Career research through volunteering

You may be wondering how volunteering is related to your studies and your career. We would encourage responsible volunteering where the organisation and community you are supporting benefit from your contribution. You also have the opportunity to apply and further develop your skills and knowledge as a student. Your volunteer work links to your career vision and planning: before you volunteer, think about where you want to invest your effort.

Why volunteer?

Volunteering will help you to:

• figure out whether a specific field of work is for you or not;
• find out information about specific fields;
• connect with others and maintain relationships;
• network with others in your fields of interest.

Before you volunteer

Some questions to think about:

• Which organisations or communities would benefit from my skills and knowledge?
• How would this organisation or community contribute to my career vision?
• What conduct is expected of a professional in this organisation and my future career?
• What are you hoping to gain from your volunteer activities?

Your volunteer work could lead to other opportunities, so it is important to treat it professionally: keep to your commitment, communicate when you cannot volunteer and update your portfolio with examples of what you have learnt and achieved. As a volunteer, you are already working as a professional – you need to conduct yourself as you would conduct yourself in a work environment. As you are volunteering, you are building your reputation (your “brand”): you would not want to build a reputation as an exploiter or as an unreliable worker.

Your volunteer environment will help you develop what is valued in professional environments. This may include punctuality, problem-solving and effective communication. In this sense, volunteering contributes to your development as a unique graduate: one who has subject-specific knowledge and an understanding of professional workplace behaviour. The one thing to remember about volunteering is that your conduct needs to be accountable and ethical. Your work within the community must be done with the utmost respect.

Where can I find volunteer opportunities?

Identify volunteer opportunities in your area through conversations with members of your community. Search online for volunteer opportunities in your community related to your interests.

Volunteering helps you to contribute to a community and learn valuable skills. Volunteering will allow you to clarify your interests in terms of helping others and expanding and strengthening your network.

Activity: Identify volunteer opportunities

Make a list of the organisations you want to contact to explore volunteer opportunities.

• What are you hoping to gain from your volunteer experience?
• What can you contribute to an organisation?

Further resources for volunteering