What happens after online volunteering depends on the person, the work and the opportunities available afterwards. Published UNV accounts describe volunteers who later took onsite assignments, as well as someone who volunteered alongside an existing career. Together, they offer a more useful picture than treating every assignment as an audition for a job.
Three reported paths at a glance
UNV published these individual accounts in 2024 and 2017. They describe different starting points and later experiences, rather than a guaranteed sequence from volunteering to employment.12
| Volunteer | Contribution | Reported next step |
|---|---|---|
| Nazlı Özdil | SDG classification support and other online assignments | An onsite UNICEF Türkiye evaluation assignment |
| Hassan Ngala | Python and SDG data-processing work | An onsite UNEP assignment in Kenya |
| Lisa Zielinski | Editing communications materials remotely | Volunteering alongside her existing Canadian government job |
Previous work became useful in a new role
UNV's January 2024 profile of Nazlı Güzin Özdil describes six online assignments, including support for an SDG classification tool with UNDP's SDG AI Lab. She had a teaching background and a master's in social policy. The profile later places her in an onsite Evaluation Specialist assignment with UNICEF Türkiye.1
The most revealing detail comes after that move. When a UNICEF project could benefit from the lab's expertise, Özdil connected the teams she knew through her earlier collaboration.1 Her previous experience remained useful because she understood the work and the people involved.
Özdil knew what the lab could contribute because she had worked with its team. Her account illustrates a practical form of professional connection: knowing whose expertise could help with a new problem. The value lay in that understanding, rather than simply having another contact.
A statistician carried technical experience into another assignment
The same UNV feature describes Hassan Samini Ngala, already a statistician, supporting data work for UNDP Türkiye. He helped build Python processes to collect and prepare Sustainable Development Goal data. UNV reported that he subsequently took an onsite data and information-management assignment with UNEP in Kenya.1
His background matters to the story. He was contributing existing technical skills, not beginning an automatic route from a short volunteer task to specialist employment. The published account identifies a later assignment but does not show how much each part of his prior experience influenced selection.
For a student considering similar work, Ngala’s experience raises a useful question: which part of the assignment could you explain and demonstrate afterwards? Collecting data, checking it and writing software are distinct contributions. Describe the part you completed rather than relying on a broad project title.
Volunteering also fitted alongside an established career
Lisa Zielinski's October 2017 account for UNV describes a different purpose. She edited communications and promotional materials for UNV in Liberia while working full-time for the Government of Canada in Ottawa. Her contribution drew on previous communications, policy and nonprofit editing experience.2
She valued editing other volunteers' accounts and interacting with colleagues in Liberia. Her story describes learning and contribution alongside an existing job, rather than a subsequent appointment.2
The contrast is useful when deciding what you want from volunteering. Relevant practice, service to a cause and professional exchange may matter even when you are not seeking a new employer. Assess the assignment against your purpose instead of measuring every outcome by whether it produces a contract.
A completed task is not a recruitment decision
Online volunteers are unpaid and are not under contract with, or affiliated with, UNV or the host organisation. Current UNV guidance describes feedback and a certificate of appreciation at the end of the collaboration.3 Those recognise the contribution; they do not create a later appointment.
For onsite assignments, UNV directs candidates to apply to descriptions matching their qualifications, skills and experience.4 If you apply, describe the earlier work accurately and assess the new requirements separately. A successful volunteer project can give you evidence to discuss without making you eligible for every subsequent role.
What to keep when the assignment ends
Ask the project contact which parts of the output were useful and what needed improvement. With permission, keep an appropriate work sample or a non-confidential description. Avoid retaining materials simply because you helped produce them.
- Record the task and the part you personally completed.
- Note the methods or tools you used and the feedback received.
- Distinguish a completed output from any impact you have not measured.
- Ask whether the contact is willing to confirm your contribution before naming them as a reference.
Choose your next step from the experience
If the work clarified an interest, use it to choose your next project, training or application. If it exposed a gap, make that gap specific enough to address. If it fitted poorly around other commitments, that is relevant learning too.
The guide to choosing online volunteering alongside university helps assess a task before starting. The experiences above show why it is worth knowing your own aim: the next step may be a new assignment, but the value of the work need not depend on one.
