Volunteerism Should Count
The entry of more women of all ages into the work force is having a side effect never anticipated: Experience gained through volunteer work is finally being taken seriously by some, though hardly all, employers. Employers have finally got the message that many women looking for work for the first time after raising families have valuable skills to offer corporations and governments even if they have not held paying jobs.
Women traditionally have been the parents who did not enter the work force or who dropped out to raise children. Often they volunteered their services for part-time tasks, as aides in hospitals or as program coordinators. Yet employers, looking for work history and skills, took a long time to recognize that volunteer work is fit experience for what society considers “real” jobs.
A group called the Involvement Corps has been working locally to help volunteers and businesses understand one another better. The effort is paying off: A recent Chamber of Commerce survey shows that 11 of the top 17 employers in the greater Los Angeles area recognize volunteer experience in hiring. They include Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles city government, UCLA, Rockwell International, Pacific Bell, TRW, Bank of America, Security Pacific National Bank, Kaiser Permanente and all Carter Hawley Hale stores. The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee is a prime example of a group that learned the value of the volunteers who made the 1984 Summer Games the success that they were.
The Involvement Corps asks employers to make room for volunteer experience on job applications, and helps volunteers translate their efforts into terms that employers understand. It also seeks congressional endorsement of the importance of volunteerism through a joint resolution introduced earlier this year by Rep. Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the key House Education and Labor Committee. The resolution points out that volunteers provide more than $65 billion in services each year, and it urges governments and private employers to consider volunteer experience in making hiring decisions.
It is a public service when people are willing and able to work in a community without pay. That public-service experience certainly should count when they want to work with pay.
