7 Reasons to Consider Volunteering - Guest Blog
Looking for Work? Here are 7 reasons to consider volunteering.
My name is Michael Slattery, I am an Edmontonian Freelance Photographer. A while back I was watching Tim Ferriss on YouTube. Tim considers himself a human experiment. He tries to master life and documents the results online. In Fast Inc.'s article, "How to Be the Ultimate Networker, According to Tim Ferriss."
Tim shares an unusual strategy to find work. Of course when looking for work continue to refine your resume, cover letter and apply. But there might be other strategies to finding work.
If you are looking for work have you considered volunteering?
If you are an artist looking for work, all the more reasons to volunteer, I'll explain below.
Here are 7 reasons to consider volunteering:
- Volunteering gives a break to looking for work. Looking for work can sometimes be depressing and frustrating. Volunteering gets us out of routine, meeting new people. We start feeling connected, appreciated and valued!
- Non-profits welcome the unqualified. I am wanting to branch out into Social Media Marketing. I visited Volunteer Connector in February 2021 to see what opportunities I could find. Lo and behold Defend had a volunteer opportunity for Social Media help. I applied, and told them I am just starting out. I landed the position and am currently serving as a Co-Lead for their Social Media section.
- You will gain experience in your area of choice plus also learn many new skills. My Defend volunteer position has broadened my skills and I am learning public relations and how to write press releases. Non-profits would love to work with photographers, video creators and editors and social media help.
- Non-profits are in high need for creative work to help them with their online presence. You could do piece work for a series of non-profits and use this in your portfolio. Or you could focus on one non-profit and potentially their full media person.
- Volunteer work is appreciated and valued. My experience with Defend so far is they are very happy people are filling roles. They also are graceful when projects are not done, when life gets busy.
- There is a great satisfaction knowing our resources are being used for a cause. There were many positions open at Volunteer Connector. I choose Defend because our values lined up. I feel very fulfilled knowing my time and skills are being used to help other people in need.
- Bonus! You just might land a job with the company, or perhaps there is someone in the company who knows someone who can help you. A big plus is volunteering puts you around people who are kind hearted and like helping out. Who knows they just might lead you to your next position!
I would like to thank the work VolunteerConnector does promoting volunteering! Their services have opened up a door for me to volunteer and grow my skills!
Thank you,
Michael Slattery