Benefits of Volunteering

I have been on my summer holidays since the end of May (and I’m loving it!) as I have had such a long time off I set a plan to build my experience and skills through volunteering opportunities. University of Leicester offers a variety of volunteering opportunities, which overall allows you to gain experience in different areas of work. The careers development service MyCareers has a diverse range of volunteering opportunities, from helping with the local community to volunteering at the BBC star gazing event. I am frequently searching through the site in search for opportunities to build my skills further.

I have recently completed 6 weeks volunteering at a local charity within their marketing department. So here are my top 3 reasons of why I think volunteering is important:

1. Experience – Volunteering is the best way to gain experience and build on your skills. Employers are always interested to look at what experience you have in this area of work, volunteering is a great way to gain an insight of what skills it takes to work within that particular sector. It also helps enhance your CV in many ways!
2. Build new connections – By volunteering you are able to meet new people who have similar interests. Volunteering is also a great way to build your connections.
3. Make a difference – There are a variety of opportunities where you are able to make a difference locally in Leicester or even abroad. Working with local charities or volunteering with societies such as UNICEF or Oxfam who aim to make a change globally.

Here are some examples of other students volunteering experience:

I hope my post has been helpful, if you have any questions regarding volunteering or if you would like any other advice on how to search for experience just leave a comment!