Volunteerism: Selfless Service Or Resume Builder

If you have been applying for certain jobs and/or to schools outside Nigeria, chances are you have come across a section in your application asking you to share your volunteer experience. Whilst Volunteering is a great way to boost your resume while you’re in between jobs or looking to study, there are other wholesome reasons to volunteer.

A volunteer is a person who dedicates their time to doing work for their community without expecting payment in return for their services. This part is true about most voluntary work, however, paid volunteering still counts as volunteerism.

Paid or unpaid, volunteering comes with so many other benefits. First, let us explore the career and resume building benefits of volunteering.

Non-profit Organisations are a great platform for skill building as they provide an opportunity for volunteers to acquire new skills while meeting new people and networking. Volunteering breeds especially the spirit of teamwork and passionate service delivery. It is also a great way to gain relevant experience needed to land you that job you’ve been eyeing. It gives your potential employers an insight to your personality and shows them that you’re not all about the money.

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with donating your time to Nonprofits to improve your chances of getting your dream job, however, there are more wholesome benefits you should consider before giving your time as a volunteer. These benefits can serve as propellers to drive you to do even more as a volunteer and in other aspects of your career and life in general.

Since the basis of such organisations is impacting the community, volunteering helps you connect with communities around you. It opens you up to the lives of others -their cultures and belief systems- and forges a sense of identity and belonging within you.

“Each of us seeks to know our personal identity and where and how we fit into the scheme of things so that we can make sense of our lives and plan for the future” – Zarina Patel

This sense of identity can provide clarity of purpose and can help you redefine your life goals to be more comprehensive and valuable.

It goes without saying that volunteering is a great way to improve your social and relationship skills. Constant interaction with people who share similar passions is great practice that visibly improves the way you communicate and relate with others. This also serves to improve self esteem.

There is some form of emotional stability that can be linked to volunteering. The sense of fulfillment that comes with helping others has proven to be an effective way to improve general emotional well-being and studies have shown that this also has an encouraging effect on people’s mental health as well.

Finally, volunteering might not result in chinks in your pocket but it is a great opportunity for personal development and an opportunity to have an impact on your community and the world at large. Would you like to join our amazing team of volunteers? kindly reach out to us through our social media accounts:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/powerfulyoungproject

Instagram: @pyp_kids