volunteer for TrevorChat or TrevorText, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people
Additionally, be sure to check out other volunteer opportunities through these resources:
- Handshake (under Job Type, select Volunteer),
- Catchafire
- Idealist.org
- PointsofLight.org
- VolunteerMatch.org
- Volunteer.gov
Seeking additional remote opportunities? See our compiled resources for finding remote work. The Career Development Center also remains open on a remote basis. Log into Handshake to make an appointment with a career counselor.