Its national volunteer week and this raises many positive reasons to volunteer. There are very many personal reasons to volunteer and it can benefit not only the Organisation or person you help but can also help you too. Here are a list of the things that could boost your career prospects:

  1. New Skills – There are some Skills that we refer to as ‘Soft skills’ these are different to the qualifications you gain through study and are based more around attributes. These could be things like communication, teamwork, leadership and many more. This are all beneficial to building a CV and can help you to stand out against others.
  2. Shows Drive – There is sometimes a missing element in job applications and that is the personal touch. To show your personality you can volunteer for a cause or organisation that means something to you. Showing an employer what you are passionate about gives them an idea of your personality and shows them you are more than 1 dimensional.
  3. Talking point – Building on point 2, showing what you’re passionate about and what motivates you as a person can mean that in an interview you may find common ground for things to talk about or fascinate an employer. This will also help to create a relaxed atmosphere as conversation and personality are also important things to look for in a new employee.
  4. Learn about yourself – When you are volunteering you may do so in a variety of different settings, with different types of people and varying amounts of time. By volunteering it may point out what you do and don’t like and what would be good to look for in a job. For example you may prefer working as part of a team than on your own or being outdoors to indoors. This will guide what you can look for in future roles.
  5. Networking – you will get to know such a wide variety of people and this may not always be in the automotive sector but the more people you know and leave a good impression with the likeliness is it will come back to benefit you in the future. They may have a friend tht knows someone in the industry or they may become friends that use your services in the future. You just never know the power of a connection.

Thinking about the points above you can see that there are any ways that Volunteering can help you as well as the organisation you chose to help. Soft skills are important when you not been employed before, developing this is great but also using you volunteer experience to give examples in an interview is very valuable. Ensure to you can stand out from others by giving a little back to a community near you. For ideas on how you can offer your services and find a volunteer role to suit you visit http://www.do-it.org.uk

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