It’s the start of a brand new year! And one of the best things you can do for yourself and your career is to start volunteering for a professional organization. By offering a little of your time, you can find a path into a community of passionate PMs and Agilists who can provide support, coaching and mentoring to you as you progress in your career.

In this episode of the podcast Agile Coach, Reese Schmit shares her story of how she got involved in helping out with Burning Flipside (an Austin, TX-based Burning Man event), how that led her to start volunteering for local Agile and User Groups and how that led her to become part of the team of folks who plan and run the Scrum Gathering.

In the interview, Reese shares her experience of volunteering and how that work has not only helped her create valuable experiences for others but has also helped her develop a wide network of seasoned professionals in the Agile space and all the benefits that can provide.

I have talked about this in previous podcasts but volunteering is one of the best investments you can make in your career. It is about giving back to your professional community, but it is also about finding the group of people who might be able to help you land your next gig.

So why not start off 2020 by reaching out to a local group, PMI, the Scrum Alliance or the Agile Alliance and find a way to invest in yourself by giving back to the community.

Here are some links to help you get started:

Volunteering for PMI https://www.pmi.org/membership/volunteer/opportunities

Volunteering for the Scrum Alliance https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-involved

Volunteering for the Agile Alliance https://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/volunteer-signup/

Meetup.com is a great place to start searching for local professional groups who could probably use your help. https://www.meetup.com

Contacting Reese

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reeseschmit/

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/reesendesist