for the better. You will also become proud of getting yourself involved with something that is bigger than yourself. A lot of things would have not been in good shape if we had no people sacrificing their time and skills volunteering to a greater course that will help the community.
People have various passions in life. Whether these passions are directed to towards animals, people, or the environment, it is still important to give back.
Let your passion create a positive change that the world will feel.
Any act of kindness, whether big or small, can have a great impact on someone’s life. You will find that just by teaching an individual or a group of people English; you are actually helping them help more job opportunities that will drive away poverty. If someone could be able to learn the English language because of you, that would be a score both on your side and their side.
Coming into contact with people on a daily basis whether volunteering abroad or in your local area helps you to see the world in a whole new dimension. You will see people in a different view learn about their everyday struggles and different cultures. This will help you love people better and even exchange ideas in a more meaningful way.
Breaking away from your usual routine and volunteering will help you to put others first while putting your life in order. Through helping others, you might just stumble across brilliant ideas that you would want to use to help your community. This will also help you discover yourself more and have a clear view of that inner calling that gives you a lot of satisfaction.
Arrange your list by priority. Through this list, you can find more about yourself and your volunteering preferences.
Quiz:
This short Volunteer Personality Quiz will help you identify the kind of volunteer activity that best suits you. When you have finished the quiz, add up your answers.
1. Your neighborhood is having a garage sale. Which task do you volunteer to manage?
2. Which word best describes you?
3. If you could have lunch with any of these groups of individuals, which would you choose?
4. If you had a million dollars to donate to Southwestern, which of these initiatives would you choose to support?
5. What was your favorite area of study?
6. When faced with a problem, what is the first thing you usually do?
7. How do you like to spend your summer vacation?
8. When you travel, would you rather
9. Which item would you rather receive as a gift for your birthday?
10. What is your dream job?
Adapted, with gratitude, from the United Way.
Scoring your quiz If you answered... Your volunteer style is...
mostly A's Active/Hands-on mostly B's Social Helper mostly C's Artistic/Creative mostly D's Technical/Administrative
Volunteering is also another great way of landing great opportunities. But just what do you need to do to get a job through volunteering? Let us check out some tips that could be of importance if put into practice.
Learning more about the organization that you are volunteering for will help you improve your job application chances. Through you being there, take time to learn about the organization’s aims and goal, how it operates, and its structure. This can prepare you for a job interview when one arises.
Volunteering without expecting any financial or social gain is already a sign that you are passionate about the cause. Just keep you passion and energy at bay throughout the volunteering process. This way, your boss can be able to see your capability of dedicating your time and skill while just volunteering. How much more will you be dedicated when you are employed? Most probably you will double your effort. At least a sensible supervisor will be able to see this.
Make a list of causes you are passionate about. It could be a certain minority group, a disease, certain age group, animals, the environment, etc.
While you are at your volunteering place, ensure that you demonstrate skills which are more intangible. Show your ability to work as an individual or in a team, listening, paying attention to detail, and even displaying your leadership skills. You can also show that you have a great personality and are comfortable when it comes to talking to people.
When you stop volunteering, you don’t end your communications. Keep the communication going. The least you can do is telling them how much you had fun while volunteering there and also appreciating your time there. You can also send them Christmas cards and know how they are doing.
Build good relationship with you volunteer coordinators and all those who your work with by creating personal relationships with them. Try to meet them over coffee and learn more. This way they will know you at a personal level and will find it great to work with you. You will be several steps ahead of everyone else when you succeed in building such relationships.
Any functional organization loves people who are consistent, reliable, and committed. Just show up when you are always needed and ensure that you can be able to communicate accordingly when you cannot make it.
Does volunteering work in your resume play a role in job opportunity? Definitely it does. There are actually a variety of reasons why you should include volunteer work in your resume especially when it comes to getting job opportunities. Volunteering is a very important component of a resume that is often overlooked. Volunteering is equally important when it comes to benefiting you in building your career scope just as much as it benefits those you help.
A lot of people (55%) do not include volunteer work in their resume according to a survey that was done by LinkedIn most probably because of a misconception had by many professionals that volunteering is not very relevant in their professional work experiences.
Many hiring managers consider volunteering work as important to your work experience. It is very important in the current economic climate where there’s too much greed and competition. You can also ace in an interview when you have volunteering experiences because somehow you will haves skills that are crucial to many organizations.
Make a list of any previous volunteer work you have done in the past and update your resume’ accordingly. If you are interested in a certain job oppurtnity, find out possible volunteer work you can do related to that job posting so you could boost your resume.
According to Williams, some of the benefits of including your volunteering work in your resume for job purposes include:
Volunteering exposes you to a lot of people therefore helping you to expand your network. People who you meet in such areas can also act as your references and also write for you great recommendations.
Each contact in your phone serves as an opportunity. Look through your contact list, find out how you can reach out and expand your network.
Including volunteering work in your resume gives you the opportunity to showcase your talents that might make the manager hire you instantly.
Make a list of new skills you would like to develop and test out. Don’t confine yourself by what you think you know about yourself.
The job market is fiercely competitive and this might make it difficult for you to get noticed. Highlighting your volunteer work will help a great deal as it will increase the chances of you getting noticed. Your hiring manager will be able to see that you can be greatly committed and compassionate.
This sector will show us how volunteering helps one acquire new job skills. People might underrate volunteering work because it is widely perceived that skills acquired while volunteering are somehow basic.
Well, this is not really the case because volunteering provides you with a platform of going through extensive training that will help you acquire new job skills.
Volunteering is also a platform where you can build skills you already have making you become more efficient in the community of organization you are serving. For instance, if you’ve been holding a successful sales position, you can testify to yourself that you’ve been improving in your communication, public speaking, and marketing skills.
Civic responsibility involves the responsibility of a citizen while engaging in social participation and being part of the democratic governance in one way or the other. These responsibilities include, participating in the church, government, community service, getting to know more about civic life, voting among many other responsibilities.
Volunteering enables you to become an engaged citizen. This brings about positive changes making you engage more in social issues while connecting you to new people that you would never had met. Volunteers help in building bridges, identifying gaps, and nurturing a more cohesive community that is built on trust. Such important qualities acquired by volunteers act as a mirror to civic responsibilities.
The services you are providing through volunteering makes a difference in the community as they help to identify loopholes and bridge gaps while becoming more innovative for the sake of a greater course that can make the community better.
Helping other people is a very vital part of living a better life. While you are helping others, you are actually helping yourself. So this is something that is good for everyone. Helping other people is therefore very important because;
As much as volunteers need platforms to access opportunities, they also need continued support so that they can also focus on their individual needs while making the most of the experiences they are going through while volunteering. This type of support requires partnerships from various local councils and other sectors with various organizations which coordinate volunteering work. This will break a lot of barriers therefore giving a chance for everyone to participate in this great initiative that can help them largely transform their lives while also transforming the lives of others.
Realize the social and civic responsibility you have to look out for those who need help. Help that you can easily offer by sharing the gifts that were given to you by God such as your time.
By offering your time and effort to those who need it, you can invite lots of miraculous blessings to your life.
Become aware of all the benefits of volunteering to get pumped up to extend a helping hand.
Don’t limit your scope and be open for opportunities that can present themselves. It is quite possible to land a job as a result of your volunteering, be open to the possibility and build a volunteering resume.
How to pick a volunteering niche?
