If you are tired of seeing job ads outlining the years of experiences that are required and preferred – before you are even considered for an interview – then volunteering will help you to bridge this gap. Volunteering is a great way of gaining the requisite knowledge and skills that most companies require. Therefore, I encourage you to consider the following volunteering methods – that are proven ways to secure an advancement in your career, and a great way to help you land a coveted job. Whether you are a seasoned employee or just a student getting ready to break into the working world – these strategies will help you immensely.
Volunteering for stretch projects – These are tasks and activities that requires a higher level of thinking, execution and outreach to get them done adequately. The focus will be on activities that you don’t normally do but doing them will assist you in advancing your career while attaining the goals and objectives of your department or company. Leaders have numerous projects and are always looking for help – volunteer your services and watch how the trajectory of your career change.
Sitting on committees at work or in your community – Volunteering to serve on committees at work will help you in more ways than you think. Whether you are reviewing documents, launching office parties, or just leading and participating in training activities. These tasks will open up linkages that you would not necessarily have if you had not participated. The individuals on these committees can help you to harness your skills and vouch for you in your efforts to get promotions or to make your mark in the company.
Doing charity work in your community is an excellent way to do a trial run into an area you hope to go with your career, without making the actual career switch. Non-profit organizations are awash with opportunities for you to undertake and gain experience while they benefit from you doing a job, they are not able to pay someone to do. This is a win-win situation.
Partnering with other individuals outside of your work area is a great way to increase your knowledge and understanding of the workflows outside of your department. This will allow you to see how interrelated your functions are – whilst getting rid of the silo mentality that most employees develop by only thinking about the good of their team or department. Growing your network is critical in career advancement, and this is a good way of getting a fair understanding of the individuals who make things happen in other work areas or departments.
Attend meetings on your supervisor’s behalf – Be sure to take notes and share with your supervisor whether or not the meeting has a secretary. This will increase your listening and writing skills that are critically needed the higher you move up in the organization. This will also signal to your boss that you are a responsible person. The interactions in these meetings will provide you with a lot of insights and a better understanding of how to operate on a supervisor level.
Provide solutions to problems without being asked – There are several issues that can be rectified at your level that is often escalated to management for review and solution. You would do well to assess these issues by volunteering to provide a viable solution. Since you are interfacing with these issues on a daily basis – it would be easier for you to come up with a fix or a workaround while management decide on the downstream effects, that you might not consider based on your span of control. Management appreciates these types of proposals because they provide them with a starting point since they are not viewing these problems from the same level.
Volunteer to assist with the training of new staff – this will reinforce what you know and open up the door for you to become a subject matter expert. As well as gaining the favor of your peers who rather reach out to a team member than management when certain errors are made.
College and high school students
Working adults or fulltime students can also benefit immensely from volunteering. Here are some unique ways to get a leg up on your peers and the competition in the job market.
Embrace the internship program if your school have one – Most schools and/or learning institutions have a formal internship program with several companies – or within the school campuses depending on the size and operation of the school. These programs can be paid or unpaid – but the beauty of this arrangement, is that you will gain invaluable experience that can be transferred to future job opportunities.
These companies sometimes benefit from tax breaks for partnering with schools in this endeavor. They also get a chance to try out new staff members for free before they actual employee them to be a part of their staff. I have lost count of how many staff I have employed over the years via internship programs. This has been a tremendous benefit- because these staff can hit the ground running during onboarding. It takes less time to train because they are already familiar with the organization’s culture, systems and processes. Therefore, take full advantage of internship programs.
Volunteer in your community – They are several local businesses, schools, civic and non-profit organizations – as well as entrepreneurs who would love your help while you learn and earn some much-needed work experience. Therefore, if you plan to become a nurse or doctor, then you should be looking for volunteering opportunities at your local clinics and hospitals. This can be done after school and/or on weekends. This holds true if you want to be in IT, Law or any field of study. You just need to take charge of your career and reach out to these organizations.
Many of these firms and business are saddled with work but are unable to employee a new staff due to monetary constraints. Therefore, having volunteers would be a huge boost to their operation – since they would be able to increase their productivity with no increase in cost.
Subscribe to Podcasts, Newsletters, Periodicals etc. It is very important that you are kept abreast of what is going on in your chosen field of study or industry. Information is constantly changing – therefore, podcast, newsletters and periodicals are some of the ways you can keep up with the latest trends and opinions in your industry from leading experts in your field. If you think about it – the textbook you are reading now has already been updated with new examples, case studies and information that the next batch of students will study next year. This is not only for the authors and publishers to maintain their stream of income – but to provide students with current information that is relevant to their field of study or career aspirations.
The information provided through these avenues are invaluable – as they will help to fashion and mold your thoughts on your chosen field. This is also critical in helping you to decide on whether or not to switch careers, majors, or you just stay the course.
Consider teaching what you know – If you rather study by yourself, but you are consistently being asked to participate in group studies. Then volunteering to teach the group on what you know would be the ideal thing for you. You will get more out of teaching – since it reinforces what you know, and you can also gain more knowledge from the information shared during these sessions.
Conclusion
In concluding, it is important to note that the world of work is highly competitive and the more you know the more valuable you are to the company. This will cement your place as a subject matter expert – which means you will be very hard to replace. Remember, you are employed not for your time but for the value you bring to the organization. Therefore, the greater your knowledge is the greater your value and income.
Volunteering is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get you that promotion and into your field of study. I challenge you to take action and volunteer today – your future self will thank you.
