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How Volunteering Can Help You In Your Future Interviews

Mon, 11/30/-0001 Deanna Bonaparte
How Volunteering Can Help You In Your Future Interviews Looking to gain the edge that will help you stand out from the crowd? There are many ways to do this – you can take part in competitions, write a book, or develop a brilliant business idea. You can also take up a volunteering stint and in effect contribute to society.

Depending on where you feel most empathetic towards, your volunteering efforts will allow you to invest your time and skills in a good cause. For instance, if you feel a soft spot for foreign workers, volunteering for non-profit organisations such as Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) or at the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC) will help you to leave an impact. Or if you feel strongly about gender equality, you can volunteer your support services at places like the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE). Or how about volunteering for Causes for Animals Singapore if you are an avid animal lover!

Regardless, in this article we highlight why you should think about volunteering during your spare time and how it can help you in your future interviews.

Gain New Experiences

Wherever you volunteer, your beneficiaries will not be the only ones to benefit. It is likely that you would also develop new skills and a heightened awareness of life beyond your comfort zone. You would also have a better understanding of the issues facing non-profit organisations and develop ideas that will lead to more effective solutions for beneficiaries. Furthermore, you’d be able to enhance your conversations with your interviewers at your future scholarship or job interview.

Form Relationships

By volunteering, there is a chance you’d be able to form relationships with others in the same volunteering network or with vendors with whom you work for projects. These people might end up becoming useful contacts you can turn to again in the future.

Furthermore, your experiences with these people – whether good or bad – are bound to teach you a few things about different characters. People out there can be quite different from your friends and teachers in school, so it is good to get yourself in tune with people outside of your comfort zone early. Be sure to highlight your newfound social skills and network at your future interview!

Build Character

Volunteer work is not easy, but it is uplifting and empowering. The sense of accomplishment achieved in knowing you have helped to better the life of someone else is indescribable. You might also be able to discover new interests or strengths within you and feel empowered to take on greater, more fulfilling projects.

Volunteering also challenges you to develop time-management skills. It can be difficult to add on another commitment to your schedule, but it also means you become less complacent in your deadlines and more effective. A display of good time-management skills is something that will definitely sit well with interviewers.

Use It to Your Advantage

Last but not least, volunteering helps us stand out from the crowd – not many derive meaning and joy in contributing their efforts to outcomes that are oftentimes non-tangible. Your future interviewers would acknowledge and might even applaud your sense of empathy.

At the end of the day, volunteering will present you with the chance to gain worldly experience, form connections and build character. These can only be achieved outside of the classroom. So if you manage to find extra time out of your busy schedule, go out there, find out which voluntary organisation you feel most connected to, and make a difference in your beloved community.

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