DO a spot of volunteering, feel good about yourself, stick it on your CV and Bob’s your uncle. A survey of volunteers and employers by the Chartered Management Institute and VSO suggests that volunteering could increase managers’ employability and improve their career prospects, if only they sold their skills better. Here’s how to do it:
1. Volunteer. It might seem obvious, but if you ain’t got it you can’t flaunt it. Sign up.
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2. Stay home. Saving the Third World is all very well but volunteering at home teaches you new skills too — 60 per cent of managers surveyed said that local projects developed management skills while 39 per cent valued overseas experience.
3. Think skills. Just one manager in ten thought about how volunteering abroad might help their careers at the outset. But eight out of ten said in retrospect that they had gained management skills.
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4. Know what to expect. Skills developed by volunteers include improved creativity, problem-solving, influence and persuasion, communication and creativity. Working abroad improved ability to manage in a multicultural environment.
5. Shout about it. More than 40 per cent of managers said that they would be more likely to employ a volunteer if they were given more information about how the experience aids professional development.
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6. Keep a log. A record of experiences and skills developed while volunteering will help you to sell yourself more effectively to employers.
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7. Spell it out. The survey authors say: “Volunteers should clearly set out in their CVs and at interviews the specific skills that they had developed and how they had applied these in achieving successful outcomes.”
8. Find a referee. 40 per cent of employers said that they would appreciate a reference from an overseas employer.
9. Get qualified. Use your experiences and new skills to gain a professional gong.
10. Take a course. You may lose some skills if you’re away for long. Some 65 per cent of managers feel that long-term volunteers lose touch with new technology.
Value Volunteering, by Petra Cook and Nicky Jackson (Chartered Management Institute and VSO). www.managers.org.uk