Giving Time While Searching for Work

During the weekly meetings of the Searching for Work group at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, one topic that has come up is the idea of volunteering while you search for work.

Jim McAdoo, a professional recruiter, who is the group's moderator, stresses the idea of volunteering for several reasons. He notes it can provide structure during the unemployment period along with allowing someone to channel skills into a new field. He has stressed the importance of skills from volunteer positions in gaining another full time position.

During the discussions, Rev. Mike Samson, the church's associate pastor, had mentioned to the group that a test exists to gauge the areas where someone is strongest in the volunteer arena. Samson said the Hauck Spiritual Gifts Inventory is used mainly to determine volunteer service in a religious setting but many of the skills identified can be used for secular volunteer work. After mentioning the test, group members asked Samson for the test, which he distributed last week for return this week.

"It is for the purpose of helping people find out where there gifts are," Samson said. "It is the same way a Myers Briggs test will help you."

The test contains 200 questions with answers being judged on a five point scale from 'not at all' to 'most of the time.' The numeric answers from each question are used to determine scores for each of the 20 gifts. Ten questions are grouped together for each group to determine the final score in the group area. The top scores allow determination of the best groups.

The gift groups are: proclamation, servanthood, teaching the faith, encouragement, generosity, nurturing leadership, mercy, wisdom, knowing, faith, healings, miracles, discernment, tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostleship, helping, visionary and managing leadership, evangelism and shepherding.

Samson explained since the test is used in a variety of denominations, the tongues section is for those areas. It is unlikely to be used for volunteer work in the Presbyterian Church.

"The test will help you find out where best to serve," Samson said. "I encourage you to take this to find ways to use your time while you search for work."

The distribution of the test allowed for a brief discussion on time management and how it is tough during the searching for work phase of life. Several members noted that without the structure of a regular job it is tougher to manage time and to find ways to fit in many things. The idea of channeling time into a volunteer position appealed to people as a way to fill time when not looking for work. Samson stressed to use the time wisely now.

"For all of you this is a transitional period," he said. "There will come a time again where your time will be sparse."

Editor's Note: This is part of a continuing series on the Searching for Work group at the Presbyterian Church in Westfield.