What volunteer work do you need to do to become a lawyer?

Volunteering for a cause you care about can pay off in spades. Accord…ing to research conducted by LinkedIn, 41 percent of hiring managers consider volunteer work to be as valuable as paid work experience - and unemployed people who volunteer are 27 percent more likely to be hired than people who do not volunteer. Regardless of how you choose to volunteer, there are typically three side benefits for your career.

First, volunteering typically expands your personal network as you meet new people who may be able to help you with your future career. Secondly, the work you do while volunteering can help you build or enhance your skill sets - especially if you are given a leadership position or an assignment that requires you to learn a new technical skill. Finally, you can market what you do and showcase your volunteer work experience by including it on your resume and in your social media profiles.

This is especially helpful if you are between jobs or if you volunteer in a field in which you would like to find paid work opportunities. Here are three places where you can find out about opportunities to volunteer. The United Way is a national organization that connects community-based volunteers, contributors, and charities.

You can find a list or organizations in your own community through the United Way's state by state directory(http://apps.unitedway.org/myuw/). Launched in January 2014, the LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace site(http://volunteer.linkedin.com/) is a searchable website that allows you to identify organizations in your local area that may need volunteers. (The Volunteer Marketplace is separate from LinkedIn's main site, so search for the Volunteer Marketplace on the web - not from inside your main LinkedIn profile.

It is also important to note that organizations must pay to post volunteer positions on the Volunteer Marketplace; therefore, the list of available positions on LinkedIn is only a fraction of all the positions that are available.)When you visit the LinkedIn Marketplace, you can add information to the Volunteer Experience & Causes(https://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit-volunteering-combined?trk=Vol_LIFG_Prof_Exp) section of your regular LinkedIn profile so you can include information on interests, organizations you support, and your own experience. (If you are currently unemployed but volunteering, you may want to list your volunteer experience under your primary LinkedIn experience section so that you demonstrate that you are staying busy. To ensure that you don't misrepresent yourself, you should indicate that the position is a volunteer one in the position description.)Idealist(http://www.idealist.org/) is a global website that includes on-going volunteer opportunities, jobs and internships and one-time events.

Idealist also has a Careers website, Idealist Careers(http://idealistcareers.org/) that contains job listings for social impact careers. While volunteering may not pay the bills, it can help open doors for opportunities that can. Spending your time advancing causes you care about is also a proven way to build new connections, increase your personal happiness and expand your network.

Whether you have 30 hours a week or two hours a month, there are many potential benefits to contributing your time and talents.