Value of Volunteering as a way of gaining work experience and employability skills
volunteering is not only a great way to gain practical experience, volunteering can also help you stand out from the crowd and learn skills which will make you more desirable for prospective employers.
How?
By finding an opportunity that you are interested in with a cause you care about it gives you the chance to develop skills such as;
- Time Management
- Office Skills and Etiquette
- Leadership
- Communication
- Professionalism
- Teamwork
- Ability to Work with People Different from You
- Confidence
- Following Instructions
- Flexibility
- Problem-Solving
- Planning
- Creativity
- And Much More …
Just because a skill has been developed via unpaid work doesn’t mean that that skill isn’t as meaningful as having developed it while being paid. Volunteering also often gives you access to a wider range of opportunities than you could have found in paid work. Volunteering can be associated with some of the softer skills such as communicating with others and working with people who are different to yourself. These skills will really make you stand out for positive reasons in the workplace as not everyone is good at communicating or working with others.
How does volunteering help make me more employable?
Having volunteering alone on your CV won’t make you instantly employable, you need to pull out why it makes you a better candidate. Volunteering gives you examples and things to talk about, either on your CV, cover letter or in interviews. It will allow you to develop your answers and give you a wider range of examples to draw upon. When adding it to your CV include what skills you developed and how that makes you a better fit for what you are applying for.
How to maximise on your volunteering
The best way to get the most out of your volunteering is to enjoy it. Employers love talking about things that you are passionate about, being able to speak about an opportunity fondly will make them want to know more about it and about you. When your volunteering throw yourself in, step up to a leadership roll and put as much into it as you can. The more you can put in to the opportunity the more you can get out of it.
For ways to volunteer check out: thesubath.com/volunteer
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