How Volunteering Can Help You Up Your Job Readiness

You might have heard a little about volunteering, and you may even regularly volunteer currently, or you might have no clue what we’re talking out. In this blog, we’re going to look at all the good reasons to get some volunteering experience on your resume!

What is Volunteering?

Volunteering is where you give your time and skills to support charitable organisations, not-for-profits, or other good causes in your local community. When many people think of volunteering, they automatically think of working in op shops and sorting through donations, but the truth is there’s A LOT you can get involved with!

From administration to social media management, graphic design to fundraising, even helping at festivals and other community events. Whatever you want to get involved in, there’s usually a pathway to it through volunteering.

Volunteering is an excellent way of supporting causes and issues you care about, and it has the bonus of boosting your job readiness.

What is Job Readiness?

Job readiness is the term we use to describe being ready for work. It’s more than simply being the right age or available for work too. It encompasses all of the good behaviours you’ll need to be aware of that make you a positive employee in the workplace. This includes things like:

Teamwork and Collaboration
Communications Skills
Time Management and Organisation
Ability to Manage Priorities and Competing Demands
And many more!

5 Ways Volunteering Builds Job Readiness

Volunteering is usually unpaid, but it’s still very much a valid form of work, and as such, it can really help young people learn the skills they’ll need for future job opportunities. Here are five ways we know it can help:

1. Boost Your Confidence

Getting started in the world of work can feel daunting: you’ll create a new routine, meet new people, and there will be new expectations on you and how you behave. When you’re not sure what’s expected from you, it can create all sorts of anxiety.

Volunteering is a great way to start developing your general workplace behaviours and learning what’s expected from you in a more professional setting. It’s slightly less pressure than a ‘proper’ job and a great way to grow your confidence and job readiness.

2. Hone Your Specific Skills

When applying for most jobs, you’ll need to demonstrate on your resume and application how you have the skills and knowledge relevant to the role. Volunteering experience can help you grow both your general and specific skills.

For example, volunteering in a retail op-shop can help you develop customer service skills, cashier and money handling skills, stock control, and teamwork. Volunteering as a fundraiser can help you build communication skills, negotiation, problem-solving, and relationship building.

3. Develop Professional Relationships

People from all walks of life volunteer and engage with community or not-for-profit organisations at some level. Whether it’s through events, workshops, or simply volunteering themselves, getting involved can help introduce you to a whole new set of people you might not meet otherwise.

This can help you grow your professional network and professional relationships, which can be beneficial in the future to learn about new opportunities or secure professional references.

4. Positive Experiences to Talk About

Lots of young people tell us they don’t know what to say or how to respond to many common interview questions. Well, one thing volunteering will definitely help you with is answering those questions!

You’ll get exposure to a broad range of activities, tasks, and challenges. These will be great to help you grow personally and professionally, but they’ll also mean you have plenty of great examples to talk about when you go for interviews.

5. Demonstrates Commitment & Motivation

A big concern for some employers when hiring young people is whether they’ll be committed to the role and motivated to engage with challenges (and the monotonous tasks that come with many jobs!).

Volunteering experience on your resume demonstrates a regular commitment to something you care about. It signals very clearly to potential employers that you’re motivated to go after the things that matter to you, and you’re not afraid to get stuck in and help in any way you can.

Three Places to Find Volunteer Experience

One of the most important things to think about when looking for the right volunteer experience for you is what you’re passionate about. Don’t just get involved based on what you think you’ll get out of it – make sure you chose to help an organisation that also matters to you, and you’ll find the experience so much more rewarding.

There are lots of great websites that collate volunteering experiences and where you can find opportunities local to you. Here are three we recommend for starters: