Doing something good for others can have widespread effects. Consider volunteering: You can enhance your talents and community relationships to build career prospects while helping others.

The key is to find a volunteer position that matches your career needs and personal passions:

• Cultural contributions. Delve into science, history, or art in a museum or historic monument. These organizations rely on volunteers to greet visitors, lead tours, and catalog inventory. Some provide ongoing training and workshops on exhibits and program-related topics. You’ll learn a lot and meet diverse people.

• Library life. If you love books and are detail oriented, your local library needs you. Volunteers help patrons find materials, shelve books and DVDs, read aloud to children, and create displays. You can discover new fields of knowledge from the materials you shelve, encounter tomes you’ve never seen, and interact with others.

• Service steward. Become a leader or ambassador — an important position in humanitarian service clubs, which bring local professionals together to help at home and abroad. Some members work on international projects, such as distributing vaccines to developing nations. Others collect fresh produce for neighborhood food pantries or restore urban parks. Join in to connect with civic and business principles, tackle issues affecting your region, and build leadership skills.

What community cause piques your interest? Explore places and groups that complement your abilities, and find time to volunteer.