<p>So there's a local music store that i'm take lessons from, and the other day the owner asked me if i would help out around the store sometimes. I said ok, so now i'm going to start helping out around the store. Would this count as volunteer work? I'm not really helping anyone, per se, but i don't think it would count as job experience. Could it count as volunteer work? Or would it count as an unpaid internship? Which would Universities like better?</p>
<p>better yet, what do YOU like better</p>
<p>Depends - is it just crap work or do you need a little brains for it?</p>
<p>Volunteer. An internship is more professional, and you have specific hours, duties and deadlines to get them done by (in a real internship, anyway, not a resume-padder).</p>
<p>@NY
there is a lot of brains to it, i have to understand a lot of tech stuff, in terms of electronics and such and have to be able to explain it to costomers</p>
<p>@Karajanhra
it is semi-professional, although i don't know how you could have deadlines in a music store. I do have duties and probably specific hours though.</p>
<p>i guess my question is that can it count as volunteer service even if I'm volunteering for a profit-based organization as opposed to a nonprofit organization like libraries, soup kitches, the red cross, etc?</p>
<p>I would consider it volunteer; you are using your time with out being paid to help someone out using your skills.</p>
<p>thnx guys for the answers, i guess i'll count it as volunteer work</p>
<p>I'm curious: Why would you choose to work for free at a music store? Seems like you're getting ripped off to me. Usually when business owners need help, they hire people.</p>
<p>If you were working to get free music lessons, I'd consider it possibly a good deal, but I don't see any reason otherwise to work for a music store for free. If you were working for a law firm or politician that would be different -- more like an internship since normally h.s. students wouldn't get hired by such places.</p>
<p>For profit, unpaid internship. I also wonder why you would work for free at a music school, unless you are getting free lessons in exchange, then you would be bartering. Most people consider volunteering for non-profit organization.</p>
<p>i'd really rather have volunteer hours right now. for HS, i have a total of... 40 i think. For college my theme is sort of going to be music, so i thought that having a volunteer activity in that area would help me on my app. Do any of you have suggestions about what i would do? I have a very good relationship with the owner of the store, so I thought that i would help him out...</p>
<p>If you want to volunteer in music, why not volunteer by helping with a local music group (such as ushering, helping with fundraising) or by teaching music lessons to some disadvantaged kid? If you do work for free at the music store, trade your work for lessons.</p>
<p>Normally people running shops like music stores pay people to help them. Normally, too, working for free isn't considered volunteer work unless you're doing something for a nonprofit. Providing free labor for a business is considered at best an internship (if it's at a place that normally wouldn't hire help with your experience and education), at worst being exploited.</p>
<p>I would say that either one it is you put your whole heart into doing the job you love</p>
<p>you need to get a letter from the manager at the music store saying how well you did and what your help meant to him</p>
<p>cause with out a letter, you'll just be another kid doing meaningless jobs in the community</p>
<p>plus I would advice doing 500 + of community service / interships if you want a scholarship</p>
<p>p.s. do it at a hospital, that is the main place colleges look</p>
<p>p.s.s it has been so long since I used this site 2+ years, that I forgot my old account, this just brings back lots of good memories</p>
<p>Hospitals aren't the main places that colleges look when it comes to community service. What impresses colleges about community service is what one accomplishes in that service whether that's making a difference in the life of a kid whom one has tutored, raising money for an organization, designing a web page for a nonprofit or instituting a series of workshops for an organization. I know students who've gotten into top colleges or have gotten nice merit aid who had done those kinds of service.</p>
<p>Many students do "community service" at hospitals and other places that let the students just sit around and take up space. (Of course, the students who just take up space tend to be students who also aren't that interested in community service, but are just racking up hours). That's not the kind of CS that colleges are impressed by.</p>
<p>IMO, volunteer work is done for the sake of charity, or at least a non-profit organization like school or parks. </p>
<p>Your experience is helping a commercial business. I'd call that an internship.</p>
<p>would it be better if i gave free music lessons for the under-privelaged?</p>
<p>i would rather do that, but my community doesn't have a program that i can sign up for. I'd love to do it, but i don't know how to get started :</p>
<p>How to give free music lessons for the underprivileged? Make the offer at places like community centers or Boys and Girls Clubs that serve the underprivileged. You could volunteer and teach music at a place like that once a week or so. Even if the kids don't have instruments, you could teach singing. You also could even raise money to buy some instruments for the kids to play. Perhaps some music groups that you're currently in would help fundraise.</p>
<p>Be creative. If you have a genuine interest in doing this, you'll find a way to accomplish it.</p>
<p>^ thanks for the great tips</p>