Filling the Gap: The Benefits of Volunteer Experience (pt. 1)
- Connected by visulogik on Flickr
If you’re looking for a professional job right now, chances are you spend a good part of your day dissecting your resume and cover letter, trying to make it perfect. Should I use my functional resume or chronological resume? Should I highlight my education or highlight my work experience? I encourage you to put down the red pen for a moment, and follow me in a slightly different direction. Why not consider volunteering?
In many cultures, the idea of volunteering is a bit…unusual. My very Italian grandparents could never quite wrap their minds around why I would choose to work for free in my spare time. But the more time you spend in Vancouver, the more you’ll notice that career-focused volunteerism is on the rise, and is a growing way for job-seekers to leverage their free time and gain valuable industry experience.
As a volunteer, you can get your foot in the door at an organization you would eventually like to work for. Many job openings are circulated to internal staff only, so as a volunteer you may have access to these opportunities. Career-focused volunteering is also an effective way to find out where you might fit in the Canadian market. Personally, if I’m entering an unknown workplace, industry or even culture, I prefer to have a reasonable idea of what I’m getting myself into. As a new immigrant, perhaps your job in Canada is more involved than it was in your home country, or perhaps, like we often hear from our clients, it’s much more specialized. Volunteering allows you to measure your expectations against what it’s really like to work in your field in Canada, and assess whether you’re targeting the right positions given your interests and skill-set.
As a new immigrant, career-focused volunteering gives you Canadian experience to add to your resume. You may even get a reference out of it. If Canadian employers are unfamiliar with your past companies, you’ve now given them something they recognize. When asked situational questions in a job interview, you now have a mix of Canadian and foreign experience to pull from. Whether you plan on taking additional courses, or are searching for a new job, you were able to practice your skills and learn from your successes and mistakes, all thanks to volunteering.
A helpful tip: When including your volunteer position on your resume, give your position an appropriate title other than “Volunteer.” If you were the volunteer Marketing Coordinator, call yourself that! Describe your volunteer position with the same amount of depth as you would any other position, while still fully disclosing that the position was voluntary.
Just like with a paid position, a volunteer position exposes you to a new network of contacts, and with that can come new opportunities. Career-focused volunteering helps you familiarize yourself with key people in your industry in Canada, and perhaps even meet a few along the way. Volunteering is also fulfilling on a personal level, as it strengthens your ties to your new community and broadens your support network.
Where do you start?- It’s important to be strategic when searching for the right volunteer position, especially since finding something that matches your job target could be challenging. Filling the Gap pt. 2 will discuss the important questions to ask yourself before volunteering, and how to approach your target organizations.*
Great blog post Catherine!
I volunteer extensively and in a variety of organizations. I like to have variety because my personal interests are quite broad, and I also get to develop different skills.
I would like to share my favourite volunteering story: I volunteered at SFU Career Services while I was going to University. I thought that this would be a great way to contribute back to my school community while building skills for my future job hunting after I graduated. Well, it not only did that but the skills I developed in this volunteer position contributed to me obtaining my current position, as Mentoring Coordinator for the Mentoring Connections program. From past volunteer experiences I had gained counselling skills, but from the Career Peer volunteer job I gained the industry and job search knowledge required. Thus all of my volunteer experiences led me to where I am today!
Need more convincing? Read: http://www.employmentinvancouver.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=698:volunteer-to-get-ahead&catid=55:feature&Itemid=399