9 Advantages of Volunteering for Distant Job Seekers

In search of a brand new job will be an absolute grind! Particularly if you wish to change jobs or fields or transition from working in particular person to a distant job. Possibly you’re getting rejected left and proper and simply can’t determine how one can make your self extra interesting to potential employers. 

As an alternative of feeling discouraged, attempt a brand new tactic and provides volunteerism a shot. Over the previous decade, I’ve had a wide range of distant volunteer roles and have discovered that volunteering has many advantages, each personally and professionally. 

The truth is, in response to the Company for Nationwide and Group Service, individuals who volunteer have a 27% higher likelihood of touchdown a job after being unemployed than non-volunteers do.

Listed below are 9 advantages of volunteering particularly for distant job seekers.

1. Achieve Experiences in New Fields or Abilities

When you’re trying to break into a brand new job or discipline, volunteering will be the right technique to get your foot within the door or attempt new expertise or abilities. For example, let’s say you need to transition careers and finally get a distant digital advertising job. Nevertheless, you don’t at present have any expertise in digital advertising. Getting a volunteer place on this space with no expertise will likely be a lot simpler than a full-time or part-time place. Then, as you proceed to use for jobs, you’ll now be capable of put your volunteer expertise in your resume. 

I can inform you firsthand that this has labored for me greater than as soon as! The primary time I did this was again in 2012 once I was a volunteer Group Supervisor. On this function, I managed a Fb group and trialed a brand new private improvement program. The second time, I volunteered as an entrepreneurship author and social media supervisor for a micro-lending group. 

Each of those experiences got here in helpful when a freelancing shopper requested me to take over her digital advertising. Due to these volunteer alternatives, I used to be absolutely assured that I might tackle this work since I’d already completed it, simply not in a paid capability. 

2. Attempt Out a New Job With out Committing to It Full-Time

The tough factor about attempting a brand new job or ability is that we regularly don’t know if we’ll prefer it or be good at it till we attempt it. Additionally, when you’ve got relations to assist or different tasks, it may be extraordinarily worrying and dangerous to surrender what you’re doing now for one thing unknown. 

That is another excuse I really like volunteering—it lessens the stakes. When you attempt one thing new and hate it, quitting received’t really feel like the top of the world in the event you’re volunteering, whereas shedding your revenue would make quitting far more troublesome, even in the event you don’t prefer it.

3. Use Volunteering to Fill Any Gaps in Employment

Whether or not you freelance or work for an organization, many individuals lose purchasers or get laid off. If that is you, you would possibly fear about having a spot between jobs. On this case, discovering a volunteer place in your discipline or doing a associated job generally is a good technique to hold your expertise contemporary, fill your time, and enhance your resume. 

When it comes time so as to add this to your resume, you possibly can select whether or not to make use of the phrase volunteer. If potential employers particularly ask you about it, you by no means need to lie. Nevertheless, you don’t essentially want to put in writing the phrase volunteer in your resume; you possibly can merely state your place and checklist your duties or tasks. 

4. Construct up Your Record of References or Letters of Advice

When you hate asking individuals to be references for you, you’re not alone. This may be particularly tough when you’ve got a troublesome boss or primarily work independently and don’t really feel like you’ve gotten many individuals you possibly can even ask. 

Since you aren’t being paid as a volunteer, it’s solely cheap to ask a supervisor at your volunteer office or perhaps a fellow volunteer to be a reference. In fact, in the event you’re going to ask, just remember to’re working arduous and doing an amazing job in order that they’ll converse candidly about you and could have optimistic issues to say.

5. Get a Distant Volunteer Job if You’re Seeking to Begin Working Remotely

I’ve been working remotely for a decade, and I’ve been requested in interviews or on calls with purchasers if I’ve expertise working remotely or have labored on a distant workforce earlier than. When you haven’t labored remotely earlier than, volunteering might help you get distant expertise that you may share with future employers. 

Distant work isn’t for everybody, so that is additionally a superb take a look at to see in the event you prefer it and need to do it on a extra everlasting foundation. It might probably additionally provide you with time to regulate to working remotely and managing your schedule.

One other chance is discovering a group service alternative that can mean you can go hybrid, doing a few of your work in particular person and the remaining remotely. 

6. Study to Use New Software program and Different On-line Instruments

My early distant volunteer work helped me to be taught extra about on-line instruments like Zoom, Google Suite, Groups, Pinterest, Instagram, and others. Whereas we use most of those every single day now, 5-10 years in the past, they have been newer to me. Studying these in a volunteer capability lowered the stress and helped me improve my self-confidence with studying new expertise instruments.

As you search for distant jobs, pay shut consideration to the software program and instruments talked about within the job descriptions. When you aren’t aware of them, you possibly can presumably be taught them in a volunteer place. Or, if not, you possibly can at all times take the initiative and take a look at them out by yourself. 

This will also be your likelihood to enhance your intangible expertise like problem-solving, creating your teamwork expertise, or changing into a greater listener. 

7. Develop Your Community and Make New Connections

Everyone knows that networking is without doubt one of the finest methods to discover a new job, however most of us hate doing it. As you volunteer, don’t be shy about telling individuals in your volunteer office that you just’re job looking; you by no means know who they could have of their social community who might aid you. 

When you’re extra of an introvert and draw back from networking, this may hold you in common contact with new associates and improve your social expertise. Regardless that this isn’t simple for many people, it may be good to get out of our consolation zones and take a look at new issues. 

You would possibly even end up making new associates and constructing your assist system. I can share firsthand that I met considered one of my finest associates by an area literacy volunteer alternative. This will also be the right technique to meet others with frequent pursuits. 

8. Enhance Your Psychological and Bodily Well being 

You could be stunned to know that volunteering presents many well being advantages and psychological well being advantages. Based on the Mayo Clinic, volunteers have higher bodily and psychological well being and likewise exhibit decrease charges of despair and nervousness in comparison with non-volunteers. At the same time as a distant volunteer, you possibly can fight loneliness and social isolation whereas engaged on a shared exercise. 

When you work for a corporation that you just genuinely have a ardour for, you’ll really feel a pure sense of accomplishment and sense of delight as you’re employed in your duties, regardless of how trivial they could be. This will also be useful for stress discount and well-being if work or areas of your life are particularly worrying. 

9. Get Out of Your Head and Deal with Somebody Else

As a job seeker, you most likely spend extra time than you care to confess in your head. Just a few years in the past I used to be going by a difficult season of life. Throughout that point, on-line volunteering gave me a way of function and even helped enhance my temper and shallowness as I spotted how a lot I excelled on the work I used to be doing.

Typically, we simply have to take an hour or two out of our week to assist another person. To assist others is without doubt one of the finest emotions on the earth and is really one of many intangible advantages of volunteering.

Advantages of Volunteering Wrapup

Whereas most distant job seekers overlook volunteering, you possibly can see many advantages of volunteering when it comes to well being outcomes, life satisfaction, networking, and constructing your expertise and skills. 

When you’re uncertain the place to begin, the Volunteer Match web site has 1000’s of choices. Bear in mind, not each alternative will likely be an ideal match, and that’s regular. If the primary one doesn’t work out, don’t fear—simply bounce again in and take a look at one thing else.