How Can A Volunteering Experience Take You A Step Ahead Than Your Peers
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Apart from the fact that it fetches a sense of satisfaction, volunteering abroad can provide several other opportunities that are often overlooked.
The word ‘volunteering’ is usually associated with a philanthropic act of giving and in most cases, the skills and experiences that the volunteer gains are neglected in the entire process.
When you travel abroad for this noble deed, you get a chance to truly expand your social network, meeting like-minded people, and probably the best travel-buddies! Although this networking might not look very lucrative initially, however, in reality, it’ll take you a long way. It’ll open a lot of doors for your career opportunities and raise the bar of your practical knowledge.
A volunteering journey will also enable you to gain the first-hand work experience in an area that interests you, thus, giving you the additional exposure to the people and the work environment that you could be a part of in the future.
According to a data published by UK Civil Society Almanac in 2016, 14.2 million Brits volunteered for at least once a month in 2014-15. The number seems huge, however, it’s just a portion of the total population, making those 14.2 million people stand ahead than the others.
Let’s find out how a volunteering experience can earn you brownie points and make you stand ahead of your peers.
Take a step to make this world a better place and inspire your peers to follow your footsteps.
When you volunteer for some good cause, you are doing work that benefits the community and it will undoubtedly make you feel good. Whether it’s working at a food bank to feed the underprivileged or picking up trash in a park to keep it cleaner and greener, you are contributing something towards the community. There is a great deal of self-satisfaction knowing you have helped others and this will make you stand out in a group where others are least bothered about these issues. Also, this may have another aspect – people may actually get inspired by your stories, and start taking up these causes, making this world a more beautiful place to live!
You’ll have better chances of getting recruited.
Volunteering is not an easy task! When you have any such experience, your potential employers/ recruitment team would know that you have a certain zeal that’s probably not there in the other candidates. It emphasizes the fact that you have the ability to take up challenges and solve the problems with utmost efficiency. Also, bringing a change to someone else’s life will fetch a sense of satisfaction and confidence in you, that will automatically radiate from your behavior. Your volunteer work experience will surely boost your Resume. It’ll show a certain kind of motivation, that might be lacking in others. It’ll mean that you have an idea of what skills you possess and how to make the best use of it. Maybe you have volunteered with kids at a school, which will portray your creativity & level of patience, or a community development volunteer work will show your level of rigor and perseverance. These attributes will count a lot, probably much more than the GPA you have scored!
It’ll prove that you give more preference to hard work and commitment than monetary rewards.
Any sort of volunteering work is unpaid – hence, if you have been a part of any such tryst, it shows that you have given the work more priority than monetary rewards. This, surely, is an impressive quality. While a majority of the people in this 21st Century are running a rat-race for ensuring a secured financial status, your participation in voluntary services will mark the fact that you aren’t running in that race! If you volunteer during your college period, it’ll show that you have good time management skills – as you managed both volunteering and studies together, efficiently.
You’ll be a better team player than your peers, which might give you a chance to be a leader among others.
Often, a volunteering work experience shows that you can be part of a team. This quality can be very important, especially to employers who expect their workers to be able to interact with others in the workplace. There are certain corporate organizations that also have their own community service projects. If you already have a volunteer experience, you will likely stand out compared to other applicants. It’ll also give you the chance to be a role model to others. You’ll know exactly how to manage your resources and utilize them effectively, so as to get the best outcome possible. While most people will tend to choose the easier path, it’s the leader who opts for the difficult one. You have leadership qualities in you, that might have been dormant but showed their true colors at the moment you decided to take up the task of volunteering. As a part of the team, you’ve had taken certain decisions, as and when required, that turned out to be the perfect solutions to greater problems.
As it is generally said, you can never learn enough. Famous philosopher Confucius had once said, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.” And his words are absolutely true!
While a volunteering journey will surely make you stand ahead of your peers – know that it’s not the end of your learning journey and every step that you’ll take in life, has something valuable to teach you.
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