Thank you for your interest in volunteering with WSOS!
By signing up to volunteer, you will join a dedicated community focused on helping the next generation prepare and launch their careers in Washington state.
Volunteer opportunities
Option 1: Mentor a Scholar
Mentor a Baccalaureate Scholar and/or a Career & Technical Scholar during one or both Skills that Shine cycles. Support your mentee’s career readiness and professional growth through conversations about networking, interviewing, resume building, career exploration, and other workplace skills.
Mentorship cycles:
• October 1 – December 15, 2026
• February 1 – April 30, 2027
Mentor registration is open September 1 – September 30, 2026.
Time investment: Meet with your mentee at least twice during cycle, virtually or in person.
Option 2: Review & score essays
Every time we open a scholarship application, we receive hundreds of applications from talented Washington students. You would review and score applicants’ short answers to help WSOS select the next cohort of STEM, trade, and health care leaders.
Time investment: Three to four hours
Volunteer Matching
Use the search tool below to find out if your employer offers volunteer match programs — and get access to everything you need to get started.
Mentor a Scholar with Skills that Shine
The Skills that Shine mentorship program connects working individuals with Opportunity Scholars to help build their career-readiness skills. Mentors and mentees are provided with guides to help them navigate the program, with possible topics like networking, interviewing, and building a resume.
By becoming a mentor, you can play an essential role in supporting Scholars in their career development journey.
The details:
- The mentorship program runs from October – December and February – May. Mentors meet with their mentees a minimum of two times per cycle.
- You will mentor a Scholar pursuing credentials in STEM, health care, technology, manufacturing, or the trades.
- Scholars range from recent high school graduates to students entering college a few years later and are from every corner of Washington state.
”Giving back as a mentor required me to articulate my job function, professional goals and my company’s vision. Mentorship requires you to reflect and have thoughtful discussions, which promotes self-growth. It feels good knowing you are a valuable role model.”
– Mason, Skills that Shine mentor, engineer
“The mentorship program helped me work on my weaknesses and helped me develop my computer science skills… I am proud to be a Washington State Opportunity Scholar.”
— Yusuf, Opportunity Scholar alum
Become an essay reviewer
Each student applying for a scholarship writes short-answer essays as part of the application process. By signing up as an essay reviewer, you’ll help carefully review and score each essay to help select the next generation of Washington leaders!
Reviewing applicant essays is a great way to learn about the next generation of Washington leaders and help advance the WSOS mission. We receive a lot of applications, and community volunteers are necessary to ensure each application gets the time it deserves.
The details:
- Volunteers share that reviewing essays typically takes them three to four hours.
- You will be provided with a scoring rubric and training on how to score applicant responses.
- Once all applications are received, you will receive an email with a link to view your batch of applicant essays that are ready to be scored.
Note: Some applicant essays can include triggering or difficult topics.
”I’ve been so impressed and humbled by
the [students] I have seen who, thanks to
this incredible program, have managed to
juggle all those things while still thriving,
growing, and engaging.”
– Douglas Lepar, WSOS Volunteer, Consumer Sales Director, Microsoft
Frequently asked questions
Am I qualified to be a volunteer?
Volunteers range from recent Opportunity Scholar alums to seasoned professionals and retirees — and everyone in between.
If you’re interested in mentorship, we ask volunteers to be willing to support their mentees’ career development and soft skills to help prepare them for their careers. Since our programs focus on developing soft skills, mentors don’t need to be experts in their mentee’s field of study.
How will I be paired with a mentee?
Opportunity Scholars select their mentors based on their values, background, and interests. Once selected, you will receive an email with next steps and instructions for how to contact your mentee.
If I sign up, am I guaranteed a spot?
If you’re applying to be an essay reviewer, you will be guaranteed essays to review and score.
If you’re applying to be a mentor, you are not guaranteed a mentee match. Sometimes we have more mentor volunteers than mentee requests, so volunteers aren’t selected, but we encourage them to sign up to be mentors again in the future.