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You may like the idea of giving back to the community, but are already stressed by your commitments to family, work, and an overflowing inbox. However, it is possible to do your part and be of service to others in addition to the work you do from 9 to 5 (and sometimes longer). Here are some tips on how to squeeze volunteer work into your busy life:

Commit to Realistic Projects
Volunteering on projects that genuinely excite you will keep you thinking about volunteering throughout the day. Sometimes, figuring out how to prioritize your life can help you make time you didn’t realize you had. It can be helpful to find an organization that is deliverable-oriented so you feel productive in the time you spend volunteering. Make sure you’re realistic in the time you can commit to an organization. Over commitment can be stressful and make your experience less enjoyable­­—not to mention the cause you’re helping out with will suffer as well.

Try Voluntourism
Taking time off from work to spend a few weeks out of the year abroad serving a community half a world away enables you to give back in a big way. Instead of committing to weekly service or even monthly, voluntourism can enable you to get away with no other obligations but the program you’re serving.

Volunteer Online
There are online services that need volunteers to help virtually. Volunteering remotely can be less time intensive because you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Remote volunteering is anything from online mentoring to donating your unique skills to nonprofits. Find ways to volunteer remotely on iCouldBe.

Include Loved Ones
Sometimes it’s hard to find a work-life balance, but it’s essential for your mental health to establish. A productive way to give back can be through encouraging your family to volunteer with you. For example, serving dinner at a local shelter together enables you to break bread with those in need as well as with the ones you love most.

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Whether you’re fitting in volunteer work between your paid job, or you’re between jobs volunteering in the community, adding this experience to your resume can help show a more well-rounded picture of who you are. Volunteer work can show that you are proactive in creating change you feel passionately about. This is typically a sought-after trait that companies look for in the pool of applicants.

Whichever industry you’re pursuing a position in, there are transferable skills you can take away from volunteer work. Be it event planning, management, or customer service, you can glean a variety of skills from serving the community. Just showing up to volunteer regularly can show that you are a motivated self-starter.

Highlighting experience on your resume is an art form; there’s no secret sauce to making the perfect resume that’ll get you hired. However, there are ways to make your resume stand out using specific phrases and professional formatting.

Creating a header called “Related Experience” can encompass various paid positions as well as volunteer. As long as you can articulate a skill you developed during your time volunteering, it belongs on your resume.

Quantify your effect on the organization using numbers. Include how many people’s lives you impacted, if you helped them save or generate a significant amount of money, or even if you just increased their follower account on social media.

Use active verbs. Never rely on overused verbiage like “worked” or “assisted”. Instead, begin bullet points with “coordinated” “directed”. For a great list of resume specific action verbs, click here.

If your volunteer work is less relevant to the position you are seeking, don’t leave it out just because it doesn’t fit under “Related Experience”. Recruiters are looking for individuals who live multifaceted lives, and a unique experience can help your resume stand out amongst the rest.

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There are countless resources online to help you find the right program to get you out into the world and helping those in need. You should consider your budget, your cause, and the location you’d like to serve. There are programs that may claim to be free, but you should be wary of programs that sound too good to be true. There are, however, ways to reduce the amount of money you invest in an abroad volunteer trip if cost is what’s holding you back.

The Truth About “Free” Programs

Though some volunteer programs may claim to be free, they are likely referring to a waived participation fee. It’s common that you’ll still find yourself paying for transportation, housing, and food. However, you may still find programs that’ll utilize grant money that covers everything but transportation. These programs are typically more long term.

How to Reduce Expenses

• Buy Cheap Airfare: look for tickets as far away from the departure date as possible for a good deal. Many believe that Tuesday late afternoon is the perfect time to find an inexpensive flight. Comparing prices in a private browser can also help. Avoid purchasing flights that depart on Fridays and Sundays.
• Crowdsource: Subsidizing your trip with donations from friends and family can be a great help. Include a compelling letter outlining why you’ll be volunteering and how a donation could help the mission.
• Apply for scholarships: there are several scholarship programs for those who want to teach English internationally. Getting certified to teach English in a foreign country can cost a few hundred dollars, but it could equate to thousands of dollars in grants or scholarships.
• Explore options: Compare programs and compile a list of possible expenses that may pop up while you’re volunteering. Different geographic locations may also be more expensive than others.

Online Resources

• Freevolunteering.net – A great starting point to find programs with no participation fee
• Helpstay.com – Hosts list their volunteer opportunities and the housing arrangement included in exchange for your work.
• Wwoof.net – find a location to work and live as an organic farmer
• Movingworlds.org – sign up for access to their volunteer database and Global Fellowship application.

Finding a place to volunteer abroad is a decision that should be made with a lot of research. Take your time when considering the location and amount of time you’d like to dedicate to the cause. Working with a vetted organization that is experienced in guiding volunteers can help put your mind at ease.

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Before you embark on a new volunteer opportunity, you’ll want to make sure the mission is something you’ll feel strongly about. More specifically, you’ll want to be sure your skillset will enable you to fit in and help in a meaningful way. Simply showing up and being of service to someone might not afford you an immersive experience that can be mutually beneficial to you and the organization. You’ll want to identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and how they can impact the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Here are five types of volunteers and the organizations that line up with those skillsets:

1.  Local Thinker You’re the type of person who feels like the problems you see in your community are solvable with a little elbow grease. You love the idea of civic engagement, like to vote in local elections, and listen to your neighbors when they come to you with problems they see in the community. You’ll do great at an organization whose sole mission is to impact the place where you live. International or national organizations may have goals that are too lofty for your to wrap your head around, and you should look for opportunities with local youth groups, animal shelters, environmental groups, or even joining a local politician’s election campaign.
2. Global Actor You watch the news and feel a deep sense of connection with someone who lives thousands of miles away, but you still feel a drive to help them. You feel that technology has created a more level playing field for people to interact from across the globe and that it’s a beautiful thing. You’ll feel a sense of purpose at a multinational nonprofit like those through the United Nations, the Peace Corps, well digging charities, or a religious international missionary group.
3. Organizer You put action into your own hands: you’re independent and have the spirit of a social entrepreneur. No problem is too big or too small and you’re great at delegating and managing the big picture. You should start an initiative of your own under the umbrella of another nonprofit, or even think about establishing one of your own, given your financial and time constraints. Often, large organizations are looking to open new chapters in cities, or local organizations need self-starters to manage smaller programs. Find a cause you feel passionately about and get started.
4. Creative You live outside the box. You’ve taken a non-traditional approach to life and think of innovative ways to solve issues. You’re optimistic and artistic and are able to be compassionate in the way you teach a craft to others. You should look for ways to give back through art therapy, directing a choir, teaching underprivileged youth an instrument, or even doing nature tours with meditation. The world is your oyster!
5. Technical Problem Solver You like numbers and data and are timid about interacting with a population you’re unfamiliar with, but nonetheless would like to help. Your profession is all about being behind the scenes and you can come up with creative solutions that your coworkers hadn’t thought of before. You should look for volunteer opportunities as office help or tech support. You can help prep for an event like chopping vegetables at a soup kitchen or creating a social media campaign for an organization.

Whatever type of volunteer you are, you can be a catalyst for change in your community. Explore https://www.volunteermatch.org/ to find an opportunity that is right for you.

Dr. Barbara Edwards Princeton is an internist with a passion for volunteering and living your healthiest life.