Ahhh, college. The best three or four years of your life, right? A life full of partying, drinking, chilling, occasionally learning, and doing whatever the heck you want before you become a fully fledged adult, isn’t it? Well, not quite. Although college is supposed to the time to make memories and have a bit of fun, college is also about bettering yourself to become the best you can be, and ultimately land yourself the dream job at the end of it. This end goal doesn’t come without hard work, and one of the easiest ways to find a job is to volunteer in college. You know you want to…
You learn how to be a leader
Volunteering is a heck of a lot different to work experience. If you’re working for a large company, there’s a high chance you will be making tea and coffee, and spend most of your day filing – all for the sake of experience on your resume. However, volunteering is much more rewarding and allows you to play a bigger role within a charity or organization. You will often be able to have your own voice and even become a leader. Through perseverance and drive, you may be able to lead your own charity drives and create your own projects. Being able to lead a team and a project is an incredibly desirable business trait.
You can learn new skills
The best part about volunteering is that you can learn every skill in the book in one place. It may be that you volunteer to market someone’s social media page, it may be that you volunteer to collect donations, it may be that you volunteer in the community, or it may be that you volunteer abroad. All of these aspects will improve your business and personal skills. You’ll learn about marketing, you’ll learn about networking, you’ll learn about interpersonal skills, and you’ll learn about resilience and work well under pressure. Add these to your resume and watch the job offers come flooding in!
You can network
Unfortunately, we live in a world where it’s not what you know, but rather WHO you know – and having connections in the business world is priceless. These connections are even more important if you volunteer in the sector you wish to work in when you finish college because you can network, get phone numbers, and strike up relationships with those who may be valuable in the future. Networking should not be ignored. Work the room!
You will have expert references
When you graduate college, you’ll be one of the millions of graduates across the globe who have the same degree, same results, and the same resume. The best way to stand out amongst the crowd is to have something they don’t have – and references could be one of them. Volunteering will automatically increase your chances of getting a job after college, but if you have the professional and expert references to prove it, you’ll have an even better chance of landing your dream job.
Are you currently in college and wondering how to expand your resume? Do not underestimate the power of volunteering, because grades will only get you so far (no pressure).
