Guest post by Olivia Ryan

Whether through a job interview, a business deal, or simply a first interaction, you may have noticed: the first impression always counts. When talking specifically about volunteer interviews, there’s one important trait that will always impress: your motivation.

There are lots of fantastic reasons to volunteer. You can help a person or cause, make a difference in your community, build lifelong friendships, and more.

Did you know, however, that volunteer work can have a significant (and positive!) impact on your career and your future? Whether you’re trying to get into college, attempting to land your first post-college job, or looking to move up in the workplace, here are five reasons volunteering is great for career development.

Companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%. Surprising?

It’s simple: when your employees aren’t engaged, they aren’t productive, and employee retention drops. Employees may begin to explore outside opportunities if they sense that their current role with your company isn’t — and isn’t about to become — fulfilling.

Guest post by Nicole Boyer

Volunteering is more than spending one’s time actively participating in selfless acts or activities that benefit other people. It has a greater impact on society as a whole. Volunteers are of great help to the community as they immerse themselves in a pool of opportunities. These opportunities are one reason why we need to encourage more students to volunteer.

Guest post by Nicole Boyer

It isn’t always easy to attract volunteers to help with your cause. There are just so many different nonprofits out there nowadays competing for the same pool of people that it can be hard to find new volunteers.

For that reason, you’ve got to think outside-the-box: come up with ways that not everybody is leveraging. Not feeling that creative?

Here are few ideas to help you get started.

Guest Post by Mila Sanchez

It’s easy to think about volunteering in places like hospitals, food banks, schools, and animal humane societies, but some places that are commonly overlooked [and could really use volunteers] are prisons.

Guest post by Ermina Veljacic

Employee disengagement can prevent your business from reaching success. According to a Gallup survey in 2011, approximately 71 percent of American employees are disengaged at work, and 19 percent are actively disengaged. This lack of employee engagement is alarming, and it negatively impacts your business.

The Gallup report also showed that organizations with high employee engagement have 3.9 times the growth rate for earnings per share than other companies with lower engagement in the same industry. Many in the business world consider employee disengagement one of the top three business threats. The good news? Employee volunteer programs can easily increase employee engagement.

As a small business, finding ways to engage your employees is important. For example, chefs from your local restaurant may volunteer together at a soup kitchen to strengthen their relationships as a team and with the community. Or, perhaps your dog daycare’s employees enjoy spending time working together at your town’s shelter.

Next week is National Volunteer Week, and we hope you’ll join us and spend some time thinking about the significant role volunteers have played, and are still playing, in our country overall. In the days to come, we’re going to be focusing on volunteer engagement, recognition, inspiration and more. But first, let’s consider just how deeply volunteering is a part of who we are as a nation.