Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to the community or a meaningful cause you believe in. The sense of fulfillment volunteers experience often energizes them and provides them with new perspectives on life, work and school.
Today, volunteer organizations realize to be successful they need to operate like a business. They need volunteers with diverse skills sets to assist them with their growth. Coincidently, the workplace has become challenging for both new graduates and experienced workers to be assigned projects or leadership roles where they can showcase and expand their skills sets.
Volunteering can offer an opportunity to give back and gain valuable experience. Not only will employers be impressed with your desire to freely give your time, but your volunteer experience can count as work experience.
Volunteering can offer an opportunity to sit on boards, steering committees, or project manage events and fundraisers. The benefits can be endless:
Expand skills: Volunteering is an excellent way to gain and hone the skills and experience that employers are looking for. In addition to job specific, or technical (hard skills), employers cite interpersonal, communication, teamwork and leadership as key transferable or soft skills they are looking for in a job candidate. You can gain all of these by volunteering!
Be sure to include the accomplishments from your volunteer work on your resume, and don’t forget you can use your volunteer experience and successes as relevant examples on future interviews.
Learn about yourself: Not only will you learn new skills; you will learn more about yourself. You’ll get to know the things you like and dislike in a job and work environment. You never know, your volunteer work may turn into a career.
Networking: Volunteering is a great way to meet people from all walks of life who work in many types of industries in various positions. Don’t be afraid to ask the people you meet about what they do and tell them about your career goals. You never know what type of information or connections they can provide you with.
Build references: Since employers recognize volunteering as work experience, you can use the people you report to while volunteering as references. Take your volunteer role seriously, ensure you are punctual and do a great job. Your efforts will be recognized and applauded.
To get the most of your volunteer experience choose a cause you believe in. Ask yourself what your interests are and what you’re passionate about. Once you’ve figured this out, contact local organizations to find out if they are looking for volunteers and what the application process is like.
Panagiota Panagakos
Career Coach