#FocusFriday: August 28, 2015

Welcome back to #FocusFriday! This week’s highlights are –
Resource: Career ID
Fun News: National Career Day

How Volunteering Can Help You Build Your Career

Ever felt like this before?  Do you feel like you have need to have had a job in order to get a job?  Well, the good news is, your “work experience” does not have to only include your official job titles.  Volunteering and engaging with your community is an excellent way to gain valuable experience.  Through volunteer work you can gain what we call transferable skills.  That is, the skills that you gain through volunteering can also be applied to a future job or career.  Did you know that leadership is one of the top skills that employers look for?  This is the kind of experience that you can gain working with a community organization.  What are some other benefits?

Networking

You have probably heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” But, did you know that only 15 percent of jobs are posted online?  The rest are found through alternative routes.  Volunteering at a community organization is a great way to expand your network.  It gives you a new set of people to make connections with.  Take the time to get to know them and let them get to know you.  You never know what kinds of new opportunities you might come across.

Opportunities to Find Your Passions

Are you considering a career in working with children?  Volunteer work is a great time to discover your passions.  It gives you’re the chance to “try out” a career before you actually commit to it.  If you are considering a career in working with children, you can spend your time volunteering with a youth serving organization to see what it is like to work there.  Whatever your passions are, there are likely multiple organizations in the Triad area that relate to them.  Pick a place that works with something you feel strongly about and you are more likely to enjoy working there.  Even if you are not sure, it is a great way to try something new.

And Use Your Strengths

Are you a pro at creating websites?  Are you looking for a way to apply the things you are learning in your classes before starting your career?  Many organizations have needs such as maintaining their website, but do not have the capacity to hire someone to do that.  Connecting with an organization that has the needs for your skills is an excellent way to demonstrate experience without having previously had an actual job title in the field in which you are interested.  You have might have the opportunity to develop new skills in the process.

In order to get the most out of your experience, here are some of the “Dos” and “Don’ts” of volunteering

DO:

• Make sure you are meeting a community need. Any type of service should not be solely for you benefit.  Talk to organizations and find out what their needs are.  Discuss ways in which this can be matched with what you are trying to get out of your experience.
• Maintain proper etiquette at all times. Just because you are not getting paid, does not mean you do not have to follow workplace rules.  Show up (and on time) when you say you are going to be there.  Many organizations rely on volunteers for programming and other things, so if you are not there, then someone has to cover for you, which takes away from their job.
• Engage with others at the organization. Find out more about their career paths.  Talk to them about what you are hoping to do.  Give input (respectfully) during meetings.

Don’t

• Volunteer for the sake of filling up your resume. There is nothing wrong with one time service events.  However, demonstrating a long-term commitment to one (or more) organization(s) will look better to a potential employer.  It also gives you time to build a relationship with that organization as well as better ensure that you are helping them to meet their needs.
• Rely on the organization to know what you are looking to gain from your experience. If there is a particular aspect of the organization you would like to be involved with or learn more about, speak up.  As long as it is feasible, the organization will likely be happy to include you.

There are several ways that you find volunteer opportunities.

1. Check out the My Service database on the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning website. You can search by interest, populations, and location.
2. When you are signing up for classes, choose a service learning class. You can search by looking up designated classes (marked with the “.svl” indicator under the class search function in Genie).  These classes will help you use what you are learning in the classroom for real life applications.
3. Stop by the Career Services Center (#1 EUC) or check out Spartan Careers on the Career Services webpage to find out about internships, community service work study, and more!

Welcome!

Welcome to the UNCG Career Services Center blog! Our goal is for every UNCG student to graduate as a career savvy Spartan, and we’re rolling out the Career I.D. as a framework to help every student achieve their goals.

Whether you’re a first year student and haven’t chosen a major yet, you’re swimming in the middle of graduate school applications, or you’re about to walk into your first job interview, the Career I.D. can help you get a handle on your readiness for the world outside of UNCG. Once you know what areas you need to work on, the Career Services Center is ready to help you in building up your knowledge and skills so that you are prepared to jump whatever hurdles are ahead of you.

This blog will provide some helpful hints, tips, and resources along the way, each correlating to one or more of the categories on the Career I.D.  We’ll also keep you updated on our office events, including Career Fairs and our annual Etiquette Dinner, highlight some companies and employers that will be visiting campus, and bring you some alumni success stories to inspire you and give you some recent perspectives!

Follow this blog (and our other social media! LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
!) to stay up to date on everything that’s happening, stop by our office (#1 EUC, next to Subway) anytime between 10am – 5pm during the semester to speak with a Peer Career Ambassador, and let us help you become a career savvy Spartan!