Why Do People Volunteer? 7 Great Volunteering Benefits!Why do people volunteer? That's a question that many of my clients ask me - they want to know about the specific benefits of volunteering, whether they are new immigrants or long-time residents going through a big career change. There are many reasons to volunteer, and I want to explain to you how volunteering - even for just a few hours per week - directly and very positively impacts both your job search success and your career development. It’s simply amazing how much volunteer work can help you with building your career, regardless of whether your volunteer role directly relates to your chosen profession or is simply your way of staying involved at various social service providers within your local community. It works quite well either way. But wait, there’s more! Volunteering also helps you enormously to maintain a positive attitude while you job search, and quite naturally bolsters your health, self-esteem and joy of life. Of course, volunteering also touches other peoples lives. In fact, it’s a way of changing people’s lives while we are also helping ourselves. And it’s magical, almost unbelievable, how much we ourselves benefit as a result of (or reward for) our volunteer activities and commitments. 1) How Volunteering Benefits Your Job Search: “Giving Begets Receiving” When you volunteer, you create a “pull” and more easily attract to yourself resources and other assistance to help you in your goal. First you give, then you naturally receive in return. I know that you may want to volunteer exclusively or only because you want to help others, and I can totally relate to that. Unfortunately for us self-sacrificing humanitarians, we just can’t help getting something in return no matter how hard we try to make the “give-and-take thing” a one-way street! :-) The most important thing we must understand about the power of volunteering to help in our job search and career is the fact that giving begets receiving. We don’t know exactly how we are going to be rewarded for our giving. We don’t know who is going to come into our lives to help us in return for the help we are offering. But help us they will, and often before we know it and in a way that we never would have expected or imagined. In fact, if anything, the giver benefits more – and sometimes much more – than the receiver as a result of this “giving and receiving feedback loop.” And that’s why the act of giving through volunteer work often has a profoundly positive impact on all areas of our lives. Let’s start, for instance, with some health benefits: 2) Want to Live Longer? Volunteer! One answer to the question, “Why do people volunteer?” is greater health on all levels. Giving back to your community may slow the aging process in ways that lead to a higher quality of life. The health benefits of doing good things for others are similar to those experienced by anyone who practices yoga, spirituality and meditation - namely a slowing down of heart rate and reduced blood pressure. Of course, improved health feeds back into all other areas of your life in a very positive way, including the motivation and positive energy you carry into your job search and career development actitivies. 3) Getting a Natural High from Volunteering Here's yet another reason why people volunteer: The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) commissioned a study which stated that volunteers report a helpers’ high - a physical and psychological “feel good” sensation linked to physiological changes. In my own words, volunteering raises your energy, something that is hard to measure in strict scientific terms but is nevertheless very significant and real. Volunteer work operates on a higher “spiritual energy” and when we take part in it we get to enjoy that energy. It lifts us up and helps us to carry on in our job search despite our financial worries and feelings of personal insecurity. Also, because the people we are helping in our volunteer work are often worse off than us, it tends to make us feel relatively better about our own life situation. We realize that all is not lost, and that we are still doing relatively well even though we are currently out of work. Or we completely forget about our troubles when we are so busy helping other people with theirs! We stop feeling sorry for ourselves and can re-focus on our most pressing responsibilities including preparing for upcoming job interviews and networking opportunities. 4) Volunteer Work Prevents Job Search Loneliness, Isolation, Frustration and Depression When clients ask me, "Why do people volunteer?" I sometimes focus on the socializing aspect. The toughest part of job searching is the loneliness and isolation that can easily turn into frequent frustration with ourselves and others, harsh self-criticism and eventually even severe depression. Some people even start getting suicidal thoughts when they are out of work, out of money and don’t know where to turn. Socially, even if we have lots of supportive friends and families around us at night and on the weekends, the long solitary days can take their toll on our health, happiness and self esteem. Many of us rely on the people we work with to meet at least some of our social needs, and this balance between work and home keeps us from depending too much on any one person to meet our needs. Humans are social beings, and a lot of our social enjoyment comes through our daily work. So volunteering can temporarily take the place of meeting those social needs while we’re job searching, thus reducing or elimination our loneliness. Mind you, volunteering is not just about keeping busy through chatting or hanging out with other people. It’s about keeping busy or using our time in a way that is meaningful and productive. Through volunteer work we can make a really significant contribution, keep being an active participant in life, and maintain or enhance our work skills. It’s also about giving time and organizational structure to our day and week. This is very helpful even it it’s only a half-day per week volunteer shift that we commit ourselves to. Even a half-day per week volunteer shift is a lot better than spending all of your weekdays alone in front of your computer. These are things we can’t otherwise do nearly as easily when we are out of work. Volunteering fills the awkward gap rather nicely, and helps us stay on track in our job search. 5) Volunteering Sprouts New Professional Contacts: Interpersonal Ties and Social Networks When the PHAC study asked why do people volunteer, it also showed that social participation through volunteering is an important element of healthy, integrated and secure communities. People with increased social contacts and strong support networks have lower premature death rates, less heart disease and fewer health risk factors. In addition, it found that volunteering helps people form interpersonal ties and develop their social networks. In other words, you can make many new friends and both personal and professional acquaintances or expand your social and professional networks. How exactly does this happen? It happens as a natural consequence of being around others in the volunteer workplace – staff as well as other volunteers. You’re no longer on the outside looking in. You’re on the inside now! You introduce yourself to these people, and you start to have chats with them when you’re on shift there. As you continue your volunteer work there and people get to know you better, these conversations naturally lead to job search and career development referrals, often without you even asking! If you help agency staff, they want to help you back, and often do. Once you’ve “given of yourself,” your volunteer supervisor and others who are on your volunteer team will naturally want to help you in return. In a similar way, volunteering is a great way to meet people with whom you can do informational interviews. You may want to arrange a more formal or structured informational interview, or simply ask questions more gradually over a longer period of time as you get to know and talk to people at the agency. In addition to social service agencies, you can volunteer for your professional association to assist with conferences, job fairs or other special events as well as offer to participate on active working committees. In fact, merely offering to volunteer at your professional association can be enough to attract further networking support to yourself. 6) Volunteering Demonstrates Leadership Skills Volunteers gain interpersonal, communication, organizational, managerial and leadership skills through both practical experience as well as on the job training, and this helps us to enhance both our personal and professional growth. Specific benefits for youth and teen volunteers in particular include enhanced confidence and self esteem through skill development. And again, there’s a tie-in with health: Self esteem and confidence are related to reduced blood pressure and improved immune function. 7) Volunteer Work Adds Recognition that is Reflected on Your Resume Volunteering earns you additional approval and recognition that you can proudly display on your resume and in your career portfolio. We can always mention volunteer work on our resumes within the work experience section or as a later secondary section. Don’t hide it! It shows that you are a contributing member of your community and it demonstrates leadership and a willingness to provide service to others. Volunteer jobs of all kinds are strong demonstrations of community leadership. So whether you are organizing a huge event or making photocopies, it’s all about leadership. People who express volunteering leadership within their community are always richly rewardedl Summarizing: Why Do People Volunteer Why do people volunteer? Because volunteering is so incredible. It’s magic. It’s just amazing how much such a simple act can re-charge your job search, help your career and significantly improve your own quality of life. Volunteering is a huge force for good in the world that affects all of us in a very positive way. Directly and indirectly, personally and collectively, volunteering is changing people’s lives. This includes people who live in your local community, your neighbours, your friends and family – and last but not least, you.
|
