<aside> 📋 As part of our mission to democratize access to career advice, CareerVillage.org puts Learners' needs first. That's why we maintain additional standards of quality for Professionals who seek documentation of their service to Learners on CareerVillage. Please read the following page carefully before submitting your intent to earn volunteer credit.
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Virtual volunteerism has been more widely adopted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as a valid avenue to complete required service hours for a school, club/organization, government benefits, or a court of law. Without the typical ability to oversee volunteers on an in-person basis, this shift puts organizations with remote volunteers (such as online nonprofits like CareerVillage) at greater risk of exploitation.
CareerVillage.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and was not founded for the purpose of providing credit or other in-kind rewards to volunteers. Our primary function is the service we provide to Learners, and we hope our volunteers feel the same way. Recognizing the necessity for virtual volunteering opportunities that will award service hours, CareerVillage.org is now practicing stricter guidelines for how we distribute formal documentation of volunteer service.
We take formal verification of volunteer service very seriously, just as in-person nonprofits do for their volunteers. While virtual volunteering is much more accessible than in-person options, answering questions on CareerVillage should NOT be considered an “easier option” for fulfilling these types of requirements.
If you are interested in completing a volunteering requirement on CareerVillage.org, please read the following policy carefully. You will agree to this policy as part of the Intent Form.
Only volunteers who require documentation or verification of volunteer service need to adhere to this policy.
Advance Notice: Volunteers must FIRST submit the Intent Form before writing advice on CareerVillage.org for credit. Any advice posted prior to submitting this form is not eligible for volunteer credit.
Credit Hours: CareerVillage will certify 15 minutes of volunteer credit per 1 piece of career advice written on CareerVillage.org. These 15 minutes will only be awarded for advice that adheres to our Volunteer Credit Policy AND our Community Guidelines. In addition, low-quality advice will not be awarded the full 15 minutes.
Employees of Corporate Partners: If you registered or plan to register on CareerVillage.org as an employee of one of our corporate partners, you are strongly encouraged to share this relationship with the third party supervising your volunteering requirement. CareerVillage is not responsible for any conflicts that arise between the supervising third party, the individual volunteer, their employer, or any combination therein as a result of your employment status under one of our corporate partners.
Privacy: We collect limited personal information from you as part of the Intent Form, and sometimes on your Request for Documentation, depending on the method you choose to have your hours reported. On the Intent Form, we will ask for your:
legal first and last name*
email address to reach you
email associated with your CareerVillage account (if different)
*You are required to certify that you have completed the form under your true identity. Submitting false documentation of volunteer service can be a felony for the volunteer and/or the organization certifying volunteer hours, which is why we require you to provide your real name. CareerVillage will not attest to volunteer service performed by someone other than the individual whose name is submitted on the Intent Form.
The Request Form does not ask for any new personal information not already provided on the Intent Form. However, you may need to provide contact information for someone else if you need documentation sent externally, such as to a supervisor.
All CareerVillage.org users should review the Terms and Conditions as well as our Privacy Policy.
Certain personal information is requested as part of the Sign Up process on CareerVillage.org, but much of this information is optional. You may use any information you would like on your public CareerVillage profile, even if it does not match what you provide in the Intent Form.
Minimum Quality Requirements: Central to this policy is the standard of quality that we require of your written career advice in order for it to be counted for documented service credit. Every answer MUST adhere to the following in order to be counted for volunteer hours: