Volunteering: the benefits

It might sound strange to say ‘invest in yourself by volunteering’, but it is a strong pathway to building up skills that gives you an edge over others. The volunteering I am talking about is the purely unselfish, non-work related path to simply helping out in the community.

There are many benefits to be gained from volunteering: Work on your weaknesses Develop technical skills Practice and improve soft skills Gain a sense of achievement Make friends Get that warm fuzzy feeling from helping out (that fuzzy feeling is great for your mental health!) Connect better with your local community Build some positive karma! I explore a few of the benefits in a separate feature article. I should warn you though – volunteering in the community is not about marketing yourself, it’s about learning those difficult skills like humility, compassion and team work. You are unlikely to get recognition or kudos from anyone except the people you are helping. The only caveat to add is this. Pace yourself and make sure you set up your boundaries. Volunteer work should not become a burden and there is always more work than volunteers. Equally, only commit to what you can deliver, otherwise its usually only other volunteers that have to make up for your shortcomings. Working on your weaknesses At some point, you have probably done some self-assessment to determine where your strengths and weaknesses are. If you haven’t, start now. Volunteering is where you work on those weak areas. For me, one of my weaknesses was patience. I had little patience for those that could not keep up with me. I would get frustrated and this came up in my tone and behaviour. No wonder people found me difficult to deal with, and no wonder I was always disappointed by others. I really didn’t want the workplace to be the constant guinea pig for where I learnt those skills (which can be career-limiting). So I tried them out in the volunteer world. I signed up to a companions program for kids with disability. After going through all the required checks, I was assigned James who was 9, autistic and could not talk properly. What a way to learn patience!!! But with the responsibility of taking James out for a couple of hours, I was careful. But my patience skills developed very quickly. There was no ‘reasoning’ with James and he would do his own thing, whether it was visiting every toilet we passed or running around and making noise when we were meant to be quiet. But you just cannot yell at a child or get impatient. Plus I really wanted to do a good job, as these lovely people trusted me to look after their son. After several visits, I learnt to recognise my pressure points sooner, realised that it was not the end of the world if we did visit every toilet. To my surprise, I started enjoying myself. Amazingly I learnt other skills too, skills that I didn’t know I needed. Skills like tolerance, understanding and appreciation. Developing technical skills Beyond soft skills, you can learn new technical-type skills. As an engineer I don’t necessarily learn other professional skills in any depth or have an opportunity to practice them. At university, I completed a subject on business accounting and another on management, but as a young professional, I had no chance to practice them in real-time. Quite by mistake, I took on the volunteer role of Financial Controller of a not-for-profit organisation. I took on the role, with support from other volunteers (I am very grateful for the help I received). Within six months, I was managing the company’s finances. From collecting monies, paying bills, recording transactions, reporting quarterly, completing Business Activity Statements and going through the process of auditing the company’s financial position and reporting at the Annual General Meeting. I also learnt the role of the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC) after they sent me nasty letters (I had forgot to follow some procedures). I took on this role for approximately four years and became much more confident on basic accounting. These were absolutely gold skills and served me brilliantly. I didn’t get paid to undertake this work, but there is no price to be laid on the skills. There is no-way by the time you are 28 you are going to be proficient in every profession. However, you can work on developing one other professional skill, which can support your career. Skill development So what skills do you develop by volunteering that cannot be taught in a book? These are the soft skills that can be difficult to define, but it is that an attribute that employers and potential staff admire. Depending on the type of volunteer work, will impact on the skills developed. • Ability to learn quickly • Adapting to change • Active listening • Asking thoughtful questions • Thinking on your feet • Self-control • Self assessment • Self awareness • Compassion • Humility • Confidence • Thoughtfulness • Ability to cope with stress • Time management

Karma and humility Whether you believe in things like karma, there is no denying that there is a nice ‘fuzzy and warm’ feeling about helping out with no expectation. Seeing someone else’s life being changed for the better (even if it is short-term) is a good feeling. And the funny thing is that people, who are happy and feeling good, attract other positive vibes into their life. So what evidence do I have to bring this point out? Nothing concrete, except to say I am happy, I have made friends in areas I never thought and feel more confident and content with my life. And having good karma on your side is probably a powerful ally. I would rather have it, than discard it. Skills such as humility and compassion are in short change in the professional world. With life moving so much faster these days, we really do struggle to stop and assess the world that is living around you. The Rewards Even if all the other benefits aren’t enough, very occasionally, there can be recognition in a way that immediately impacts your career. Being recognised as a local hero, or a community achiever can be career boost, not to mention gaining profile and contacts.

Plenty of volunteering opportunities out there: schools, community groups, not-for-profit... so there is no excuse.