We all know that volunteering is great for your community, and it makes you feel good too! However, there are other benefits to donating your time to a worthy cause.
Volunteering can have a positive impact on your career in several ways. Let’s take a closer look.
Add Experience to Your Resume
We’ve all faced the conundrum of an entry-level position that requires experience at some point. Volunteering is a great way to get experience to put on your resume if you’re just starting your career, changing careers or returning to the workforce after some time off.
Connects You With Powerful People
Volunteering can also help you to connect with influential people that you might not have had access to otherwise. As the saying goes, it’s not what you know; it’s who you know.
Networking Opportunities
Being a volunteer not only has the potential to connect you with movers, shakers and decision-makers, but it will also expand your personal network at every other level. The bigger your network is, the more opportunities you will have access to. It’s even a great way to spread the word if you are job hunting!
Learn New Skills
No matter what kind of volunteering you do, you will probably have to learn at least a few new skills to get the job done. Even if they don’t seem to be relevant to your job directly, they could very well be valuable at some time in the future.
Energize and Inspire
We all know that demotivation is one of the worst things that can happen in any job. It’s often the start of a more serious problem, like burnout. Volunteering has a profound effect on mental health. It improves your mood, reminds you how lucky you actually are, and can be inspiring in so many ways.
Help to Identify New Opportunities
You’ve probably had inspiration or a brilliant idea strike you at a strange moment already. Often, taking yourself out of your comfort zone and doing things like volunteering, encountering situations you might not ordinarily be in can help you to identify new opportunities. Whether it’s a quicker way to do something your job demands or a fantastic idea for a startup, if you’re looking for the next big idea, you might find it while you’re volunteering.
Finding Your Passion
Career success isn’t always about going to the right college and getting the right job at the right company. Many times, we don’t find true success until we also find our passion. When you’re passionate about what you do, you put more effort into everything you do, and it doesn’t even feel like work! Volunteering can help you to discover things you never knew you were passionate about.
An Easier Way to Get Involved
If you’d like to try volunteering, but you’re not sure where to start, sign up on givingbackeasily.com. It’s the easiest online way to find great causes, get involved and make a difference in your community. There’s never been a better time than right now to get started!