Valuable Life Skills Gained From Volunteering

There’s a lot of reasons for students to get involved and volunteer. It could be that volunteering fulfills their philanthropic values, serves to fill space on a resume, or because donating time offers multiple health benefits. Regardless, there are many valuable life skills gained from volunteering that can influence the path of your personal and professional careers. It shows potential employers causes you care about enough to donate your time to. Volunteering is all about making the smallest differences in an effort toward a greater mission. Why not learn about the important skills acquired along the way?

Commitment

Volunteer experiences foster your ability to commit to hard work. When selecting an organization to volunteer for, choose one whose mission is relevant to your interests or whose causes that are meaningful to you. This will prevent volunteering from feeling like an obligation, and make it feel more like a fun and significant hobby. Dedicating your unpaid time toward a cause that is important to you shows that you are willing to put in the effort necessary to make a change.

Communication and Teamwork

When volunteering, you are typically required to engage with a wide variety of people. Depending on the organization you are volunteering for, you could be interacting with many people on a regular basis. Being able to effectively communicate is a crucial aspect of volunteering because of the number of fellow volunteers and patrons you speak with.

Communicating efficiently contributes to your ability to work well in teams. Ensuring that you and the other volunteers you work with are on the same page will result in successful and productive days of volunteering.

Time Management

Penciling in volunteering between class and any extracurriculars or jobs on your schedule, again, speaks to your dedication to the cause and it also speaks to your ability to manage your time well. A lot of organizations have time-sensitive volunteering opportunities.

Incorporating volunteer hours into your schedule while succeeding in other areas of life proves to employers that you are well-rounded and handle adjustments with poise.

Leadership

Leadership is one of the valuable life skills gained from volunteering that is usually recognized if you are the supervisor of a group of volunteers or the manager of a project. Much of volunteer work relies on a highly motivated team, encouraging or motivating peers being common traits of quality leaders. The ability to promote group productivity is beneficial for any team you are a part of – family, sports teams, and work groups can all benefit from having a positive go-getter around.

Professionalism

Though a volunteer setting may not have as many restrictions or guidelines as a workplace, you are still representing an organization while volunteering. The aforementioned skills all contribute to your odds of being successful in a work setting, boosting self- confidence in return.

Whatever your reason for volunteering, you can be assured your time is valuable by providing you with these important life skills. Your charitable endeavors will offer intrinsic value while preparing you for the professional world post-graduation.

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