Sarah Williams, area manager for Inspira in Furness recently talked to the North West Evening Mail about how volunteering can give you the edge when looking for a job.
“When we work with people we are either helping them with career management advice or helping them with personal development. Through our National Careers Service programme we see on average 170 adults per month, the majority are seeking work and many are long-term unemployed.
Many of the young people we work with are involved in activities such as the NCS, which helps their development such as boosting their confidence and developing life skills.
Volunteering is an amazing opportunity to gain experience for your career as well as develop personal and life skills.
Even if the experience is not directly linked to your ultimate career goal you will find you use certain employability skills such as communication, team work and problem-solving transferable skills which help to enhance your CV and benefit your job search.
Within some organisations it is also possible to gain qualifications whilst you are volunteering and of course you will have a supervisor who may provide a reference for your future job applications. Most importantly it is a chance to meet new people and feel part of the local community.
Our advisers have a breadth of expertise in talking to young people and adults regards volunteering placements.
We can support school and college students to get into volunteering through a youth work project called Your World Your Choice. This project has been highly successful in introducing young people to the world of volunteering. Through our Young Inspira programme young people 16 and over can get involved with helping to shape their local community by having a say on how organisations’ policies will impact on young people, and take lead roles in organising activities and events for young people in their area.
Another highly successful volunteering programme is the National Citizen Service. NCS prepares 16 and 17-year-olds for adult life through a series of personal development activities. We just have a few places left but at a cost of just £35 it’s a win, win situation.”
If you are interested in volunteering with Inspira and/or you possess the necessary skills to work with young people in a residential setting please send Sarah your CV by Thursday, May 29 to sarah.williams@inspira.org.uk.
Source: North West Evening Mail
