Can you do well by doing good? That’s the question TheLadders’ business writer Debra Donston-Miller asks this week.

Donston-Miller interviewed nonprofits and successful job seekers about how volunteer work can polish your competitive edge as well as your karma. They gave her specific, tactical advice about how to make good works pay off.

Deriving the maximum benefit from volunteer work means finding the right fit; besides identifying organizations they can get behind, job seekers should offer up skills that are relevant to their searches and identify contacts who can help them achieve their career goals.

"If you volunteer in a situation where you can utilize your day-to-day business skills, (it’s) a great way to further your career because you're essentially doing a job and not just sitting around,” Rahul D. Yodh, an executive recruiter with Link Legal Search Group in Dallas, told Donston-Miller. “At the same time, you're building some contacts, and you never know where that will lead,” Yodh said. “If you can get a high-enough level volunteering position, then that's probably the best route to take.”