Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

Looking for a Career Boost? Volunteering is the under-recognized force behind much of the good that is done in society. However, when you volunteer, it is not necessarily purely for altruistic reasons. Your own life will benefit just as much as your community does, not least in terms of your career. Here are six major ways volunteering helps push your professional life forward. Develop New Practical Skills. Unless you volunteer in a field directly related to your work, you will need to pick up new skills and adapt to the new situations you are facing. These skills may not have a direct impact on your day job, but acquiring them helps you maintain a flexible attitude which will certainly benefit your career development. Enhance Your People Skills. However, it is not just practical skills you will improve through volunteering. You will also come into contact with a new set of people from many different backgrounds. This will help enhance your people skills, with all the workplace benefits that brings. Networking Opportunities. What’s more, many of these new people you meet will have successful careers of their own. This opens up excellent networking opportunities, either through direct cooperation or simply by widening your professional circle. Flesh Out a Resume. Volunteering adds an extra layer of quality to your resume. It shows that you are adaptable, self-motivated, and can appreciate the wider picture beyond your own interests. All of these are qualities any recruiter loves to see in a job application. Fill the Gaps. And if you find yourself out of work for a period of time, volunteering is an excellent way of filling the gap in your career history. Again, it shows initiative and drive; a willingness to make things happen. A period of volunteering looks much better on your resume than an empty space. Confidence Booster. Lastly, when you have been working in the same job for a while, it’s natural to get into something of a rut. You can even start to wonder if you are capable of taking your career any further. Volunteering will prove to yourself that you can do other things, and this will give a healthy boost to your self-confidence. Of course, the main motivators for volunteering remain the benefits it brings to your community and the help it gives to those in need. But that is no reason to overlook the real advantages it can bring to your professional life. If you have the feeling that your career progress has stalled, taking up volunteering could be a win-win situation for everyone involved. How Volunteering Gives Your Professional Life a Lift