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Volunteering
These days almost all employers regard work experience as a pre-requisite attribute for an employable graduate. Voluntary work is one way of gaining such valuable experience. It is important to remember that all types of recruiting organisations regard volunteering as just as valuable, and in some cases more valuable than paid work.
The type of experience that can be gained is varied. There are many opportunities ranging from working in an administrative or commercial capacity such as in marketing to practical work such as environmental field projects, campaigning, fundraising or shop-work. Volunteering opportunities can require people to work directly with ohters who benefit from the activity or involve working with others on specific projects.
So what are the benefits of volunteering?
- Learning new skills – these can include practical skills as well as ‘soft’ skills such as communication, time management and problem solving.
- Experience – you can gain relevant and valuable experience for an area that you would like to pursue a career in e.g. teaching, public relations or social work amongst many others. The same is true if you need experience to be considered for a vocational course. Volunteering also offers you a ‘safe’ environment in which to test out certain career areas to see if they are something that you wish to pursue.
- Meeting new people - volunteering allows you to meet people outside of your own regular social environment including people with different social backgrounds, age groups, experience and further career contacts.
- 'Giving something back’ - some people engage in volunteering purely for altruistic reasons.
- Learning more about a cause - if there is a cause that you have a special interest in, then volunteering provides you with an opportunity to become more familiar with relevant organisations and allows you to find out more about it.
- Improving self-confidence - being an important part of a team or being highly valued by an individual and/or organisation provides a valuable opportunity to improve your own self-worth!
- Enhancing your CV - something to stand out on a CV and talk about at interview!
Involve is an on campus provider of a range of work experience opportunities from working in schools to working with older vulnerable people. To find out how to get involved check out
To find out more about opportunities with voluntary organisations visit here: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/voluntarysb
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