Opportunities for learning and enhancing your resume in these tough times.

Times are tough for all of us out in the hinterlands. Stop looking at the news. Folks in Washington D.C. and New York are dreaming about the good old days and by wishing so, they hope to bring them back.

But I say, good days are for those looking forward not looking back. There are great opportunities for young professionals as the world resets its economic models.

But if times are tight, and my company is not providing training, and there are no opportunities to learn new skills and then demonstrate them to my bosses, what can I do to enhance my future career?

Use your project management skills and knowledge by VOLUNTEERING to manage projects for your church, social group, community, governments, NGO, etc.

In our connected world you don't even need to travel. In 2004 I mentored several project managers who were working on projects in Afghanistan after the war. We met in Hiroshima, Japan to prepare for the projects and then we stayed connected through email, synchronous chats, and regular teleconferences (from Geneva to Phoenix to Kabul). One project resulted in a new girls school for a small village, another project resulted in a rug manufacturing facility.

A particularly good way to help your career is to find a community or charitable project that your bosses have been supporting and then get on board. When my project managers found out I was working with a group planning a "sun deck" for the Sisters of Mercy Hospice, they were more than eager to show their stuff.

One caveat, managing volunteers is the hardest thing to do. (Harder than herding cats, and I herd five cats, twice a day, in my back yard, and one of them is a runner!)

On the flip side, if you can get a project launched and completed with volunteers, you clearly demonstrate that you have leadership, organizational and persuasive skills.

Volunteers can't be fired (except for really egregious behavior and you know what that is) and you can't pay them a bonus. If they are adults, you can rarely bully them, and if you do bully them into submission, you will never have those folks for volunteers again. (and you won't have their friends either).

Volunteer projects are slippery eels, and they are not always done on schedule, within budgets or even to the satisfaction of the recipient. Lots of times, when for reasons beyond our control,(sometimes its the client fault) you fail and your clients don't show compassion or understanding When that happens I just chalk it up to the clients "bad karma" problems and move on. If you think you can fix the problem easily, try to, but don't waste psychic energy trying to make everything perfect, just move on.

After you have successfully completed your volunteer management role:

• You will be in great demand, so make sure you don't over commit.(That's easy to do.)
• Strategically, take on projects that will give you new viewers, new skills and are fun for you.
• Toot your own horn lightly. (Make sure your bosses learn about this in a natural way.)
• Make sure everyone who contributed is acknowledged, even those who got in the way, or contributed less than they thought they did.
• Put the success and the skills demonstrated in your resume.
• Don't get upset if others get the credit.
• Don't worry if the systems you set up are ignored in future projects. Just consider future projects and opportunity for someone else to learn something.

One final caveat that I learned from my wife. Make usre you find suitable roles for yoru volunteers adn never, ever let your volunteers be abused by your clients or other members of the team.

Thats a good way to hurt gentle souls, especially if they care about the project and they want to help.