On the lookout for a brand new job might be an absolute grind! Particularly if you wish to change jobs or fields or transition from working in particular person to a distant job. Perhaps you’re getting rejected left and proper and simply can’t determine the way to make your self extra interesting to potential employers.
As a substitute of feeling discouraged, strive a brand new tactic and provides volunteerism a shot. Over the previous decade, I’ve had a wide range of distant volunteer roles and have discovered that volunteering has many advantages, each personally and professionally.
The truth is, in keeping with the Company for Nationwide and Neighborhood Service, individuals who volunteer have a 27% higher likelihood of touchdown a job after being unemployed than non-volunteers do.
Listed here are 9 advantages of volunteering particularly for distant job seekers.
1. Acquire Experiences in New Fields or Expertise
When you’re seeking to break into a brand new job or area, volunteering might be the right option to get your foot within the door or strive new abilities or skills. As an illustration, let’s say you need to transition careers and finally get a distant digital advertising job. Nonetheless, you don’t at present have any expertise in digital advertising. Getting a volunteer place on this space with no expertise will likely be a lot simpler than a full-time or part-time place. Then, as you proceed to use for jobs, you’ll now be capable to put your volunteer expertise in your resume.
I can inform you firsthand that this has labored for me greater than as soon as! The primary time I did this was again in 2012 after I was a volunteer Neighborhood Supervisor. On this position, I managed a Fb group and trialed a brand new private growth program. The second time, I volunteered as an entrepreneurship author and social media supervisor for a micro-lending group.
Each of those experiences got here in helpful when a freelancing shopper requested me to take over her digital advertising. Due to these volunteer alternatives, I used to be absolutely assured that I might tackle this work since I’d already executed it, simply not in a paid capability.
2. Strive Out a New Job With out Committing to It Full-Time
The tough factor about attempting a brand new job or ability is that we frequently don’t know if we’ll prefer it or be good at it till we strive it. Additionally, in case you have relations to assist or different obligations, it may be extraordinarily nerve-racking and dangerous to surrender what you’re doing now for one thing unknown.
That is one more reason I like volunteering—it lessens the stakes. When you strive one thing new and hate it, quitting gained’t really feel like the tip of the world in the event you’re volunteering, whereas shedding your earnings would make quitting way more troublesome, even in the event you don’t prefer it.
3. Use Volunteering to Fill Any Gaps in Employment
Whether or not you freelance or work for a corporation, many individuals lose shoppers or get laid off. If that is you, you may fear about having a niche between jobs. On this case, discovering a volunteer place in your area or doing a associated job generally is a good option to preserve your abilities contemporary, fill your time, and enhance your resume.
When it comes time so as to add this to your resume, you may select whether or not to make use of the phrase volunteer. If potential employers particularly ask you about it, you by no means need to lie. Nonetheless, you don’t essentially want to write down the phrase volunteer in your resume; you may merely state your place and record your duties or obligations.
4. Construct up Your Listing of References or Letters of Suggestion
When you hate asking individuals to be references for you, you’re not alone. This may be particularly tough in case you have a troublesome boss or primarily work independently and don’t really feel like you’ve got many individuals you may even ask.
Since you aren’t being paid as a volunteer, it’s completely cheap to ask a supervisor at your volunteer office or perhaps a fellow volunteer to be a reference. In fact, in the event you’re going to ask, just be sure you’re working arduous and doing an amazing job in order that they’ll communicate candidly about you and could have constructive issues to say.
5. Get a Distant Volunteer Job if You’re Trying to Begin Working Remotely
I’ve been working remotely for a decade, and I’ve been requested in interviews or on calls with shoppers if I’ve expertise working remotely or have labored on a distant group earlier than. When you haven’t labored remotely earlier than, volunteering may help you get distant expertise which you could share with future employers.
Distant work isn’t for everybody, so that is additionally take a look at to see in the event you prefer it and need to do it on a extra everlasting foundation. It may additionally offer you time to regulate to working remotely and managing your schedule.
One other risk is discovering a group service alternative that can will let you go hybrid, doing a few of your work in particular person and the remaining remotely.
6. Study to Use New Software program and Different On-line Instruments
My early distant volunteer work helped me to be taught extra about on-line instruments like Zoom, Google Suite, Groups, Pinterest, Instagram, and others. Whereas we use most of those day by day now, 5-10 years in the past, they have been newer to me. Studying these in a volunteer capability lowered the stress and helped me improve my self-confidence with studying new know-how instruments.
As you search for distant jobs, pay shut consideration to the software program and instruments talked about within the job descriptions. When you aren’t accustomed to them, you may probably be taught them in a volunteer place. Or, if not, you may at all times take the initiative and take a look at them out by yourself.
This will also be your likelihood to enhance your intangible abilities like problem-solving, creating your teamwork abilities, or turning into a greater listener.
7. Develop Your Community and Make New Connections
Everyone knows that networking is likely one of the greatest methods to discover a new job, however most of us hate doing it. As you volunteer, don’t be shy about telling individuals in your volunteer office that you simply’re job searching; you by no means know who they could have of their social community who might make it easier to.
When you’re extra of an introvert and shrink back from networking, this may preserve you in common contact with new associates and improve your social abilities. Although this isn’t simple for many people, it may be good to get out of our consolation zones and take a look at new issues.
You may even end up making new associates and constructing your assist system. I can share firsthand that I met one in every of my greatest associates by means of an area literacy volunteer alternative. This will also be the right option to meet others with widespread pursuits.
8. Enhance Your Psychological and Bodily Well being
You may be stunned to know that volunteering affords many well being advantages and psychological well being advantages. In keeping with the Mayo Clinic, volunteers have higher bodily and psychological well being and likewise exhibit decrease charges of despair and nervousness in comparison with non-volunteers. Whilst a distant volunteer, you may fight loneliness and social isolation whereas engaged on a shared exercise.
When you work for a company that you simply genuinely have a ardour for, you’ll really feel a pure sense of accomplishment and sense of pleasure as you’re employed in your duties, irrespective of how trivial they may be. This will also be useful for stress discount and well-being if work or areas of your life are particularly nerve-racking.
9. Get Out of Your Head and Give attention to Somebody Else
As a job seeker, you most likely spend extra time than you care to confess in your head. A couple of years in the past I used to be going by means of a difficult season of life. Throughout that point, on-line volunteering gave me a way of function and even helped enhance my temper and shallowness as I noticed how a lot I excelled on the work I used to be doing.
Generally, we simply must take an hour or two out of our week to assist another person. To assist others is likely one of the greatest emotions on the earth and is really one of many intangible advantages of volunteering.
Advantages of Volunteering Wrapup
Whereas most distant job seekers overlook volunteering, you may see many advantages of volunteering by way of well being outcomes, life satisfaction, networking, and constructing your abilities and abilities.
When you’re uncertain the place to start out, the Volunteer Match web site has 1000’s of choices. Bear in mind, not each alternative will likely be an ideal match, and that’s regular. If the primary one doesn’t work out, don’t fear—simply soar again in and take a look at one thing else.
