If you think students spend all their spare time avoiding studying, going out with their mates and having a good time then you'd be right. Well our student bloggers do anyway. While they assure us they don't slack on the study, they've got a lot to answer for when it comes to enjoying themselves while volunteering.

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Friday Mar 20, 2009

Why volunteering ticks all the boxes

Hi everyone! The name is Rochelle, am 21 and I am currently in my second year of university. My university and volunteering commitments take up most of my time and work is always secondary. I wanted to contribute to this do-it.org blog as I wanted to improve my creative writing skills. So I thought what better subject matter to talk about other than my volunteering?

Also, I would like to highlight to other students that volunteering can not only give you transferable skills but can also provide you with that technical experience that you will not necessary get with your academic studying. I know that lecturers and even teachers always say that it is no good to get a job as it will interfere with your studies. They are partly right but it is still very important to get that experience that will make you stand out. Volunteering, unlike work, does not have to be time consuming nor is it always necessary to work in a pressurized environment. There are always going to be people who will be very willing to help you develop to the best of your potential and at the end there is not fear of being fired or being reviewed on performance. It is one form of employment where you can tell the employer what you want to do and what skills you would like to improve or achieve. There are no formal ties established and not targets to be met. I have also felt that everyday is different and whenever I have gone for job interviews I have always managed to use examples from my volunteering commitments to demonstrate to the employer how I would react in different situations. Lastly, employers are very impressed if you have given up your time for no remuneration. Just think, if you cannot get a job due to lack of experience, then do not just sit on the sidelines and do nothing.

Get yourself out there by getting transferable skills from volunteering so that you can put these skills into practice when you do get a job. No one ever said anything comes easy!

Posted by Rochelle ( 3:24 PM )
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