You might be wondering just what a cable television show about hard working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us has to do with volunteering. Well, you’re in luck.

Be open to new things. Every show, Mike Rowe takes on a new job, and he’s always willing to learn what the new job is. Just like Mike, when you volunteer you should be open to doing something new. Even if you signed up to do a certain task, keep an open mind and be willing to do something different. You never know when you’re going to stumble into your new favorite thing.

Be willing to learn something new. Mike has had over two hundred jobs where he’s had to learn how to do something new. It probably won’t take as many tries for you to find the volunteer position you love, when you’re doing something new be open to what is being asked of you – even if it’s something that you do in your every day life. If you’re asked to do something other than what you signed up to do, try it out! You can always tell the volunteer manager that it’s not your cup of tea.

You’ll never know quite what you’re getting into. You might not get covered in eel slime or charcoal dust, but you’ll never know what can happen when you’re volunteering. You might find something that you’re really passionate about or you might find something that you never knew was fun. You might meet some great new people and make some new friends.

You have to ask. At the end of every show Mike Rowe asks his viewers to send in their jobs that could fit in on the show. Mike does the same thing that any volunteer manager has to do, he asks them. If Mike didn’t ask for people to send jobs in he wouldn’t know that picking blueberries was a dirty job, and if a volunteer manager doesn’t ask people to volunteer, they probably won’t.

There’s always another job. Dirty jobs has been on for six seasons, and there doesn’t seem to be a lack of jobs for Mike to do. There’s no lack of volunteer opportunities, either. Many nonprofits wouldn’t be able to provide the level of services that they provide without the hard work and dedication of volunteers, and they can always use a hand. Don’t believe me? Check out the list of opportunities through your local HandsOn Action Center.

Each job is important. Each job Mike does exists because it’s important to the industry he’s working in. Each volunteer job is important, too. Volunteers are important to the nonprofits that they work with because they allow the nonprofit to provide services at a level that wouldn’t be possible without them. Whether those volunteers are working directly with clients or providing support behind the scenes, their work helps to improve the communities they live in.

What was your dirtiest volunteering experience? Let us know in the comments!