Volunteer work is work! It is useful and it counts in more ways than you think.
Volunteer work can be added to your resume as you gain major experience through work for college admissions or jobs.
Many of us have several opportunities to volunteer in our college days.
One such young girl is Sheela who spends most of her free time volunteering at several centers for stray animals.
One day she asked me- “Does volunteering count in future workplaces? I mean where can I show these certificates”?
I had to say I was impressed with Sheela- she was clear about her goal. She knew what interested her was being an animal rescue and working with animals.
I told her that the question has to be posed differently- “How can you make volunteer work count not just on your resume, but also take it forward as a real experience”.
So, for all you young volunteers, here are some points to consider:
Firstly, think of it as work. Value the time you are spending. While you are gaining in terms of experience, knowledge, and skills in the field, you are also giving your time, energy, and skills that you have. How does this value translate into behavior? Learning to respect your work means that you prepare for it and commit to it, and you speak about your volunteer work confidently to others just as you would for any other work.
Secondly, learning on the job happens in many ways. You imbibe the skills you admire in your mentor or boss sometimes unknowingly. However, to make the most of it consciously journal every day with key learnings like:
- What did I learn today? This could be about myself and/ or the job.
- What was challenging? – how did I deal with it? -Did I think of a new way, did I take the help of my mentor or any other person? How helpful was my way of resolving the problem?
- What was satisfying and what was boring/dissatisfying for me?
- Where did I take the lead and why?
- What is the new skill I learned or am learning now?
Journaling clarifies thinking and consolidates your day-to-day learning. Keep your journal handy while writing that resume or preparing for that interview.
Thirdly, volunteering helps you gain some perspective about your field of work. Though you have responsibilities, you are not likely to have the major accountability that comes with a regular paid job. You can use this time to understand how organizations run and how they are managed. It is important that you know how to navigate – who to report to, what are the best ways to hone your skills, etc through volunteer work.
Fourthly, volunteering can serve as a testing ground for you to explore whether you want to work at all in the area. Many people have gone on from volunteering in an organization to working for it after they complete their education or leaving it for something else.
Finally, here is how you can make the most of this experience:
- Build a good rapport with preferably several mentors at the workplace so you can talk to them about big or small challenges you face along the way.
- Ask your mentor/ who you report to, to give you a recommendation based on your work. Be sure to get any certificate offered by the organization.
- Volunteering also builds social connections- be sure to keep them alive by connecting from time to time.
- Don’t be afraid to add it to your resume as experience and be prepared to talk about it during interviews.
- Make a short PPTX on your volunteer experience- how many lives you touched, how you made a difference in their lives, what you gained from it, how you dealt with tough situations, what new skills you learned, and what kind of qualities you developed as a person.
Let us know how you have benefitted from doing what most people overlook to add to their resume.
Add your comments in the comment box!
Happy volunteering!