If you lost your job, your best path back into the working world may be connecting with a local volunteer agency.
Kayla Paulson, who grew up in Marion and now lives in Robins, experienced this first hand. After being laid off in the seniors health care industry, Paulson became a "professional volunteer" helping at a number of non-profits, including the Alzheimer's Association and Linn County Triad.
One connection led to another, and she learned of a job opening as volunteer program coordinator at the United Way of East Central Iowa and had some great references.
"For me, a volunteer cordinator, being able to have some volunteer experience really helped out," Paulson said.
Paulson said non-profits have always known this, but they now have some data to back it up.
A new report finds that volunteers have a 27 percent better chance of finding work than those that don't volunteer. For those without a high school diploma or live in rural areas, volunteering increases the odds drastically, 51 percent and 55 percent, respectively.
This comes from “Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment: Does Volunteering Increase Odds of Finding a Job for the Out of Work?" which is a report from the Research & Evaluation Office within the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency for service and volunteering.
The report uses empirical research to explore the relationship between volunteering and employment, according to its methodology.
Gaining new skills, expanding your social network and getting a foot in the door at place you eventually work are among the ways the volunteering helps.
"For somebody that's fresh out of collage it gives them opportunity to get some professional experience, help out a non-profit, build their portfolio and maybe get a nice recommendation from an executive director and build some nice connections," Paulson said.
The unemployment rate in Linn County as of April is 4.6 percent, compared to a 4.7 percent rate statewide.
People looking for volunteer opportunities in the Marion or Linn County area may want to check out Serve.gov or United Way of East Central Iowa.
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