If you're hunting for work as a museum volunteer, you probably can skip the networking, the résumé polishing, the fancy suit — as long as you're willing to skip the paycheck, too.

The simplest strategy: Show up and offer to help. Few museums are likely to turn away an extra pair of willing hands. In many cases, they'll make an effort to find tasks that match your background or skills.

For those who would rather go through more traditional steps or just browse the options, here are two websites that list volunteer opportunities:

Volunteer Match can look up volunteer opportunities by keyword ("museum") and filter by location, sorts of causes (arts, community, environment) and type of volunteers (age group, for example).

www.volunteermatch.org

Hands on Twin Cities lets you target search results according to your interests and availability.

www.handsontwincities.org

Katy Read