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How volunteering can help your career

07 Feb 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Volunteering is in – whether in reaching out to communities, helping street children or simply doing something for someone who cannot afford you or pay you back, it is not only fashionable but also extremely relevant in the world we live in today.

Studies have confirmed that doing things for others, especially vulnerable communities, also enables you to enjoy good health and keep stress levels down. It also enables us to see the world through different eyes. Focusing your energies on things outside the sphere of work can help you recharge and re-examine issues you deal with – especially issues that can otherwise get you down.

Reaching out to communities and individuals who maybe in desperate need for many things we take for granted in life, can be a gesture of healing and restoration for many who deal with mounting stress and cut throat competition in the corporate world.

In fact, some cite that it serves as de-stressing therapy that shows you how the rest of the world survives. A change of perceptions and views is often a good thing for anyone who might feel stressed out, whether in a high demanding career or stuck in a rut.

Analysts believe that volunteering can actually raise your potential and enhance your professional status. Mostly if what you are volunteering for is a cause close to your heart – and also in some way, related to your career.

Reinforces professional image
Some believe that working for a grass root non-profit will be good for their career – in some ways, that is true. It will also help reinforce your professional image but that is not the only reason why you should seek such opportunities.

Often, many organisations do not always have funds to hire professional help and will benefit from your expertise and knowledge. Often times the marginalized communities such organisations work with, also benefit from the corporate exposure and expertise you can give them.

Your contribution to volunteering does not have to be for an organisation. Sometimes you can start an initiative that can be small yet create an impact by touching lives. Many large non-profit efforts started that way before growing big.

You can also create a group of like-minded individuals and raise funds for a cause – ideally, it should not be a publicity stunt or a PR exercise but a serious effort that will yield results and empower communities. The exposure you get in the process will undoubtedly benefit your career and also yourself as an individual.

Volunteering is indeed a fashion for some – you see so many activities and events that promise a portion of the funds generated going to a charity project. Charity itself has become a politically incorrect word – empowerment of disadvantaged communities is more like it.

Often, the principal of giving someone a fishing rod instead of a fish works best in charity too. The more you enable a community or a family to become self-sufficient, the more you have succeeded in ensuring their long-term survival.

Looks good on CV
Engaging in volunteering work in today’s parlance looks good on your CV. Some young people choose deliberately to engage in volunteering before venturing out into a career, and that is fine too. But the outcomes are more efficient when you are mid-career and you actually have experience and knowledge to share with those who would need it.

Some organisations actively offer opportunities to volunteer – not too long ago, I remember reading about CEOs who took off a week to help build houses for affected communities. Most came away feeling completely de-stressed because even for a week, discovering how the disadvantaged live, opens your eyes in ways you did not think possible before.

While most offices undertake volunteer activity around seasonal events such as religious festivals, it is often to be commended when such activities are undertaken on a consistent basis. Volunteering can actually empower you to explore newer, better ways of solving problems and open many other doors only exposure and experience can provide.

For most, volunteering can be an exciting venture that can enrich their career and grant them insights into the tough world of business. It can teach them invaluable lessons in managing everything from careers to families. When you are dealing with families that exist on less than what you spend eating out in one day, you learn not only to count your blessings but also make the best use of what you have got; lessons that only life can teach you.

(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior journalist, writer and a PR professional, can be contacted at [email protected])

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How volunteering can help your career

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