Find Career-Focused Volunteer Opportunities in High School

Students have a variety of options for beefing up their college applications. They can participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities, find a hobby, start a business or volunteer.

Some states require high school students to complete a certain number of community service hours to graduate. But for college applicants, volunteering has it benefits -- even when it's not required.

High schools students can give back to their communities, diversify their resume for college applications and get an inside look into potential career paths through service learning.

As the holiday season approaches there will be many opportunities for students to donate time and goods to make the holidays more comfortable for less fortunate families. Those experiences benefit the community and can make students appear to be a well-rounded applicants. For long-term obligations, students should look for opportunities that align with their career interests, experts say.

[Learn how to incorporate jobs and hobbies into college applications.]

Students should be able to use their academics, extracurriculars, and community service to create a clear, coherent picture for admissions officers about who they are and what they want out of life, says Jayme Stewart, director of college guidance at York Prep, a private college prep high school in New York.

Volunteering can give students an inside look at the reality of working day-to-day in specific jobs. That exposure can help students determine if they're on the right track and help students narrow their focus if they're considering multiple careers, she says.

"If you want to be a doctor, then you want to work in a hospital in the summer and you want to do some volunteering in the winter at a hospital," Stewart says. "If you want to be a teacher, then you generally want to be a camp counselor."

Career-focused community service can also help prevent students from wasting time and money in college preparing for a career they won't enjoy.

"If they don't like it, it's a good thing," Stewart says. "Better to find out early."

[Find ways to turn your community service into college cash.]

Volunteering as a junior and senior in high school helped Nicole Comanzo, 20, choose a career.

Comanzo volunteered once or twice a week working with children at Gilda's Club in Rochester, New York. The organization provides social and emotional support for cancer patients and their families. She also volunteered as a camp counselor at the club's summer camp.

Comanzo bounced between the idea of becoming a teacher, like her mother, or choosing a field that would allow to express her more artistic side, like communications or advertising. Her experience working with children at the camp pushed her toward teaching.

"I think it was the whole experience just working with them everyday and seeing that you can make a difference in their lives," she says. "You see how bright their faces get when they walk in and see you there. That kind of made me realize that I wanted to work with kids everyday and make a difference in kids' lives."

Now, Camanzo is a junior at SUNY College--Oneonta, where she studies childhood education.

Websites like dosomething.org can help students find fun and engaging community service options. But, it may take more than a Google search to find the right volunteer opportunity.

"You can look all day on the Internet and come up empty," says Leslee Brooks, a private academic consultant who helps students prepare and apply for high school, college and graduate school. "I think you're less likely to have that happen if you're speaking to, I don't know, a local business person," she says.

Students can pick up the phone or email local entities such as museums, law offices, businesses, hospitals, sports facilities, music stations, zoos and vet clinics for volunteer opportunities. Schools may have information on local businesses that need help, and students can reach out to family members who may know of opportunities at their companies or other businesses.

"We have so many resources, sometimes right in own neighborhood." Brooks says.

It can be more difficult for students to find volunteer opportunities that align directly with some career paths, due to the amount of training that's required, experts say. But students can ask their guidance counselors for advice on finding opportunities that match their interests.

"A lot of places that are looking for interns or volunteers will contact a local high school," says Brooks. "Their guidance counselors have tons of different opportunities that arrive in their offices all the times."

It's important for students to commit to organizations and do things that interest them.

[Get tips on how to land a summer internship as a high school student.]

"We always recommend at least one heavy community service which they've done for at least two or three years, York Prep's Stewart says.

Students shouldn't hop between unrelated short-term opportunities, she says.

"To join a club or a community service for a year looks immature, and it looks superficial."

Volunteering at a business may not seem as altruistic as feeding the poor or working at a shelter, but experts say that focusing on career interests can encourage students to give back even after college applications are submitted.

"It is community service, because it's reaching out. You're not getting paid, you're not getting credit, but you're doing something that, God willing, is going to help you pick your life ambition which is ultimately going to be your greatest community service," Stewart says.

At SUNY College--Oneonta, Comanzo volunteers on her campus and in the community with her sorority. And, when she can, she still volunteers as a summer counselor for Gilda's Club.

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Briana Boyington is an education Web producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at bboyington@usnews.com.