Posts published on June 15, 2015
Volunteering Worth a College Student’s Time
Ways a Student Grad Can Avail of a Volunteer Gig By Melissa Burns
If you are currently on the lookout for a well-paid job, putting in some hours of free work on a weekly basis will not only help you gain the desired skills, but also boost up your career, say specialists.
And even if you’re not currently thinking about applying for paying jobs, volunteering will definitely be worth your precious time. Let’s see how one can benefit from the free labour in order to go up the career ladder.
Use Volunteering to Prove You’re Good at THIS Job
When being interviewed for a particular job, make sure you do not tell the same old story to every employer. It is recommended to point out the basic competences your potential boss would like to see from an applicant and show how you’ve applied them in your volunteering work. At times, you may have been required to use your excellent communication skills to set up a pattern of cooperation. At other times, you probably had to organize events as well as coordinate them. Figure out what skills are top-rated by your employer and focus on them.
Build Up a Strong Network
It doesn’t matter if you’re engaged in free labour as a volunteer for Unicef in Sydney or a class helper in Ireland, make sure to use your volunteer gig as a chance to network! It’s a well-known fact that getting the job of your dream is sometimes related to who you know. So, when you meet new people at your charity work, leave a long lasting and positive impression on them. Get to know all staff members find out if you have an opportunity to interact with their director. Ask them if they know someone at the A, B and C companies. It may help to get your foot in the door of one of the organizations you’d like to get a position at.
Update Your Resume
The studies performed by LinkedIn proved that less than 50% of all job seekers mention their free-labour job experience on the resume. And that’s a mistake. Depending on how much space you have provided for the paid jobs on your CV, make certain to include the volunteering job history as well. Provide a short description of the position and your accomplishments in it. What is more, a job candidate can even specify how many hours he / she dedicated to the charity activities.
Develop New Skills
Charity job is a perfect vehicle to both – develop new professional skills and to learn to apply the ones you already possess in a new unique way. For instance, providing activity support as a part of your job, you may have a chance to use your second language or event coordination skills, develop professional customer care service or mentoring skills. All the volunteering events you’re involved with will strengthen your skills level to make it fit the ‘actual’ position you want. Search for the opportunities that let you develop your skills so that you can later qualify for the job you’ve got your eye on!
Author’s bio:
Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information technologies and how these ones may be implemented in the sphere of education. You may contact Melissa: burns.melissaa@gmail.com
