Time is a precious quantity, so making the decision to donate your time to others is a significant undertaking. Volunteering can be a selfless thing to do, but it doesn’t need to be a one-way street, there are organisations in just about any field or industry that can find a way to let you help them help others.
Volunteering can form a part of your career development strategy – it just takes putting a bit of thought into how you can generate win-win scenarios for yourself and the people that you’re donating your time to. Have a look below to find out a bit more about how you can use volunteering to get ahead.
The first and most straight-forward way that volunteering can help your career is that it can help you stay productive in your downtime. There are likely to be a couple points throughout your career where you are going to find yourself with more time on your hands than you feel you need, and volunteering can be a great way of making sure the wheels are still turning.
People at every stage of their career will have something to contribute. Whether you’ve recently graduated, just finished a contract, or you’ve found yourself in the enviable position of being able to leave a job without the need to worry about the next step, volunteering is a great way of making sure you don’t let yourself sit still for too long.
Volunteering is a good look on just about anyone. If you’re in the earlier stages of your career, maybe finding yourself between graduation from tertiary education and your first professional role, volunteering may well be the best way of drawing on your two strongest assets, your time and your willingness to learn.
Volunteering will fill the time between education and your first professional role and help you minimise the risk of developing gaps in your resume that potential employers might look at unfavourably. It can also be a great way of giving potential employers an insight into who you are as a person.
In the case that you don’t have a wealth of experience or references to draw on, volunteering will give you a chance to convey to interviewers that you possess the sorts of attributes that are going to make you a valuable addition to their company.
If you’re a little further into your career, you can also benefit from donating your time. If you’ve been looking to develop a new skill set, further develop a current skill set, or maybe make the shift into another role or industry, volunteering opportunities can be a great way of making low-risk ventures into the things that interest you.
Volunteering as a career development strategy to this end usually takes finding something fairly specific, perhaps taking on some responsibilities and committing to a timeframe. But volunteering in this capacity for a couple months and figuring out it isn’t for you isn’t a risk in the same way as finding out the same thing after a couple months in a new paid role.
Volunteering affords you the chance to try-before-you-buy. Giving you the chance to work out if that new career path you’ve been workshopping is something you want to make the jump into. If you’ve been looking for a way to learn more about that next step, volunteering is a great way to gain insights that will help you make an informed decision.
If you’re just starting out and looking for a way in, mid-way and looking for the next move, or winding down and looking for a way to give back, volunteering is a great way to direct the time you can afford to donate to helping others.
At Zoom Recruitment, we are all about professional development and figuring out how to help you find the work that gives you the fulfilment that a great career should. If you’re looking for more tips and insights into career development strategy, get in contact with us today!