You may have completed your studies, or nearing the end of your studies, and are ready to move into the world of work. Are you unsure what your employment path will be? Do you have the necessary experience to apply for relevant jobs? Will your CV make you stand out from the crowd? If the answer to any of these is no, have you considered volunteering?
Why volunteer?
Volunteering gives you the opportunity to try out different types of job roles; it provides work experience and can enhance your CV. Did you know that over 80% of prospective employers like applicants to have some voluntary work on their CV?
Volunteering also gives you the opportunity to support local communities while expanding your skills, meeting new people and gaining confidence. Don’t take our word for it, read on for James’ story:
“I started volunteering when I was 16 at my local museum because I was interested in history. I found the volunteering interesting and the staff were great at getting me involved and showing me bits of the museum not always open to the public. When a job vacancy came up at the museum for casual summer staff, I was able to apply for this – and was offered the job as I already had a lot of knowledge about working at the museum! This paid work helped fund my driving lessons whilst I was at sixth form studying, which was great.
In sixth form we started to think about future careers, and I wanted to go into the health profession – so, with this in mind, I found a role as a volunteer community health researcher with a local charity. It was really helpful to reference this volunteering experience in my university application and interview; and I believe it helped me to get my university degree. I’m already using the skills that I picked up as a volunteer community health researcher in my work placements for university, so it has been another benefit of volunteering for me!”
The range of volunteering opportunities is great from admin and IT to gardening and conservation. Most are for an ongoing basis, but some are for a specific event. You can commit to as many or as few hours as you like. Is there a cause that is close to your heart or is the type of work more important to you?
Medway Volunteer Network can support people into volunteering roles and we have a
dedicated volunteering page for local residents who want to discover more about volunteering in Medway – we also have a
volunteer vacancy webpage that lists opportunities with a diverse range of local charities or you could
sign up to receive our MVN Bulletin that will email you monthly with the most recent local volunteering opportunities.