Volunteering can be particularly helpful for students, graduates or career changers. All sorts of skills are sought after in a volunteer capacity so regardless of your areas of interest you will find a volunteering opportunity to utilise your skills and build your experience. Here I’ll discuss the top 5 ways in which volunteering can positively impact on your career.

Career sampling

Wondering if a particular career or work environment would suit you? Getting involved as a volunteer will allow you to dip your toes in and see the reality of the job before you take the leap of leaving your current position. I have met more than a few people who changed their career direction after a volunteering experience. It is an excellent exercise in self-awareness that often results in enormous change.

Enriching your CV

Volunteering can greatly enhance your CV. This is particularly true if you are a graduate, on a career break or perhaps looking for a career move from profit to non-profit. A gap in your employment history can be presented more effectively on your CV if you have used the time to engage with volunteer work and build skills. Articulate your volunteering experience well on your CV, it is valid experience and the fact that it is unpaid does not make it less so.

Building skills

Volunteering offers the opportunity to build on your current skills and develop new ones. It can also help you to identify your key strengths, something you will be selling in your job searching. Many people choose to volunteer in a capacity that requires completely different skills to those they use in their current work life.   Thus, they are building a whole new set of transferable skills that can allow them to access different career opportunities.

Expanding your Network

Yes, networking again! Career counsellors constantly talk about networking, but for good reason. It is one of the most important aspects of job searching or career change. However, we often get into a habit of only networking within our own industry. By volunteering you are not only meeting like-minded people but you are also expanding your network, often in a completely different industry.

Building confidence

It is normal to lack confidence when considering a new career or returning from a break. Volunteers often feel a great sense of accomplishment that can boost self-esteem and provide a renewed sense of confidence in their skills and abilities. Generally volunteers often feel more energised and fulfilled, all of which comes across when you meet perspective employers.

If you have further questions about this or other career related topics, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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When they pick up your CV employers only really want to know one thing – can you do the job they need done. Therefore, when writing a CV the needs of the employer should to be the focus – and all employers and job requirements are different.

Adapt the CV dependent on the job description

Many people make the mistake of sending out the same CV for every application. You do require a good CV to start with but it needs to be adjusted for each application. Go through each job description in detail underlining keywords and requirements. Note how your experience and qualifications match up and make sure your CV demonstrates this clearly. Do some research about the Company, it will give you additional information for pitching your CV.

Write an engaging Profile/Career Summary

The profile should summarise clearly your strengths, skills and experience and identify you as someone who can do the job. Use this space wisely, it could make the difference between the employer continuing to read or not. Draw attention to experience relevant to this particular job. For example if the job description mentions a required number of years experience, qualifications or skills and you have these attributes you need to state that here in a clear and concise way.

Don’t undersell yourself

When detailing your experience take care not to undersell yourself! In this section you want your experience to reflect the needs of the job description. Put the tasks or achievements most relevant to the role you are applying to at the top of any bulleted list. Where possible use ways to quantify your achievements, e.g. if working in sales “increased sales by 20% in first year” or management “led a team of 10 people”.

Address it to the correct person

No point in all that work if it doesn’t get in front of the right person. Never send a CV “To whom it concerns” or “HR Manager”. If replying to an advert make sure to use the name and title given, if none is given or if you are applying on spec ring the company and ask for the name and title of the person you should address your CV to.

Don’t forget the basics

Make sure there are no errors in spelling or grammar and that your contact details are correct. Check that employment dates match up and any gaps or career breaks are explained.

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